Forms, Meetings and Hanging Pictures! Week 1 at The Rock

If you haven’t heard, I am the new children’s pastor at the Rock of Southwest in Littleton, Colorado. The kids ministry is called Kids Rock! (Pretty awesome, as kids DO rock!)

KidsROCK_logo_mdThis Sunday I’ll be introduced as we say farewell to the current children’s pastor who is moving out of state. Kim is well loved and has been a wonderful leader of the children’s ministry – so nice to pick up where a great leader left off, while at the same time being excited about what’s next!

So how did my first week go?

Since I had a week before I’m officially introduced on Sunday, I was able to focus mostly on meeting the staff and setting up my office. (And filling out lots of forms.)

karlemptyofficeIt’s kinda fun starting out with an empty office and figuring out how to arrange the furniture and what to bring from home to make it HQ for the Kids Ministry.

karlofficesortaI didn’t want my back to the door – with two youth pastors here, as well as a youth intern… your back to the door isn’t wise! But seriously, it’s so that I can communicate that I’m available and eager to engage with whoever drops by!

I’m adjusting to commuting to work! No more staying in my PJ’s all day… (not that I did that, but I could have!) Luckily, I’m generally heading the opposite direction of the typical rush hour since I’m heading away from Denver rather than toward it, but already twice I got to sit in stopped traffic due to accidents. (Note: pics taken while stopped.)

crash1First some guy spun out and crashed into the center guard rail. He seemed fine, but embarrassed over miles of back ups and gawkers passing him slowly. Some may have glared at him. I said a little prayer.

crash2The next one was a lot worse and caused a re-route in the opposite direction of home. It was a good reminder that driving is dangerous and to be alert. Obviously, the more you drive the more you increase the need to be cautious and aware and drive defensively.

So what did I do all week?

One of the first things I did was to set up a Kids Rock Twitter account to use for text notifications about the ministry. Of course, if you are on Twitter you can follow, but parents and volunteers don’t need to join Twitter to get posts – all they have to do is text “Follow @KidsRockSW” to 40404 and they will get text alerts any time I post. Its a simple and free way to offer text alerts for the ministry.

But the highest priority was connecting with others. I got to meet with my preschool coordinator, elementary coordinator and midweek coordinator as well as my assistant. (Next week I meet with my intern from Colorado Christian College – how awesome is that?) I’ve never had paid staff before other than occasionally a part-time assistant. But I gotta say, though, the leadership teams I’ve had probably should have been paid when you consider the ownership, responsibility and time investment they gave. But I’m eager to have that level of administrative support for this ministry.

I had a lunch with someone every day (other staff members) and got to plan my first event and learn the channels for event planning, calendar coordination, getting editing and approval, and working with the graphic design team. So amazing to have the structure and teamwork they have at this church.

If you live in the area, of course, you are invited to:

POOFhandoutcoverIt will be a fun evening of magic, puppetry and other elements to introduce myself to the kids and families while also sharing a bit of my philosophy of ministry and vision for Kids Rock!

Of course, set up a new Mac and got my new e-mail @therockofsouthwest.com working. Everyone I give it to jokes about how long our church domain is, so I’ve been joking that my e-mail is “karl at thelongestdomaininchurchhistory.com” – As it turns out, that site actually exists! Check out: www.thelongestdomaininchurchhistory.com (Yup. And that karl@ e-mail works too!)

To top it all off, I even got a plate of cookies from the senior pastor’s wife. Not a bad week.

karl_cp_officedoor

I’ll continue to blog updates as I learn the ropes, get organized, and start to lead the Children’s Ministry at The Rock! So stay tuned!

 

 

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