Posts Tagged ‘Events’

Posted on November 4, 2009 - by rfrank

9 trends in CM leadership – part 5

Trend #5: The traditional children’s ministry model is changing

Eleven years ago when I was hired to be the children’s pastor at my church, I was expected to oversee the ministries of the church for birth through sixth grade. A big part of my job was recruiting and training volunteers, teaching children’s church, and overseeing programs like Sunday School and Awana. Today, that job description has changed, and not just for me but thousands of others. It’s changing because the traditional model of children’s ministry is changing.

Children’s pastors are now expected to formulate a plan for helping parents. In the hiring process, children’s pastors had better be prepared to answer the question, “What are you going to do to help the parents of our church grow great kids?”

This change is for the good. We are waking up to the fact that the children’s/youth pastor is not the main spiritual influencer of a child—it’s mom and dad. This means that the children’s pastor must put tools in the hands of parents and help them take the lead. The model of ministry is changing from doing ministry for parents to doing ministry with parents.

I recommend that you read Larry Fowler’s book, Raising a Modern-Day Joseph (David C. Cook). Larry is the executive director of global training for Awana. In this book, he compels the church to rethink the way it does children’s ministry. Larry recognizes this change in what ministry to kids looks like and encourages the church to formulate a plan that includes the senior pastor, the youth pastor, the children’s pastor, and parents.

As a result of this model change, we are seeing more and more experiential ministry events. The idea is that the family should learn and grow together, which is often characterized by family fun nights, movie nights, family camps, and family services. If used properly, these can really help families connect and grow closer together. However, taken to an extreme, there would be no age-level programming. It is also difficult to find extra time outside of the regular service times for these venues.

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 1, 2009 - by rfrank

The last few days at KidzMatter

It’s been a great few days at KidzMatter. Here’s the low down on what we’ve been up to.

• We had a great staff meeting today. I bought everyone lunch (thanks for picking it up, Evan) at a new place in town called Culvers.
• Evan is having some computer problems. Evan and computer problems is not good.
• Tina and I both did training events this weekend in Georgia (different cities) and had a great weekend. Tina made my day when she said that the event ended by the organizer reading an excerpt from K! Magazine… and she had nothing to do with it!
• I flew into Atlanta early before my speaking engagement Friday night and Saturday. I drove up to Cummings, GA to meet with Reggie Joiner. We started with breakfast while talking the world of children’s and family ministry. Then we went over to the reThink condo where I met some of his team and learned about a new product they are working on. (The picture on this post is Reggie working on his laptop in the condo.) Then Reggie took me a few blocks over to their main offices. Like I expected, we wished we would have had more time to talk. We’ll make it happen later.
• I ate at Chic-fil-a four times in two days. Random, I know.
• Our team decided on a branding company that is helping us roll out a whole new line of resources in 2010. The cat’s still in the bag, but you’ll be hearing about it soon. I’ll just tell you that it’s big.
• I hired a new administrative assistant. Lara Collett is working at KidzMatter now! She has been volunteering since June. Today was her first day as a “real” employee!
• We’re trying to nail a time to meet with our strategic planner this month. Everyone’s schedule is nuts.
• The September/October issue of K! Magazine printed and is dropping in the mail. It might be the best one yet.
• We rescheduled our Christmas party and bumped it up two days.
• Oh, last week was a crazy week for new K! Magazine subscribers. They flooded in all week! Ya baby!

As you can see, things are hoppin’ at KidzMatter. God has blessed us with the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of several thousand children’s pastors and leaders. It’s been a good few days!

Posted on August 1, 2009 - by rfrank

D6 is coming up!

I’ve been excited about the D6 Conference since I learned about it a year ago. It’s coming up September 23-25 in Dallas. Beth and I will be there and we’d love to see you too. I will be leading two labs. Lab 1 is abotu partnering with parents to grow great kids. Lab 2 is where I get to share 20 hot new resources for children’s ministry.

Did you know that you can save some $$ if you sign up by August 4th? It’s the last chance to save and get a great early bird rate. You don’t need a special code, just get on their website and register!

I hope to see you at the conference. It’s going to be a great opportunity to network, learn and grow in your ministry.

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 26, 2009 - by rfrank

New Kids Conference

I just learned about a new kids conference and family night that might be coming to a city near you! It’s called KICKIR (Kids In Christ Keeping It Real).The theme of the ‘09-’10 event is Grow & Go.

You can even host a KICKIR event at your church. You’ll get some great entertainment, worship, teaching – both for kids and adults. You’ll recognize some of the names behind this new event; names like Brandon Rushin, Uncle Charlie, Keith Coast and Brent Weber. Get over to their website and check it out for yourself! It looks like a winner to me.