Lead Well

A few months ago, I was challenged by the folks at Orange to do a parent survey to find out how the children's ministry is connecting and partnering with parents.  Through their product Weekly , they made it super simple by giving all the necessary templates to create my survey in Survey Monkey and launch it out to my parents. I got about 24% of all parents from birth to 5th grade to answer this survey by emailing about once a week to ask them to take the survey. It gave me a lot of great insight and a snapshot of how the ministry is doing. Since I asked parents outside of normal weekly email to them, I was able to use Mailchimp's powerful list tools to remove the people who either didn't open my email or didn't click the survey link.  This allowed me not to spam my parents who are engaged and minimized people taking the survey more than once. A  big boost to participation for this survey is I made it worth their while by promising to put them in a drawing

Working in a smaller church as a kids’ pastor can be really tough. Yes, I have fewer kids than most of the larger churches, but I also wear a lot of “hats” in addition to children’s ministry director. These responsibilities can include building maintenance, pastoral care, event production—the list could go on and on. With all these other responsibilities, focusing on children’s ministry can be difficult. I’ve heard many first-year children’s pastors ask the question, “When do I actually get to work with kids?” The truth is, within a 40-hour work week, you may work with kids anywhere from 2-6 hours per week, depending on how many services your church runs. That’s about 10 percent of your time spent in doing what you love. Over the years I’ve dealt with this problem, and discovered some strategies that have helped me maintain ministry excellence while also getting everything else done. Below are some of these strategies: 1. Set your priorities. Sometimes I ask people, “What are your

This year, was a much different list of books than I've read before.  I've learned that reading all non-fiction all the time can get boring and tedious.  So, I read more fiction than I've read since probably High School. It's a nice mini-vacation. In addition, I started writing book reviews for the AG Kidmin blog, which means I read a lot more children's ministry and spirituality books than I normally would have.  Here's my list: Smart Money Smart Kids by Rachel Cruze  Growing young by Kara Powell  The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson  Asohka by E. K. Johnston  The Daniel plan by Rick Warren  Framework Leadership by Kent Ingle  Well Versed by James Garlow  Do Over by Jon Acuff  Spreading the Fire by Scott Wilson  5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell  Foundations of Children's Evangelism by Dick Gruber  Clear the Stage by Scott Wilson  Rebel Rising by Beth Revis  Finish by Jon Acuff  Whisper by Mark Batterson What did you read in 201

With so many consoles out there and video games becoming a major part of the American childhood experience, many parents are asking which one should I get for my kids? As a lifelong gamer, I know the challenges and the overwhelming amount of information that's out there, so I'm creating this guide to help you make an informed decision for your kids this Christmas. First of all you should know that many console bundles that include a game and accessories are available usually for a reduced price. Also almost all consoles come with the following features: Online Connectivity Parental Controls At least 1 Controller Apps such as Netflix and Hulu 1. Nintendo Switch   Cost: $299.99 Free web: yes Kid Friendly: 5/5 Recommended games: Mario Kart 8 , Super Mario Odyssey , Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild If your kids are under the age of 10, this is the best system for your family.  It has fun, easy, and safe games for your whole family. This is Ninten

A few years ago, I read Brian Dollar’s book,  I Blew It . In one chapter he talks about investing in the next generation and mentoring kids to serve. I had done this in my previous church, but I wasn’t happy with the curriculum, so I contacted Brian and ordered his curriculum. I went through it and thought about how to work it into my church context and made some adjustments. I started my first class, called K-Team, a few months later with 12 students. Four of them— still to this day, five years later—have major roles in the children’s ministry. They serve as some of our main children’s church worship leaders and presenters. I believe you can do this too. You have kids in your ministry right now who God is calling into full-time ministry. You have other kids who will be lifelong servants. Either way, we want all our kids to have an authentic lifelong faith in Jesus Christ. Mentoring them to serve in ministry is one of the most surefire ways to do that. But how? Here are five ste

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,

Recently, I was given the opportunity to what it means to make room for God at Evangel's Annual Serve Team Training. We talked about 3 ways we can make room for God by Meeting for prayer before services.  Looking for divine appointments during the serve. Celebrating what God has done at the end. Download notes I'll post about putting on a training event for your volunteers at a later date.