Posts Tagged ‘Video’

Posted on March 1, 2010 - by rfrank

The Kitchen video sampler

Evan Doyle just emailed me and told me that our next KidzMatter email is ready to be proofed. Of course, I don’t proof it, that’s Tina’s job. You can thank me for that! But I always like taking a look at it before it hits the Inbox of over 15,000 children’s pastors and leaders.

Tomorrow’s email is about the overwhelmingly positive feedback we hear from everyone using The Kitchen. Evan also put together a cool video sampler to showcase some of the videos we have produced for the lessons. While the curriculum is not media-driven but teacher-driven, we understand the importance of media with today’s kids. That’s why we have invested so many resources into these videos. While we still have a way to go, the videos keep getting better and better every week.

After setting up and tearing down a portable video studio at my church for the first few months (a ton of work), we finally have a green screen studio of our very own! A church in town (my grandma’s church) had a few classrooms they weren’t using. They gave us a classroom to use as a video studio. It is such a blessing to have a real studio where we can leave everything set up and ready to shoot. I’ll have to share some pictures of our studio in an upcoming blog post.

Click here to watch the video that we will be sharing tomorrow. Enjoy!!

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 8, 2009 - by rfrank

Tuesday Talk: Ryan Wolfe

Tuesday Talk is a weekly feature on my blog. Each week, I interview one children’s ministry expert and ask for their answer to a question. Check back every Tuesday for a new interview.

This week on Tuesday Talk:
Ryan Wolfe answers the question, “What are five ways that a video camera can enhance your children’s ministry?”

Using video in ministry is a necessity. I probably don’t have to sell that point. What some people may not realize is that something as simple as a video camera can breathe new life into your ministry. It can…

Take your ministry beyond the walls of your church. We filmed our children signing worship songs and our leaders teaching VBS style lessons. These DVDs were handed out to families along with craft kits and, bingo, we had a Backyard VBS in 12 different neighborhoods totaling over 200 kids.

Increase Bible memorization. Let me go one step beyond that. It can make Bible memorization fun! We teach our monthly Bible verse in sign language every Sunday on DVD. Kids are learning God’s words in 2 languages.

Make training meetings successful. What is more frustrating that having no one show up to a training meeting? Film your trainings and send them home on DVD with your Team Members or post them online.

Make your praise time come to life. Do you feel like your kids are zombies during praise time? Put a video camera on them and tell them you are making music videos. Then actually use those videos for praise time the following week.

Increase retention for vital announcements. Kids often “misremember” critical announcements because we don’t always have their attention. Film a child or a teen giving the announcement like it is an infomercial. Your kids will be glued and will not forget those important announcements.

Ryan Wolfe:
Married to a Superhero (Melissa)
Father to 2 of God’s finest creations (Rocco & Zoe)
Family Pastor at First Christian Church in Canton, OH for the past 7 years
He’s blessed to work with 500+ children every week
Where else could he go to get paid to be a big kid?
Training kids and equipping parents is his passion

Posted on June 15, 2009 - by rfrank

Death is not dying

Today my wife heard about a mother of two named Rachel from Vancouver, Canada, who only has a few weeks to live. Her story is amazing. She has a website that you have to see. Be sure to watch the video on the homepage. It was recorded on March 4th of this year. What started out as a speaking engagement for 40 women from her church turned into an event attended by over 600 women.

This story will is amazing and is life-changing. Click here to go to Rachel’s website.