“Movie with the Stars”

In September Hollywood is busy with the red carpet line ups, and our kids are like any other kids.  They idolize the movie stars.  Sometimes the messages Hollywood and the movie stars send are not reality.  My goal became to create an event with the bells and whistles of Hollywood combined with a good message.

We rented a limo, rolled out the red carpet, and dressed some of our youth as paparazzi and a makeshift TV hostess.  With video rolling and cameras flashing we invited kids to a free “Movie with the Stars.”  We asked the children to dress up as their favorite actor, singer or athlete.  We set up a remote drop-off location where the children gathered to be picked up and driven to the red carpet entrance.  The cameras took pictures while the TV hostess asked them fun questions as they walked down the red carpet with much fanfare.

With movie props on the walls and a blow-up Oscar in the corner, we borrowed TV trays from parents to place between chairs.  We served the usual movie concessions and showed the kids a movie, of course, with the proper copyright permissions.

After decorating the Kid’s Church room walls with pictures from the main event, we used this event to introduce teachings about idols and false realities created by our media these days such as:

• Acceptance – Do you crave other people’s attention or applause?  Is God’s Love and Acceptance good enough?
• Advertising – Does the media control your actions through commercials?  What is God’s will for you?
• Living the Dream – What is your definition of living the dream?  Are we consumed with having “stuff?”

These are just a few examples.  The main event and the teachings were so fun and effective, an annual event was born.