Home Archive by category "Kidmin" (Page 21)

Category: Kidmin

Get Results From Being Positive

Have discipline issues in your class, club or program? How do you train kids to behave? Hopefully no one will take offense at me comparing training kids to training my dog, but house training our Teddy reminded me of the power of positive reinforcement. As first time dog owners, we had to learn to house train our little puppy by trial and error. We listened to people, read articles, and even signed up for doggie training at our local Pet Smart… but the results were discouraging. Months into him joining our family, I was secretly thinking of giving him away because of being weary of cleaning up the unpleasant “gifts” he was leaving around the house. (Though, I knew that wasn’t really an option if I wanted to keep living in house!) Then we had a break through. A friend told me – give up scolding him or correcting him when he messes up. (He can’t understand you anyway.) Instead, when he does do his business outside where you want him to, CELEBRATE it to the MAX! So when he did it right, we jumped up and down, we clapped and cheered yelling “GOOD TEDDY.” Basically, the advice was go overboard…

Continue reading

Horse Race vs. Locomotive Ministry

If a train were to race a horse, over the long haul the train would certainly win. The average train cruises along at speeds well over 100 mph, whereas a race horse runs about 35-45mph. But in a short sprint, the race horse would leave the train in it’s dust. Have you ever watched a train start? You might fall asleep! Have you ever watched a horse race start? When the gate opens the horses burst out and the race is on! Which describes your ministry programming? VS. When it comes to children’s ministry, we certainly are in the business of long term results, but when it comes to a Sunday morning – we don’t have a lot of time. We MUST gain kids attention and fast so that we can lead them into a life-changing learning experience. Slowly picking up speed from a dead stand still is a formula for boring kids and disengaging their active minds. Your children’s ministry programming, whether it is Kid’s Church or a midweek club – needs to START promptly and be off and running as soon as the “gate” opens. I’ve been saying it for years, “You don’t demand kid’s attention – you…

Continue reading

We’ll Get To That Someday…

When I ask kidmin leaders what they are doing about child safety and security in their church, I often hear things like, We aren’t big enough…      We’re still looking into it…           We’ll get to that someday… As a children’s ministry leader, Child Safety is one of those things you find yourself in charge of that you didn’t go into kids ministry to do. I know. You got into this “business” (you consider it ministry!) because you want to reach kids for Jesus and creatively teach the Bible, but the next thing you know, you are responsible for the care of the children in a world where there is increasing risk and liability for how children are cared for. The good news is, there are companies out there who are making it easy so that those who love ministry to kids can keep their time and attention focused on the things they enjoy the most, while at the same time, create safer environments that help build trust for families and keep both parents and volunteers protected. That’s why I am often writing about KidCheck. I told you how They Read My Mind and created a system that was everything…

Continue reading

Think Differently

Steve Jobs and Apple made famous the phrase, “Think Differently,” but creative “out of the box” thinking is not limited to technology developers. It applies to children’s ministry too. Creative innovators see the world differently. They reject how things have “always been done.” They see things in a new way. Just yesterday I saw a car port in the Home Depot parking lot where most saw a cart bin. OK, that might not be children’s ministry – but are you constantly looking for ways you can see things differently? How can things be done differently? What new approach can I try? How have we never done it? Let me give you a great example from my good friend and amazing children’s pastor friend, Shelly Sexton down in sunny Florida. She recently brought me in to do some magic for a huge summer outreach she was doing call “Kingdom Hearts.” They rented a civic center, built a castle and brought in hundreds of kids and more volunteers than I could count to creatively share the Gospel with their community. Secure check-out in this unique setting was a challenge. The previous year they did it similar to how Sunday’s are done at…

Continue reading

Dispatch Keeps You Current

How do you keep current in kidmin today? Reading blogs (glad you are here!), visiting the top children’s ministry websites (like Kidology.org) and networking with other leaders. But there is a NEW way that not only keeps you informed as to what is new – but saves you money at the same time! It’s called Dispath and it is comes from the International Network of Children’s Ministry, you know, the folks who bring you CPC. For just $39 a quarter, you get a box loaded with the latest kidmin goodies. As a children’s pastor, I appreciate Dispatch because it saves me time, saves me money, and keeps me current on the latest resources that my kids and families can benefit from. As a dad, I like getting some things I can test out in the home before providing to families in my church. It’s a win-win all the way around! It’s like Christmas when my box arrives! I can’t wait to dive into the resources and learn more about them. You can learn more about them at www.kidmin.com Sign up for Dispatch and tell ’em Karl told ya about it!

Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...