team
January 26, 2015
I will never forget the Staff Meeting where I confronted my Pastor about why I wasn't made aware of the big Missions opportunity that the rest of the staff seemed to already know about. I let him know how upset I was that "those of us who are in Children's Ministry and aren't able to be in the Sanctuary on Sundays shouldn't be kept in the dark. My pastor kindly asked me, "Brian, did you not read the bulletin the last few weeks?" I had not. "Did you read the letter I sent home to every household in our church?" […]
June 30, 2014
The other day I answered a question that was posed in a Children's Ministry forum that I belong to. "How do you all handle seeing Facebook posts of your adult volunteers drinking or bar hopping?" There was definitely a diversity of opinion among the members of the group. So, I thought that this would make a good blog post and a healthy conversation. Before I get into it, let me make something perfectly clear: This is my opinion. I am not declaring doctrine, nor am I telling you what your standards should be. I am simply sharing my personal thoughts on the […]
May 19, 2014
It was a hot Summer afternoon in Dallas, Texas in 1993. I had a flat tire - and no spare. I locked my car, left it on the side of busy I-35E in the middle of rush hour traffic, and started running to the closest service station about 1 mile away. I got there, bought a cheap spare tire, and rolled it back down the hill to my car. I had only been gone approximately 20 minutes. When I arrived, I found my back window broken with glass all in my back seat. I looked inside to find that my […]
March 19, 2014
It's a question I get on a regular basis: "How do you get folks in the church to volunteer when they think it is the Children's Pastor's job to do the ministry?" This is one of the most difficult tasks of a Kidmin Leader - Recruiting Volunteers. I can tell you, there is no magic formula. The only way to recruit successfully is by CONTINUOUS hard work and adherence to a few key principles. However, there are three important keys that I live by. Hopefully they will help you to build a strong team of leaders to serve the […]
January 13, 2014
This past week, I was asked by a fellow Kids Pastor - "What do you consider a WIN for your volunteers?" I shared with him my thoughts and thought I would share them with you as well. Kid-Connection - When a volunteer gets to the point where their main focus when they are in Kids Church (or other area of Kidmin) is to connect with the kids that are present, rather than the other adults that are present, then we have a WIN! We push our team to engage every child they can, learn their name, and find out what […]
December 23, 2013
The last few posts have been about the importance of building a team, but once you have made the choice to do ministry as a team, then you need to make sure you choose the right kind of people to be your Kidmin team members. It’s not about just “getting a warm body to sit in this classroom with these kids.” You want your team to be remarkable. You want a bunch of F.A.T. C.A.T.S.! F – Faithful When you assemble your ministry team, look for those who are faithful. Faithful people show up when they say they will, they […]
December 16, 2013
I have made a decision that I never want to do ministry alone. Whenever possible, I try to make sure that I have someone with me. If make a home visit, I bring someone along. When I am speaking at a conference, I bring someone with me. When I am visiting a child in the hospital, I bring someone along. Every chance I get I want to add to the ministry team God has called me to lead. Reasons to have a team approach: 1) Avoid Burnout If you insist on being "the man" or "the woman" in your Kids […]
November 12, 2013
On November 2, 2013, I completed my first marathon - at the ripe old age of 40. I definitely would not encourage anyone to wait until they are 40 to run their first, but I wouldn't take anything away from my experience. It was an experience that changed my life - both the race and the training I went through to get there. I learned a lot of lessons through this marathon. Over the next several blog posts, I would like to share with you some of those lessons. I don't expect most of you to ever actually run a […]
June 4, 2012
We all love those moments in ministry when everything seems to be clicking. The team is rocking, the place is growing, the numbers are climbing, and the morale is as high as its every been. It's what many leaders call "The Big MO" - a.k.a. MOMENTUM! Momentum in ministry should NEVER be taken for granted. You never know how long it will last. You want to make the most of it and capitalize on it. If you aren't careful, you might lose it. Here's a quick hit list of some of the biggest MOMENTUM KILLERS. 1) PRIDE - There is nothing […]
October 3, 2011
KIDMIN QUESTION: "In a small church, it can be difficult to get enough volunteers since you are just starting out. What do you think about people who aren't Christians volunteering with kids?" - submitted by Dan in Santa Monica, California I understand that many of you will have differing opinions than I have on this subject. I want you to know that it is OK - and I welcome the discussion. Please leave comments below. Let's share our approach and reasons for it. My personal opinion and conviction on this matter is that all volunteers in Kids Ministry should go […]
September 6, 2011
picking up where pt. 2 left off - here is the conclusion of my thoughts on recruiting volunteers... 8) Develop a job description and communicate CLEAR expectations. You can’t expect a volunteer to “just know” what they need to do. When possible, give a complete list of expectations in writing to avoid confusion. There is nothing worse than giving someone a job to do and not clearly communicating expectations. The volunteer has no way to know if they are doing what is expected or not. This breeds confusion, so communicate expectations ON PAPER so there is no question as to […]
August 29, 2011
KIDMIN QUESTION: “When recruiting, how do you help potential volunteers respond out of the right motivation (God honoring, using their gifts, etc) instead of guilt?” - submitted by Donna Leupp in Peshtigo, WI Picking up where Pt. 1 left off - here are more principles to follow when recruiting volunteers for your Kidmin Team... 4) Develop a ministry application for volunteers to complete. Sit down and put together an application that not only gathers pertinent contact information, but also asks probing questions that give you insight into the person you are considering. What are their likes/dislikes? What experience do they have working with kids? What […]
August 22, 2011
KIDMIN QUESTION: "How do you get folks in the church to volunteer when they think it is the Children's Pastor's job to do the ministry?" - submitted by Mike Benintende, N. Versailles, PA This is one of the most difficult tasks of a Kidmin Leader - Recruiting Volunteers. I can tell you, there is no magic formula. The only way to recruit successfully is by CONTINUOUS hard work and adherence to a few key principles. In the next few posts, I will share some of those keys that I have learned. Hopefully they will help you to build a strong team […]
August 8, 2011
WEEKLY KIDMIN QUESTION: "What has been the biggest change in your Kids Ministry philosophy in the past 20 years?" - submitted by Jon Warneke of Polson, MT It's hard to believe I am even qualified to answer this question, since to do so means I would have actually had to BE IN Kids Ministry for nearly 20 years. It's true though - I am officially an OLD MAN! I began my Kids Ministry life in 1992 as a sophomore in College serving at a local church. I had NO idea what I was doing when it came to leading kids […]