Ryan Frank

Archive for December, 2009

Posted on December 27, 2009 - by rfrank

Email or text later!

Justin Carrell (Calvary Baptist Church) told me about a cool service called EmailFuture.com. It is a free service that lets you send emails in the future. Send a message in 10 minutes or in 10 years! He thought it was something children’s pastors should know about and I agree! They also have a text messaging service at textitlater.com where you can send texts in the future.

Cool stuff, huh? Think these could be tools for training volunteers in this digital age? Thanks Justin!

Posted on December 26, 2009 - by rfrank

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-26

• In the office early. Working on the church website. #fb #
• Celebrating Christmas with Beth's side of the family! #fb #
• It's a beautiful day here in Indiana! Snow flakes are falling! #fb #
• Wrapping up several rounds of chase, some rocket balloons and catch with Luci! #fb #
• Having a great time talking to @lynnepayne7 at the @kidzmatter office. #
• "When everything is said and done, there is more said than done" a quote from the one and only @jimwideman #kidmin #kmag #

Posted on December 24, 2009 - by rfrank

The greatest news event ever

Merry Christmas Eve from Beth & I. We will spend the day together as a family. We’ve been playing with Luci this morning, we’ll run to the church in about an hour to set up the platform for tonight’s communion service, then we’ll come back home for more family time together. I’ll probably make my famous (well, they are famous in our family) candied pecans. Tonight we will spend the evening with our church family. We love the Christmas eve communion service at my church. Then off to my parents to celebrate Christmas.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family and those you love. I want to share a very well-known passage of Scripture. The greatest news event ever was not the declaration of our  independence, it wasn’t man landing on the moon, it wasn’t even Al Gore inventing the Internet. It was the day that Christ’s birth was announced!

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:9-12; 13-14)

Merry Christmas! I am looking forward to a new year of ministry together!

Posted on December 21, 2009 - by rfrank

One funny picture!

You’ve probably seen this picture floating around the web. I think it’s one of the funniest picturs I’ve seen this season. Here’s the story:

Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas  decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.

Posted on December 19, 2009 - by rfrank

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-19

• Have a great Sunday!!!! #
• Great morning! I found out I needed to teach 60 preschoolers and had about 10 minutes to prepare. They were fun! #fb #
• @r_frank Hey! Will it float playin' at the church I'm visiting today! Good stuff! http://twitpic.com/tdfcc (via @kidologist) // awesome!! #
• Whew, the auditorium is cleaned up from last night's Christmas program. Nice feeling. #fb #
• Eating at Culvers. The best burgers in town!! #fb #
• RT @Kidology: The Kitchen has arrived. Curious? Visit http://bit.ly/8t5Gpk. #kidmin #cmconnect | a new curriculum // thanks Kidology! #
• Saving seats on the front row for Luci's preschool program. #
• RT @pastordsuazo: Oral Roberts just died at 91 years old. What a great life & legacy! Pray for their family. #
• I'm blessed to have @jimwideman as a friend. #
• Just learned that my Up Close & Personal Lunch at Childrens Pastors Conference is full. Maxed out at 300! Woohoo! @kidmin @cpc10 #fb #
• I'm happy. We just got faster internet at the church. woohoo! #fb #
• Church staff Christmas party tonight! Mexican theme! #fb #
• Baking sugar cookies with Luci for her Sunday School class in the am. #fb #

Posted on December 12, 2009 - by rfrank

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-12

• I love Sundays! #fb #
• "You don't need a title to make a difference" Sarah Palin #fb #
• 3 ways to grow a church: steal people (unethical), have babies (takes years), or attract people not going to church (bingo!). Barna #fb #
• Have you heard? http://www.childrensministryexpo.com @rogerfields #kidmin #cmconnect #fammin #
• Beef fried rice! #
• I'm thankful for great friends! #fb #
• Productive staff meeting with our KidzMatter team. Now the work begins! #fb #
• Jay Leno is on a roll tonight. #
• Can't wait for our KidzMatter Christmas party tonight! #fb #
• Writing my KidzMatter quiz for tonight's party! #fb #
• Evan won the KidzMatter Christmas quiz. Big surprise! #fb #
• It's freezing outside! #
• Past achievements do not guarentee future victories! #fb #
• Prayer meeting then church board meeting. #
• Waiting for an eternal train to pass. #

Posted on December 8, 2009 - by rfrank

How are things cooking in the Kitchen?

I’ve had a lot of you ask me how things are cooking up in The Kitchen. As you know, last week we launched our first ever year-round curriculum for children’s ministry. You can read my announcement here or learn more about the curriculum here.

Here’s what the last week has been like in a word: amazing! When we announced The Kitchen to the world (or the small part of the world that listens to us!) it started a buzz. This morning in our staff meeting I learned that last Tuesday (launch day) we saw a huge jump in traffic on the website. Many of you, I’m sure, were downloading the sample lesson or watching Tina’s intro video.

The response has knocked our socks off. Literally every day kid’s church leaders and children’s pastors are signing up for this new curriculum. They are talking to us too! Here is some of the stuff we are hearing:

“What a wonderful resource you have given kid’s pastors!  Of course, I was waiting for the announcement yesterday, and looked over the site once it came online.  It looked wonderful.  But last night late, I downloaded the sample and went through it more carefully.  I can say it’s the best curriculum I have seen.” BG

“Just finished watching the videos, reading the sample and I have to say this looks really great. I love how you have given us back the teaching role and yet have enough variety that will help my ‘extra’ energy kids hang with me. I’m going to give a quarter a try! Should be great to kick off the new year!” TB

Today in our staff meeting we prayed, by name, for every church and leader that has purchased The Kitchen and will be using it in their church. We understand the importance of what you are doing and are here to support you however we can.

As a children’s pastor, I understand that there are a lot of great curriculums available. I encourage you to download the sample lesson and see what sets The Kitchen apart from others. If you are looking for something teacher-driven, Bible-based, video-supported, with more stuff in each lesson than you could ever use, this might be what you are looking for.

Posted on December 5, 2009 - by rfrank

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-05

• Started this series in my Sunday School class this morning and it was great! http://www.fivethingsgoduses.com #fb #
• r_frank RT @kidzmatter2me: I am excited about Tuesday's big announcement from @KidzMatter! // I'm excited too! #kidmin #
• @yancynotnancy We did some Fancy Yancy Christmas today in kids church! They loved it. #kidmin #cmconnect in reply to yancynotnancy #
• RT @lynnepayne7: Don't have any biological kids (yet), but I have about 100 of the greatest kids ever. I love my job. #
• Preparing for a funeral of a 90-year-old saint in our church. She was a pillar in the church! #fb #
• A big announcement from KidzMatter is coming tomorrow! I can't wait! #kidmin #fb #
• Just ate 3 Pillsbury cherry turnovers. I hope the dough boy himself makes it to heaven. #fb #
• @kidzmatter2me Do you need oxygen? #
• RT @nataliemiller1: @r_frank @jimwideman @yancynotnancy Sent you all a copy of my DVD today! Will arrive later this week!! // can't wait! #
• Most of our staff is up late tonight getting ready for our big #kidmin announcement tomorrow! I need to take Evan some O2. #fb #
• We're ready to make our big announcement! Now we have to wait for it to strike noon EST! I hate waiting!! #fb #
• Church staff meeting in full swing #fb #
• RT @Kathrynjoy25: @r_frank so what time is the big announcement happening! Do we need to stay awake in Aus to hear it??!! // noon EST! #
• The Hoo's Christmas song that they sing dancing around the tree is playing in my mind and won't go away. #
• The secret is out! Check it out: http://www.kidzmatter.com/kitchen #kidmin #cmconnect #fb #
• Fighting heavy Chicago traffic. #fb #
• Got home from a 2 day trip to Awana headquarters. Spoke to 240+ employees and met with key leadership. Great time but ready for bed! #fb #
• One bad thing about being gone for 2 days is email catch up. I'm working through 450 that passed thru filters and landed in my inbox! #fb #
• I can't wait. http://www.thechurchlv.com/napkin-conference @napkinideas #napconf #
• "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Gal 6:9 #fb #
• A pint of example is worth a gallon of advise~ (via @CindyFiala) #
• A great night of The Office and 30 Roxk. #fb #
• Desk work, desk work, desk work #
• Roger Field's has announced a new event for children's ministry: http://www.childrensministryexpo.com #fb #
• Setting up for a video shoot tomorrow. I love video stuff. #fb #
• Flipsides pretzel crackers are the bomb. #fb #

Posted on December 1, 2009 - by edoyle

Look what we’re serving up

Today is a big day for the KidzMatter staffers here in Indiana. We are launching a new product called The Kitchen.

The Kitchen is a quarterly kid’s church curriculum that is Bible-based, teacher-driven, video-supported, and has tons of extras. I do mean tons of extras. When you download a sample lesson and check it out for yourself, you’ll see what I’m talking about! We hope you’ll be bummed that you didn’t get to everything you wanted to at the end of kid’s church.

The Kitchen is a dream come true – and not just for me. Last summer (2008) on our strategic planning day I announced to our staff that I wanted to start publishing curriculum. We decided we would start with elementary kids’ church.

Earlier this year (in May) I called Tina Houser on the phone and shared my vision with her for the curriculum. Tina was a full-time children’s pastor at the time where she had been serving for 17 years. I made the big ask and asked her to pray about joining my staff where she could focus her attention on making this curriculum a reality. It didn’t take long for her to say yes.

Bill Hybels talks a lot about hiring “tens.” When we got Tina, we got a ten. Tina has jumped in the driver’s seat and has pushed hard since July on The Kitchen. She has been writing like mad, hired a branding company, hired an animation studio to help with the videos, developed a great marketing strategy, and so much more.

Enough of the story, let me tell you what it so great about the curriculum. I’ll use bullet points to keep it simple.

• Teacher-driven. We know that most of you do kids’ church the traditional way with a teacher up front leading the action. We like that.
• Bible-based. This curriculum is not virtue or character-trait based. We figure as important as character traits are, kids learn those at school. This curriculum is about building a solid Biblical foundation in kids’ lives.
• Video-supported. We know today’s kids connect with videos and media. The Kitchen is video-supported, not video-driven. Each week you get a fun video to support your lesson.
• Extra galore! I’m talking puppet skits, games, object lessons, science experiments, Bible verses, take-home ideas, worship videos, PowerPoint slides, blessings, plus more! There’s plenty to pick and choose from.
• Subscription-based. Buy it by the quarter or by the year – it’s up to you.
• Electronic. Sorry, no thick notebooks or teacher manuals coming to you in the mail. Everything is downloadable.
• Affordable. All of this costs less than 10 bucks a Sunday.

Get to the website and learn more about The Kitchen for yourself. I can’t wait to start using it myself the first Sunday in January! You’re going to love it too! Be sure and let me know what you think.