Lead Well

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash While at church number 2, we became a multisite church. As we were preparing for the launch, I started to think about kids check-in and the best way we can do it at two locations at the same time. Our current check-in system was part of a local network church management system (ChMS) and if you don’t know what that means, basically we could only use the system if you were on the church’s internet. So, I was left with three options. Come up an analog way to do check-in Set up a separate server with our check-in system at the other location Find another system. The analog system could have worked, but then the kids’ leaders would have to report back to me weekly attendance data, and then someone would have to hand key that info into our digital system. In addition, we wanted to have as close to the same experience at both locations, and the analog way would not have achieved this goal.  Not ideal; but workable. The separate server wasn’t real...

Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash I was stuck. We were finally coming back from COVID and starting Wednesday night services back up. We decided to rebrand the night for adults and focus on groups instead of the traditional Wednesday night service. This was great for adults, but what about kids? Will I have the same kids every week? How long will the groups meet? What should I do on First Wednesday, when I’ll have more kids? To make things harder, I wasn’t sure how many kids, if any would come back, and the time I had available to prep another service was very limited since I was doing Sunday online and in person. I’m in the Assemblies of God , so most our churches have Royal Rangers and Mpact Girls Clubs on Wednesday nights. However, I’m seeing more and more churches move away from these programs and others like it for various reasons. This post is not an advocation for or against them, but if you’ve already decided to not do them or exploring your options, I hope this can h...

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash I recently saw a post on a Facebook group asking how many volunteers they need for 30-40 kids. It was really a question about ratios, which are very important, but having the correct room ratio may not be enough when thinking about the right number of volunteers. I’ve written about this before , but when I first started in kidmin, you could have called my Sunday morning service the David Reneau show. I led worship, told the Bible story, managed check-in and sound, pretty much every element of the service I had a hand in or was running it. I had a few volunteers relegated to crowd control, but not many more because, why? I was doing all of it, why did I need more people to sit with kids and keep behavior under control. I was running the ministry in what is called a maintenance structure. I needed to set up the ministry for growth. If I wanted to take the ministry to the next level, then I needed the structure to support it. One tool you’ll need b...

Photo by Jesus Loves Austin on Unsplash If you’ve been doing small groups in your kids service for any length of time, you may be asking what is the best way to split the kids up? Do we do it by grade? Gender? Favorite candy? Random? The truth is there is no perfect answer and depending on the size of your ministry and how many kids show up per service the answer will be different. I’ve studied churches like Northpoint Community Church and Church of the Highlands and asked them what they do. In addition, I've spoken with several Orange Specialists on what are the best practices for small groups. Here’s what I’ve found.

Since starting my new position, I've had to build a team of dedicated volunteers to accomplish our mission or developing an authentic faith in Jesus Christ in kids that will last a lifetime. Most of the team I'm building right now are Small Group Leaders. In the past, these leaders were Sunday School teachers, so I am working on transitioning them from Sunday School to Small Group. Some people may say that these two are the same, but in fact, their main goals make them fundamentally different. In Sunday School, the goal is discipleship through instruction.  We're worried about whether or not the kids know the difference between the northern kingdom or the southern.  We make sure they know the different places Paul traveled on his three missionary journeys. Most importantly we teach them about Jesus and what he did. In Small Groups, the goal is discipleship through relationship.  We're worried if a kid knows how to apply what their learning about the Bible....

This summer I decided to make the switch from Group VBS to Orange VBS. I knew this was going to be a big change for everyone. I've done Group for almost 20 years. It's the only VBS I knew and the only one I've led. I even got to be a part of a focus group for Group a few years ago. A few years ago, I transitioned my children's ministry to the Orange curriculum. I loved the strategy, my small group leaders loved the simplicity of following the curriculum, and my kids loved all the fun they were having. When I started at my church almost 6 years ago, they held several VBS programs in the past but they were hit and miss over the past 10 years, so I had a clean slate and did what I knew by bringing Group VBS to them. Group helped us grow from a VBS of 100 kids to over 300. They were great to us. However, I wanted to be more strategic and I loved the fact that the Orange VBS theme lined up with the summer series. So, I casted vision, laid the groundwork, ...

We’ve been doing Orange for about 2 years and made the transition to small groups 5 years ago. Growing up in the traditional children’s church model of Sunday School and Large group, it has been an uphill battle understanding what it takes to lead a quality small group that focuses on relationship over content and teach others to do the same. One of the hardest principles of Lead Small is Partner with Parents. I know it’s a great idea, and I use the tools that 252 provides for take homes, but I wasn’t confident that my SGL’s were connecting with their few or their parents outside of Sunday morning. One of the things I love about Weekly is their weekly to do lists. I don’t do everything on the list, but it’s great to get some ideas. Recently, they listed a small group leader focus group. I loved all the questions and how it gave me a plan to get a pulse on what my small group leaders were thinking. I’ve learned that unless you put something on the calendar it won’t happe...

On May 27, I held a small group leader training that focused on classroom management.  We had a great time and learned a lot. Below you will find the training video as well as the notes for the training. Student Notes