How to Motivate Kids in NextGen Without Leaving Anyone Behind
These two stories and several more helped me develop my philosophy on motivating kids in ministry. The way I see it, there are three ways to encourage them to bring their friends, offering, Bibles, memorize scripture, or whatever.
4 Next Level Ideas for Your Fall Festival
Now that summer is out of the way, it’s time to start looking toward the fall. And in church world that frequently means you’re doing some kind of fall festival. These events are great for bringing guests to your church campus, while also serving the community.
3 Must Haves for Your Kidmin Area
Picture this, you’re given free reign to create your perfect Kidmin space. Whatever theme for décor? You get to do it. However many classrooms? You can have them. Whatever kind of seating? Here you go.
Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?
Teaching Kids to Pray Effectively
Would you say your prayers are effective?
You’re not alone if you feel inadequate. The disciples did too when they came to Jesus in Matthew 6 and asked him to teach them how to pray. They’d been praying their entire lives but saw that Jesus’ prayers were far more effective, and so they wanted a taste of that.
Branded House vs House of Brands: Which is Right for Your Ministry?
What’s the name of your ministry? Is it fun? Is it easy to understand? Does it have a battle reference in it?
Church ministry names are as creative as there are people. We love to name things, but a lot of times when we name them, we don’t answer the essential question.
5 Sources for Finding Ideas for Your Ministry
The thing is you were never meant to do ministry alone. We need other people for creativity, innovation, and support. The best part of the age that we live in now is that we don’t have to meet these people face to face to be a part of the community. There are many sources we can turn to get help, support, coaching, and so much more that will help take your ministry to the next level.
4 Types of Work in NextGen Ministry
The dirty secret of children’s ministry, specifically, and NextGen ministry in general is that very little of your time as a pastor is spent ministering to that age group. In reality, you will spend 1-3 hours a week actually leading them, while the other 40+ hours are spent doing other things.
How to Lead When You're not in Charge
In a previous post, I said there are three groups every NextGen pastor leads. However, there is a fourth group you lead and interact with every day.
That’s the other people on the church staff.
No matter where you serve, you are not a ministry unto yourself.
5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Church Management System
So, we landed on option 3. Find another system. But that’s far easier said than done. After weeks of meetings and weighing our options, we finally landed on a cloud based system that suited our needs far more than our previous system.
If you’re starting the same journey, here are 5 questions you should ask before you pick one that’s best for your church.
5 Steps to Attending Service in Kidmin
One of the hardest parts of serving in Children’s ministry is never getting to go to service. Some pastors require their kids’ leaders to attend the adult service, but those are rare. Other kidmin pastors have figured out how to attend somewhat regularly, but it's not the same as before they became a leader.
Part of the problem comes from the complexity of kidmin. It’s more than just one service.
5 Volunteer Statements for Your Ministry
No matter what job you do there are certain phrases and words that are specific to your culture. Most of these words and phrases develop naturally over time as a result of events, ministries, or your denomination. For example, I’m in the Assemblies of God. Here are just a few of the acronyms that any minister in the AG (see what I did there) will know.
75 Questions to Ask Before You Start Your Ministry Job
Starting a new ministry position can be scary. We don’t know what the future holds or what to expect. We’re filled with enthusiasm and passion for the next chapter, but a lot of times we go in blind. I've been there. It's never fun to be surprised when things happen we don’t expect. Inevitably, we fall into the comparison trap of what we did at the last church.
When You Feel Like It's Time to Go and What to Do About It
Whatever it is, for better or worse, there will come a time for you to say goodbye. We are all itinerant ministers. There was probably someone before you, and there will most likely be someone after you. Even if you serve for 50 years in the same place, time and people move on.
But how do you know when it’s time to move on? How do you know it’s a prompting from God and not your emotions getting the better of you?
3 Groups who Attend Your VBS (and Which One to Focus On)
It’s VBS season and for many churches, the event is seen as an outreach. We want to get as many kids as possible through the door, show them the way to Jesus, and then hopefully get them to come back on Sunday.
But when you put on outreach events, it’s important to realize that not everyone is seeking Jesus, not everyone is new, and not everyone is a prospect for coming to your church. This isn’t a reason not to do the event, but we need to be aware.
5 Ideas to Celebrate Dad on Father's Day
Father’s Day is next week, and your church may be thinking of some ways to celebrate dad. In a lot of churches, this day is overlooked. Especially since so much time and resources were spent on Easter and Mother’s Day, this day gets the scraps. However, Father’s Day can be made just as special as these other two days with some intentionality and creativity.
5 Steps to Managing Your Time this Summer
It’s summertime and for many in NextGen ministries this is not a time to kick back and relax, but the busiest time of the year. You have more and bigger events over the three summer months than you have for the rest of the year. Add to that you have vacations, volunteer turnover, absences, and overall lower attendance, it can be exhausting and overwhelming.
So, what do you do? How do you juggle all the things and still grow the ministry or at least survive the summer?
A Simple VBS Fundraiser
One thing about VBS is that it takes a lot of supplies. Crafts, games, decorations, Bible stories and so much more all need stuff. It’s a lot to handle and can be one of the biggest line items in your budget.
To keep my costs down, I’ve used this one fundraiser for years with great success.
15 Things I've Learned Over 15 Years of Ministry
Today is my 15th anniversary of vocational ministry. I owe my first job to Steve Lambert who saw potential in me and gave me a shot as a kid’s pastor. He paid for me to finish college, officiated my wedding, and gave my wife and I a place to live. I am forever thankful for his vision and generosity.
5 Questions to Create Your VBS Schedule
VBS is one of the most complex ministry outreaches in children’s ministries. It takes 3-6 months to put on a one-week event for tons of kids and a major part of the kidmin annual rhythm.
One of the more complex yet essential parts of VBS is the schedule. It answers the question, “How are you going to get multiple groups of kids to multiple rooms throughout your campus all at the same time, not lose anyone, make time for bathroom breaks, and still get all the content covered?”
When should kids move to the next grade in kidmin?
It’s coming to the end of the school year, and you’re probably thinking about promoting your kids to the next grade.
But when is the best time?
Get resources to lead well in your ministry.
This downloadable manual will help you develop and deploy your own policy and procedure manual for your ministry.