Lead Well

Photo by BBC Creative on Unsplash It’s coming to the end of the school year, and you’re probably thinking about promoting your kids to the next grade. But when is the best time? It’s a common question I’ve seen for years in Facebook groups. Someone looking for a change asks when everyone promotes their kids to the next grade and then a slew of comments ensues advocating for the beginning or the end of the summer. In my highly unscientific perusing of these comments, I’d say the answer is about 50/50. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do this and in my own ministry, I’ve experimented with both and see the pros and cons of each. Here’s what I’ve learned. Promote at the beginning of the summer. If you promote at the beginning of the summer, then your oldest kids, let’s say fifth graders, are mostly happy. A lot of them are already out the door ready to move to youth. They don’t want to be with the little ones anymore. Moving kids up at this time works well because you can do...

My first VBS was a fiasco. I don’t use that word lightly. It was.  We had 8 weeks to pull off the biggest event of the year for 100 kids and 30 volunteers. To make it even more complicated this was the first VBS the church hosted in years, I started the position in mid-May with the VBS to be held the last week of July, and I got married the week following. It was one of the hardest few months of my ministry career and by the grace of God we pulled it off. Kids accepted Jesus, learned about the Bible, and the church was encouraged. I learned so much that first year and have built upon that experience ever since. One of my biggest mistakes was trying to do it all. I’m a high-capacity person and sometimes (frequently in my younger days) over-confident. VBS has a way of humbling you. I learned quickly I need to give responsibilities away. Many of the curriculums I’ve used over the years give you an idea of how many volunteers you need and where they should serve. However, if y...

Photo by airfocus on Unsplash If you’re like me when you’re planning your first kid services, you’re probably following the model that you’ve seen before. Whether you learned it from a mentor, internship, or just watching another kid’s service, you’ve decided this is the order for the service. The game goes here. The worship goes here. The Bible story or sermon goes here. And that’s the way it’s supposed to go, because that’s the way it’s supposed to be done. I’m going to introduce a thought that might blow your mind. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can change things up. Drop things. Add things. Get creative and experimental. Test things to see if they work, evaluate, and try again. When I started at church number 1, I had a template for services where I just filled in the blanks. It made planning easier, and I could work in the ministry without having to work on the ministry. Being bi-vocational, I needed something that was plug and play and this worked. Click here if you...

It’s the Friday before Easter. You’ve been busy with all the marketing, event planning, service prep, and inviting. You’re probably a little tired and the light at the end of the tunnel that is Monday is looking better and better. But you also have a family and obligations there too. If you’re like me, it’s far too easy to let work overtake the home. All the focus is on what the Church is doing, and your family gets the leftovers. It’s not fair to them, and it’s not fair to you. What can you do? You can’t get out of Good Friday or Saturday’s Egg Hunt or Easter Sunday. It’s your job, and people are counting on you. It’s a struggle and not one that I have perfected. If you asked my wife, she would say I have a long way to go. Regardless, here are 3 tips to celebrate Easter (Or any Holiday) while you’re in ministry.  1. Take a cue from the Service Industry In ministry, it’s easy to take the "woe is me" mentality. You’re the only one who has to work on Easter, while ev...