Starting Sidewalk
Wanting to start Sidewalk in your own area? Good on you - but Sidewalk is definitely not for the weak hearted. It is strongly recommended that you thoroughly do the necessary research – not just in your area, but also your church, your own leadership capability and whether you’re committed to the long haul.
It is also strongly recommended that you attend a Kidz Klub Conference at Frontline Centre in Liverpool – or if you really want to take it further – visit Metroministries in New York.
More often than not, running a Kidz Klub is all that is needed to reach out to your area – the only variable being the dedication, commitment, teachability and humility of you yourself – the leader, and the support team behind you, be it your church leadership, the church, or your motley crew. Remember – everything rises and falls on leadership. If you’re thinking of ‘moving on’ in the near future – don’t even bother starting.
If you still want to start Sidewalk – here are some factors you need to take into consideration.
1 You need the 100% backing of your Church Leadership & Church. If you’re married and have a family – your family needs to be behind you 100%, if not - forget it.
2 To make the Sidewalk Truck worthwhile – you need to eventually aim for a minimum five sites each week with a minimum six team members per site.
3 Due to the British weather – you can only realistically run for a maximum six - eight months of the year – i.e. March/May – October inclusive. Traditionally, your team members will have been on holiday every summer since the day they were born – you need to take this into account in your planning or else they will resent you for it.
4 Insurance, tax, and expensive maintenance & repairs for the vehicle (excess £1000 a year)
5 What are you going to do for the rest of the year? An indoor kidz klub or work with the youth who’ve come through the Sidewalk Kid Klub – in turn training/discipling them up as Sidewalk Workers and within your Church.
6 At some point in the future, for each site (also known as Satallite Kidz Klub) – there has to be some integration with the local Church or dedicated Church plant. This is why there has to be communication and cooperation between the Sidewalk Team and local area teams/churches - preferably from before you begin.
7 For each site it is best for at least two team members (or two couples) to be living longterm in one of the respective local areas. If you can’t share your personal every day life with your kids – what exactly are you sharing?
8 Visitation is part and parcel of the Sidewalk Kidz Klub – your children's ministry will be largely ineffective without it.
9 Regarding visits, if you want fifty kids at your kidz klub, you need to visit 110. If you want a hundred kids, you need to visit 220. This is a general pattern seen throughout kidz klubs we've seen here in the UK and beyond. You need to decide how many kids you can realistically reach out to – then step out in faith for more.
10 The Sheffield Sidewalk Truck cost in the region of £20,000 – fully kitted out with PA, Power Supply & Inverter, Cabinets – ready to roll. It is strongly recommended that the Truck purchased is five years old or less.
11 For a full working pattern of how Sidewalk works - visit the Kidz Klub website. They have an excellent section on ‘how to’ in every part of the program. They also have excellent resources on CD ROM for lessons, games, flyers etc. There is nothing new about Sidewalk – we use resources from both Kidz Klub and Metroministries.
We've seen leaders waste time and energy trying to come up with object lessons and teaching material for "their own" kids when 9 times out of 10, we can guarantee that you’ll find it in one or both resources.