On August 11, 2011, I had the privilege of interviewing Amy Dolan for a radio show I was hosting at time. Amy is a children’s pastor / children’s ministry consultant with a passion for ministering to non-traditional families. She runs the blog Lemon Lime Kids, and has written a number of articles on the topic of non-traditional families including:
- a recent conversation on [non] traditional families
- watch your language! {non} traditional families
- (non) traditional families
- perhaps a change in direction
The following are some of the questions we covered including Amy’s responses and my commentary (shown in italics) where I thought it was appropriate. Some of my commentary is from the original program, and some I have added for purposes of clarity. Some of the questions and answers do not pertain directly to the issue of ministering to children of divorce. I have excluded some of those questions from this summary, but I would encourage you to listen to the whole interview at:
Some of Amy’s responses are word-for-word. I have also taken the liberty of editing some of the responses. This is an important conversation that you will want to hear. So, let’s get to some of the questions covered during the show.
1. Please tell our listeners about you. Where are you from? How did you come to be involved in children’s ministry? What are you doing now?
My name is Amy Dolan. I have been in children’s ministry for a long time. I originally planned on becoming an elementary school teacher, but felt God calling me into children’s ministry during my time studying at Moody Bible Institute. I have held several positions in children’s ministry including being a curriculum writer for Willow Creek Church and Children’s Director at The Chapel in Illinois. More recently, I started Lemon Lime Kids – a consulting company for children’s ministers. I live in Chicago, IL with my husband Kelly.
2. Tell us a little bit about your blog LemonLimeKids.com.
LemonLimeKids.com is my blog and reflects the name of my consulting company. The blog includes all kinds of articles written primarily from a leadership perspective to encourage other children’s ministry leaders.
3. Before we get started talking about ministering to non-traditional families, I suppose it makes sense to define the term “non-traditional” families.
“Non-traditional families” is a term that I coined to express what I was hearing at conferences, in churches and seeing in small groups. Non-traditional is defined as anything other than a one-mom plus one-dad married couple who are parenting their children. It would include single parents, divorced parents, grandparents, widowed and gay and lesbian parents.
4. Where does your interest in non-traditional families stem from?
I come from a very traditional family. I am the oldest of five kids who all grew up in the church. My mom and dad are still married, and all of my siblings are Christians married to other Christians. I went to Bible College and married a Christian guy from a Christian family. However, I have had a lot of friends who come from, or who are currently part of, non-traditional families. My experience is that I have seen my friends consistently excluded from the church. Most of these friends are spiritual and would consider themselves Christians. For them to be excluded from the church has been eye-opening and disheartening.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with a gay Christian friend who told me that despite leaving the church he still had a very strong spiritual faith and wished he could grow spiritually in a church community. He wasn’t able to find a place to encourage his growth. That was eye-opening to me because I hadn’t seen my other friends have that experience. I became very passionate about changing the way that we approach people at the church so that church could become a place for all kinds of people to raise great families. Continue reading