Posts Tagged ‘Church’

Posted on March 2, 2010 - by rfrank

James MacDonald and the compelling church

I have always appreciated the preaching ministry of James MacDonald. Maybe you have heard his radio program, Walk in the Word, or you have visited one of his churches in the Chicago area. James is up there on my list and is on my Mount Rushmore of Preachers.

James has a great blog for pastors and ministry people. I want to share his latest blog post. It answers this question: Is Your Church Compelling?

There is a deafening, non-stop discussion in evangelicalism about what the church needs to be (many of the most vocal are those who pastor no one and win very few to our Lord). On and on they pontificate about how church needs to be personally relevant and interesting and meet felt needs. About how it needs to be entertaining for people without making them uncomfortable. About how it needs to be cool and compassionate and connected and cultural and . . . Here’s a “C” word for you, CHURCH NEEDS TO BE COMPELLING.

I believe with all my heart, that much of what the church has become in our day is measly, milk-toast, and malnourished. It’s about as compelling as a ‘walk in the mall.’ I believe the New Testament church needs to be compelling. By that I mean, window-rattling, life-altering, Almighty God unveiling, COMPELLING! (I was yelling when I thought/wrote that).

Here are five things that make church compelling:

1) “Thus Saith the Lord,” Preaching
The most common observation about Jesus’ teaching was “he teaches as one who has authority.” Yet even Jesus used the Word of God for his teaching. “Did not our hearts burn within us as he walked with us on the road and taught us from the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). A preacher who has been gripped by the Word of God and who is overflowing with Holy Spirit conviction will make a more compelling impact and draw a bigger crowd that all the cheesy substitutes currently popular. Nothing is more compelling than people coming to church and hearing from God through the word preached. Everything else is just pathetic by comparison. “And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

To read the rest of the post click here to go to Pastor James’ blog. It will be worth your time for sure.

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.

Posted on September 21, 2009 - by rfrank

Be my BFF

I need your help! We are working on our annual Trunk or Treat at my church and you’d be my BFF if you tell me what you’ve found that works and doesn’t work. Last year we decided to schedule the Trunk or Treat the same night as our town pumpkin walk and parade. We weren’t prepare for the big crowd that would bring. After 30 minutes, we were out of food and candy. We’re not gonna get caught like that this year. Here’s what we have planned so far:

• We formed a committee this year to spread out the work and so we can do a better job
• We are doubling the number of cars
• We are renting a few giant inflatables (new this year)
• We are going crazy on decorating this year (bails of straw, corn stalks, and pumpkins!)
• We are tripling the amount of food that we buy
• We are doing a hayride, petting zoo, face painting, hair coloring (the spray), and balloons – all new this year too
• We will have people vote for their favorite car and on the entry form we will get their contact info for follow up

Is there anything we are forgetting? Tell me what works and what doesn’t for your church and I promise, you’ll be my best friend forever!

Posted on September 4, 2009 - by rfrank

This week at Liberty All Stars

This week I wrote about the last few days at KidzMatter (click here to read it). I thought I’d tell you what’s been happening with my church ministry this week. Most of you know that I have a real job – it’s being a full-time children’s pastor at a great church. How do I balance a full-time CP job with a full-time parachurch ministry? That’s a blog post for another day!

Here’s what’s been happening in my children’s ministry this week:

• On Sunday we started a new Kidmo series (Deep). We do Kidmo about twice a year in Kid’s Church. I think it’s great stuff and the kids like the variety.
• Our Monday morning church staff meeting was a positive one – one of the better in a while! Afterward we went and ate Mexican for lunch. Yummy!
• The internet at the church has been running very slow this week. You knew I would insert something random, didn’t you?
• On Wednesday and Thursday I brought Dan Wetzel to the area to do school assemblies. The picture on this post is Dan. He’s a basketball entertainer and the kids really liked him. The teachers sent tickets home with the kids inviting them to a family night at our church Thursday night.
• The Thursday night family events (we do 2 to accommodate the crowd) were great. I had the privilege (cough) of opening the service with a few Uncle Charlie songs. Yes, I am still praying for a great kid’s worship leader! The crowds were not as strong as previous years, but we still had a lot of visitors. They heard the Gospel and learned about a church where exciting things are happening!
• Oh ya, I proofed the church bulletin at 9:00 Thursday night before going home. I even used a red pen.
• I took today off. However, Beth and I ended up laying out the logistics for our Trunk or Treat in October. We screwed up last year (planned on 300 and had 600 show up). So this year we’re doing it different – and hopefully better!
• Tonight we went out to eat with some friends that are going to help us organize our church marriage retreat this fall.

Posted on July 17, 2009 - by rfrank

Ten Ways to Breathe Easier in Ministry – Part 1

Leading a ministry can be tough work. If you’re not careful, the week-to-week effort can become routine and exhausting. Here are ten ways to breathe easier in ministry.

1. Get the monkeys off your back. A monkey is something that hangs on your back day and night and won’t let go. Too many leaders procrastinate and in the process end up carrying around too many monkeys. Deal with problems and don’t let them weigh you down! It’s a lot easier to walk without a dozen monkeys hanging on your neck.

2. Get training. Go to a good conference targeted to children’s leaders. Events like Children’s Pastors Conference, Orange, Kids in Focus, and the new Napkin Conference (I will be at all of these) will help you become the leader God wants you to be. They are a real shot in the arm. Whether you are brand new in ministry, or you have been doing it for years, you can never get enough training.

3. Delegate. Get experienced people to help you. Look for people in your church or on your team that can step it up a notch and give you a hand. Look for areas in your ministry that you are weak and find someone strong in that area to assist you.

4. Renew yourself spiritually. You’re like a sponge. If you give out and give out but never absorb, you will turn dry and crusty like an old sponge. You need to absorb as you give out. Place yourself under the teaching of your pastor. Listen to good Bible teachers online or on the radio. Read books. Spend time alone with God. When you absorb you have a lot more to give away.

5. Get control of your tasks; don’t let your tasks control you. Sometimes you would breathe easier if you simply got organized. Children’s workers aren’t always the most organized people. Clear those glue sticks and goldfish crackers off your desk and start getting organized.

Posted on June 2, 2009 - by rfrank

Your first 12 months in children’s ministry

People starting in children’s ministry often ask me what they should focus on the first 12 months of their ministry. Here are ten essentials.

1. Build solid connections with leadership. Set a weekly meeting time with your pastor. If you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen.

2. Choose your battles carefully. As the old saying goes, “major on the major and minor on the minor.” I’ve been the children’s pastor at my church for 12 years and I still have to choose my battles carefully.

3. Set a pattern of God first, family second, and ministry third. You have to establish this pattern from week one. Guard your day off. Let your spouse and kids know that they are more important to you than your job.

4. Smooze the church secretary. I know they have a reputation of being hard to deal with, but they know everything about the church and how things work. Church secretaries can be your best friend or your worst enemy – so determine to make her your best friend from the start.

5. Expect some criticism. You won’t be at the church for 30 days before someone tells you how it “use to be done” or “what they have found that works”. Accept the criticism with grace, nod your head and listen, then move ahead with your plans.

6. Take time to assess the church. Some of the best assessment will come when you volunteer to buy the youth pastor lunch. Spend time with the other members of the church staff. Ask who the power people are in the church. Learn who the money people are (normally the senior citizens). Find out where the church is weak and where it is strong. Discover the hot topics.

7. Bring parents on board with your vision and plan. Your #1 job as a children’s pastor is to help mom and dad raise Godly kids so involve them in your plans.

8. Pace yourself. Babies are born one at a time for a reason – your new ideas need to be too. Don’t try to do everything you have dreamed about in the first twelve months.

9. Connect with other children’s pastors. You need to do this locally, at conferences, and online. Get on Twitter and follow great children’s pastors like Sam Luce and Monica Morgan. Don’t try to do it alone.

10. Subscribe to K! Magazine. You don’t expect me to leave this out, do you? It’s one of the best resource out for children’s pastors and it’s less than 20 bucks a year. Ask around – you’ve gotta have it.

Posted on May 30, 2009 - by rfrank

No more people-pleasing

Too many pastors think they have to sell their soul to the church and the people in it. We try to please everyone and work our butts off to make sure everyone knows that we are “serious” about the Lord’s work. The problem is that it’s not Biblical. We need to stop people-pleasing. Everyone say it with me “No more people-pleasing.” One more time, “No more people-pleasing.” That’s a good start. Here are some practical steps to help.

1. Don’t make your ministry your identity. You are a children’s pastor – and I’d put money down that you’re a good one. But you are more than that. You’re a child of the King first and foremost. You’re part of the redeemed – the bride of Christ! One danger of being obsessed with what people think about you is that you forget what God thinks about you.

2. Crave the approval of God – not people. When Jesus was baptized in Matthew 3, the Father spoke from Heaven and said, “This is my Son… with him I am well pleased.” This is the goal! Let God ride shotgun for a while and put people-pleasing in the back seat.

3. Learn to say no. The words yes and no are the two most powerful words in the human vocabulary because they have the power to shape your future. You simply can’t do everything that is asked of you. If you don’t say no when you need to say no, you can’t say yes when God calls you to say yes.

4. Be the rock of Gibraltar and dont’ move. (I know you were wondering what the rock picture had to do with this blog post – now you know.) When you start saying no and stop living your life to please people, get ready because someone will get ticked. You may even get the “spiritual” guilt trip – but stand firm.

Listen to Paul: “Obviously, I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant” (Galatians 1:10 NLT).

So, how are you saying no to people-pleasing?