I’m excited to be heading to Canada in May for the Kid Builders children’s ministry conference in Ontario. It is looking to be a wonderful gathering of practical trainers bringing a wide variety hands-on skills for leaders and volunteers who are in the trends of ministry to children. If you are one of the many who have e-mailed us asking when the next Kid U is, this will have the feel of a Kidology University in the quality of speakers and desire to provide real help to children’s workers. I’m honored to be a part of this event.
Friday Evening, May 7th – Family event, open to the public! Come experience the humor, comedy and story telling of Karl Bastian live! Lions and Bears and Fire, OH MY! (The Power of Story why TODAY is the Best Day of Your Life!)
Saturday Morning, May 8th, General Session – Kidology 101 – Shooting Straws and Other HIgh Tech Ministry Techniques!
Saturday Afternoon, General Session – YOU! The Missing Piece in a Children’s Spiritual Puzzle
Saturday Eventing (Leaders Only) – Putting the “Pastor” Back into your Job Description
Sunday Morning Worship Service, May 9th (open to the public) Shepherding the Hearts of God’s Children
I hope that you will be able to join me and the other wonderful speakers that will be gathering a Kid Builders in May – it is shaping up to be a fantastic conference! Don’t miss this first annual event! There is just something exciting about having been at the first one. Years from now, you can say, “I was at the first one!”
From my article in CM Pro in February 2010: (the article, scratch that, the entire ISSUE is FREE for downloading below!)
There is an old saying that says, if you want to get a message across to a large group of people you must say it “seven times in seven ways.” When it comes to church ministry, there is no doubt this is a great principle to take into every planning meeting for any program or event. The chances are you know them all and have used them all. As you should, and should continue!
Rather, my aim is to change your thinking from “how can I better get information out” to “why aren’t they listening?” I bet those you are trying to reach have no problem knowing when their sports teams are playing and on what television channel, or where they need to drop off their kids for all their various non-church activities and at what time and at what theater the latest blockbuster movie will be playing. (Is the hair on the back of your neck rising?) Before you wring your hands and start complaining about how the church is such a low priority in the lives of Christians today, a more positive approach is to ask some honest questions of ourselves as leaders and proactively and creatively begin to think about how we can better attract people to what God has called us to do in His House. I contend that if what we are doing at church is truly valuable and important – people will look for the communication! Your job isn’t just to get the information out – it is to raise the bar and make church activities something they won’t want to miss out on!
But let’s take a step back, and look at some of the communication problems that plague the church. Perhaps our people are as frustrated with us, as we are with them! A proactive leader takes a look at him or herself instead of just blaming his audience. Some of these may be tough questions – but if you are willing to make an honest assessment and then make some changes as a result, you will see a marked improvement in the response to your communication efforts!
But here is the GOOD NEWS! As a regular contributor to CM Pro, I get a print and electronic version and the good folks at Group have given me permission to give away or post copies at my discretion, and I am “discresing” to give you a FREE copy of the February 2010 issue on the condition that you read my article titled, “Speak! Your Audience Listens!” on communicating when no one is listening!
It is the 3rd in my 10 part series on Proactive Leadership that began with my November 2009 article.
I can not even begin to tell you how EXCITED I am to announce that the Great Adventure Cards ARE BACK on Kidology.org!
Created by our own board member and children’s pastor Dan Huffman, these amazing Bible trading cards are a wonderful way to get kids to participate at church. They are more than just Bible cards, they are a complete FUN Bible trading game! There are 25 sets of 80 cards with a variety of series, each is a Bible story, and each is a different number of cards, depending on the story. The artwork is very cool. Each card has a question and a Bible reference. The questions were carefully written so that they are hard enough that most kids (and adults!) aren’t going to “just know the answer” but easy enough that by looking up the answer they can find it in that one verse. The kids collect the cards by coming to church, bringing their Bible, a friend, participating, answering questions, etc. and when they complete a series, AND can answer all the questions (from reading their Bibles and working on them with Mom and Dad at home!) they give the series to a leader who quizes them, and then they get a prize. A hole is punched in the corner of the card so that they can keep the cards, and they can’t be used again (or traded with others) to be used again for a prize. I can tell you as a children’s pastor who used these in ministry – it is VERY EFFECTIVE in engaging kids and getting them to work hard at learning and participating. They haven’t been on Kidology.org for several years and we have had requests regularly for them to be back in print – and we are so excited to be able to offer them once again through the birth of a brand new ministry called Tadpole Tales, view all their exciting new resources on Kidology!
The Kidology Gathering was a great time of fellowship! Thank you to everyone who dropped by! It is always nice to put faces with e-mails, see old friends and meeting new folks. It was also nice of the restaurant to unlock the doors for us, since starting this year they closed early!
Probably the greatest moment was when Barney Kinard got to meet the mother of a child he led to Christ over 16 years ago and she gave him a big hug and a thank you in the center of the circle! What a reminder that we never know when we will get to see or hear about the fruit of our efforts!
BACK TO ORIGINAL POST!
Well, I have arrived in Sunny Southern California! And am ready for CPC 2010 San Diego! After LIVE TWEETING from CPC Nashville, INCM has given me an All Access Pass here in San Diego so I can expand my coverage here in San Diego to include General Sessions, so if you were not able to come to CPC this year, be sure to follow me on Twitter so you can get even more inside access to the happenings here at CPC 2010!
HOW TO FOLLOW TWITTER: You do not need to sign up for Twitter to follow my updates! If you do, you can choose to turn on Mobile Updates* just for this week to get my tweets as texts just during CPC, but if you don’t want to do that, then just make http://www.twitter.com/kidologist your home page Sunday through Wednesday! (*Only do this if you have an unlimited text plan!)
IF YOU ARE AT CPC, BE SURE TO JOIN US MONDAY EVENING AFTER THE EXHIBIT HALL CLOSES FOR SOME FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP. ITS ALWAYS A GOOD TIME.
This is always a highlight of CPC for me. I get to meet some of you, hear about your ministry, and put some faces with e-mail addresses or forum IDs! There is no agenda other than some warm fellowship. It starts around 9:30 p.m. and just ends whenever it winds down. Come when you can, leave when you must. But I’ll probably be there until midnight, so if you are around anytime through then, drop on by!
I hope to meet several of you there!
MY WORKSHOPS:
Here are the workshops I’m doing as well as when and where. I also make my handouts available to Basic (free) members of Kidology.org for two weeks after CPC.
Be sure to add to your Blog Roll and RSS Reader a new blog in town: www.toddmckeever.com.
Todd McKeever isn’t a new blogger, he’s just started a new personal blog. He’s been bloggin’ insightful posts on leadership and children’s ministry for years on his church website, but has decided to split them out and make the church blog church stuff and make have his own separate blog at www.toddmckeever.com.
We are also excited to announce that Todd has been hired on staff at Kidology part time as our Executive Operations Coordinator to help to staff and project management, a much needed addition to our team. He’d been a volunteer member of our team for years, so it was about time we promoted him and tapped into his leadership gifts at a greater level. Hey, he even made the staff page on Kidology.org today!
I attended my first CPC back in the mid 1990’s and still have my logo-themed dress shirt “Reaching New Horizons” that I bought that year. I have not missed a single CPC since, even when they have had up to three conferences a year! I’ve lost track, but I’ve been to over thirty-five CPC’s since! Yes, I have done workshops, hosted round tables, church tours and exhibited, but even during seasons of life when I was taking a break from active ministry and wasn’t there to do anything, I still attended! Why? Because CPC is not only good for ministry, it is good for relationships and for the soul.
Just search my blog for “CPC” and you will find pages and pages of posts about CPC and discover why it is the “conference of conferences” that I believe should be the first choice of every serious children’s ministry leader. There are many good conferences out there, and you ought to visit many of them. But none come close to the networking power, breath of resources, quality of speakers, quantity of options, and level of excellence you find at a Children’s Pastors Conference. It is obvious they have been at this for years and know exactly what they are doing.
Here is why I never miss a CPC and why you should join me in San Diego later this month: (and why I asked for a coupon to save you $50!)
There is just something amazingly encouraging about worshiping God in a huge room filled with hundreds of people as crazy about God and kids as you are… and not having to put the chairs away when its all over.
It is so refreshing to get to worship with fellow children’s ministry leaders in a “Big Church” settings singing “Big Church” songs without wondering if the third grade class got the DVD player after the second grade class was done with it and if the nursery workers showed up and if Mrs. Blackburn remembered she was leading the worship during second service today.
It is fun to network and meet people from around the country who share your passion for kids and yet marvel at how, out of so many people, God sovereignly places people at your table who are either going through a similar situation or have a solution or idea to the very issue you are wrestling with, or how they know someone you know!
The caliber of the speakers is out-of-this-world challenging and the unique presentations always surprise and delight. Just when you think you know what is going to happen, something fresh and new has been planned.
The choices in the workshops is a little overwhelming, but that’s a good thing – and you can always get CDs or even MP3s to take home for yourself and your team. The number of workshops, the variety and the quality of the presenters is unparalleled.
Everywhere you go during your free time, you are meeting people who share your passion for ministry and making connections that end up becoming friendships last long after the conference is over. You marvel at how you managed to meet these people at such a large event.
THEN THERE IS THE RESOURCE CENTER! (My favorite!) No where else is there such a gathering of objective resources laid out aisle upon aisle of resource providers, both large established companies as well as small start up ministries with a home made banner and a big dream and a wonderful resource that worked in their church that they are eager to share with you. I can’t wait each year to find out what will be the newest resources in the Resource Center – that alone would be enough reason to go to CPC, everything else is like frosting on a delicious resource cake!
I feel bad adding the resort, but hey, we DO like to get away and it IS nice to be spoiled. Who doesn’t like a little late night room service, a dip in the hot tub or a trip to the swimming pool? I’ll confess to sneaking over to the Apple Store at the mall or even off site to a nice restaurant before or after the conference. I mean, come on, you can’t go to San Diego, without checking out Old Town San Diego and picking up some souvenirs!
But the BEST thing – as you can see from the image above, is the people you will meet and the friends you will make. You may think it is the “well known” people you will get to meet, and that is a treat, but what you will discover by getting to meet them, is that they are as down to earth and ordinary as you are. They just started serving the Lord like you, and as they did, God blessed it, people liked it, so they got a little notoriety, but they are truly as ordinary and as interesting as the person next to them, maybe less! You will discover that everyone you meet has ideas and input that will bless you whether or not you knew their name before you got there!
And the list could go on and on. The impact will be different and unique for everyone – but I can promise you, it will be positive. I hear over and over from folks, “Karl, it was at CPC 2004 that such and such radically changed for me” or “After I went to CPC 2006 my ministry turned around.”
I do hope to see you there. Be sure to let them know, Karl sent you!
TONIGHT AT 7pm Eastern you can watch (Live via U-Stream) the LAST $1000 BEING RAISED FOR LEUKEMIA RESEARCH!
A Kid Making a Difference
Cam is the son of a woman I met at CPC last week:
Heather and Me @ CPC Nashville 2010
I first ‘met’ Heather when she e-mailed me via Kidology.org and told me about the amazing and moving testimony on YouTube by her pastor’s 19 year old son just ten days before he died of lymphoblastic leukemia last August. He died on Wednesday and her team needed to lead VBS in the midst of their grief knowing that Ben, who had once been a prominent leader at such events, was now with Jesus. His story is both sad and yet moving and wonderful at the same time. I was moved to tears hearing of how it has impacted their church and was delighted to meet Heather after one of my workshops.
I then got to hear about the “Ben Ripple” – how Ben’s life and testimony has been impacting the children since he died, including Heather’s son, who announced to her recently that he would be hosting a concert to help others survive what took Ben’s life.
Why did I title this post “The Last $1000 Needed for Leukemia Research” ? When Cam was at the Canadian Cancer Society setting up his event so they could accept donations, he said to them “Wouldn’t it be awesome if this were the last $1,000 that needed to be raised for leukemia research?” I love the faith of children! I think it would be AWESOME if it was the last $1000 needed!
Cam at the Keyboards Practising
I was so moved by this boys desire to make a difference and I was disappointed I couldn’t be there for the concert, so I gently pushed Heather to live web-stream the event and guess what, she is doing it!
So let me encourage you to DONATE, even a little. Here’s the scoop:
If Cam raises $1500, his dad has to shave his head! I don’t think his dad was counting on a guy with a highly read blog helping his son, so let’s make sure his dad goes bald folks!
And, if you want to bless them a little more, drop in for the concert, as you’ll be able to chat during the concert too. I’ll be there, so let’s encourage this young boy.
I’ve always said, kids don’t yet believe they can’t make a difference – so we need to encourage them!
UPDATE: The event is over, here is a video hightlight, enjoy, it only 50 seconds:
I’ve been working on writing DiscipleTown Table Talkers all day, for the fifth unit due to come out soon, and one of my favorite parts of this curriculum is the Table Talker family devotional component.
So I thought I’d put a sample on my blog to give my blog readers a “taste” of a family devotional that will be part of the next DiscipleTown unit. Each devotional has an easy “Let’s Play” component that gets families playing together with no complicated preparation – just something they can do with stuff usually right at the table, tho this one uniquely has them using the whole house due to the lesson point. Then there is a “Let’s Talk” discussion question to get every member of the family talking – but it is a targeted question that is setting them up for the topic. Next they are in the Word with “Let’s Read” followed by a short devotional “Let’s Think” that helps guide a parent on a spiritual discussion. But it doesn’t stop there. I always end with a “Let’s Do” practical application. Most are just a verbal application, but one of the three will be an assignment that can impact the family in a practical way, but I’m careful to balance them so that they don’t get overwhelmed. I want them coming back for more.
Well, with no further a-do, here is a sample – pre-edited by DiscipleLand, soon to be a part of DiscipleTown: How To Follow God’s Plan
Let’s Play!
Choose someone to start as the “seeker.” Give every person five pennies. Everyone else will go hide somewhere else in the house. When the seeker finds someone, they have to give the seeker a penny. The person they find becomes the new seeker and goes to find someone else. The old seeker now hides. Every time a person is found they have to give the seeker a penny and they become the new seeker and the old seeker gets to hide again once the new seeker is out of sight. If a player runs out of pennies, they become a seeker in order to get more pennies! The object of the game is get as many pennies as possible. A parent determines when time is up.
Let’s Talk!
What is the best reward or prize you have ever received?
Let’s Read!
Read Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Let’s Think!
Which did you like better? Hiding or seeking? Are you a better hider or seeker? Do you think God is a hider or seeker? (Take some time to discuss this!) It may depend on whether you are seeking Him or not. But this verse tells us that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. What do you think it means to earnestly seek God? What does that look like? How do you think He rewards people who seek Him? Would you say that you have earnestly sought Him? If not, what would it take for you to do so? What would need to change? What is holding you back? What do you think would need to change in your life? What can you image God might do in your life as a result if you did? It is kind of exciting to image what it might look like if you truly did earnest seek God. Go for it, I dare you!
Let’s Do!
Think of one thing you could do to earnestly seek God this next week as family or as an individual. Share it with each other and then check up on each other!
For this year’s CPC Report, I’m going to do a series of reports, and this first one will feature some of the COOL DUDES of CPC! And of course, it is not an exclusive list! (Sorry if you got left off!) Next will be the GROOVY GIRLS of CPC and I’m sure it will be easier on the eyes, but I’ll start with the guys since their my best buds!
One of the neatest things about CPC is the friends you make over the years as we minister together!
So here it goes:
Me and Jack Daniels. OK, we are exactly buds, but he was the only guy around the night I arrived, so we hung out the first night while I worked on my lap top to get some last minute work done for my workshops. I promise I only had root beer!
Byron Ragains from David C. Cook was the first friendly face I ran into. I’ve known this CM Dude since I was a green thumb back at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago back in the early 90’s. Byron is enthusiasm on steroids and a constant encourager of everyone he meets. But of course he is – he roots for the Cubs, he is well trained in rooting even for losers! How much easier to cheer on CM folks!! All kidding aside, I always tell people Byron is one of those people you meet him once and you feel like you’ve been his friend forever.
Greg Baird has been the chidren’s pastor for some household name senior pastors – but that isn’t what makes him so appreciated – it is his humble desire to help everyone who crosses his path. I’ve been lucky enough to have him as a trainer for Kidology and even luckier to have sat under his training when I was starting out. He has most recently joined the staff at Kidz at Heart.
Steve Foster of Seeker Communications is more than just a familiar face at CPC events. He has been a friend long before I was ever a customer, which I eventually did become. Waaaaaaay back in the mid 90’s I shared a rental car bus with Steve and struck up a conversation with Steve and we’ve been friends ever since. Years later when we needed pagers, I was happy to find they did indeed have the best pagers for the best prices and was able to give him my churches business too! (As should you!)
It was great to finally meet Andy Johnson of Free CM Stuff.com in person! Here’s a guy who shares my heart for equipping and encouraging others in children’s ministry and spends hours a week finding ways to resource and help others to prove it!
Brian Dollar is the man behind High Voltage . I’ve not only only teased him about his name on my blog , on twitter, and on my podcast but at CPC every time I saw him, I offered him a dollar so I could say “I was giving Brian Dollar a dollar.” Well, he finally took my dollar and that brought an end to that!” He’s a great guy, though, and he produces some amazing CM resources all available on Kidology.org and the price won’t shock you!
Doncha just love that tie? This guy is a GENIUS! He creates some amazing resources that I hope we will be getting on Kidology.org. They are visual teaching tools where you write these words that transform into another word when you read them upside down or sideways or standing on your head or in a mirror. Check ‘em out on his website: CrazyTieGuy.com His son will be featured in an upcoming report: The Babies of CPC
Few know that Dale VonSeggen, founder of One Way Street, played a major role in starting CPC back in the early 80’s – but is such a humble guy he’d never tell you that himself. He’s just one of those guys who makes things happen for the Kingdom in children’s ministry with no regard for the spotlight, which is why he is one of my heroes.
Pay no attention to that red character over my shoulder! But the guy next to him, is Todd Liebenow, the new president of One Way Street, who went from employee to owner a few years ago. Now he’s got his hands in the business, so to speak.
I met Chad Miller when I was speaking at the Cove for the Billy Graham School of Evangelism a few years ago. Chad was assigned to me as my “ambassador.” Basically, just to help me with whatever I needed, and boy did I need it, since I came with a foot injury having just fallen off a boat on Labor Day and was hobbling around with a Moses-like staff hardly able to walk! If you ever meet Chad, you HAVE to ask to hear his Billy Graham impersonation – it is SPOT ON!
Roger Fields, of Kidz Blitz, holds a special place in my CPC memories – as he was my FIRST CPC workshop presenter I heard when I was a first time attender! He radically challenged my thinking and to this day many of my radical ideas in children’s ministry came from this cool dude! (Like not accepting any volunteers – “we’ll approach you”) We’ve had him at our Kidology conferences and love him because this guy is always rockin’the boat in children’s ministry – literally! I’ve since been on his Children’s Ministry Conference Cruise, and next July Kidology will be at his Children’s Ministry Expo! Will you?
Sorry the pic is so dark, but CPC is a great place for reunions. What a treat to run into Dave Ruckel, one of my Summiteers – a title I give to an elite group of guys who have been to Yosemite Summit with me. So far, only 15 guy have the honor of that title, and with only four spots left for 2010, you’d better sign up ASAP if you’d like to join this small group of guys who have experienced one of the most incredible life experiences in children’s ministry. Check it out at www.yosemitesummit.org
And who doesn’t know Mike? The man who has “Elevated” children’s church for countless churches? And rumor has it, he has the coolest office in children’s ministry – though I’ve not seen a picture myself, I just heard that via Twitter. I’d like to have one e-mailed to me! Mike is from Fellowship Church and has raised the bar for children’s church curriculum across the board. Gone is cheesy children’s church curriculum. I credit Mike with challenging every curriculum creator everywhere (including me!) to step it up a notch!
Nate is one of my CPC buds I met on the Disney World shuttle a few years ago. He confessed to being a Kidology Forum “lurker” so I called him out and finally got him to post. Now he’s well over 100 posts and a good friend!
I’ve known Ryan Frank longer than most of you reading this. In fact, he was helping me on Kidology long before Kidz Matter or K! Magazine, so I feel a bit of pride seeing all the awesome stuff he is up to today. Ryan was my right hand man at Kidology at one time before God called him to launch his own ministry, and you can still see his name on posts all over my site. He’s an awesome networker and collaborator in children’s ministry – I have no idea how he does it all, but I’m impressed!
Here I am with a couple of giants of children’s ministry! It was fun to meet the different folks who would drop by to say hello and hear the different ways that they have appreciated either Kidology.org or DiscipleTown. I deal with e-mails and forum IDs all year long, and it is so nice at CPC to finally get to put some faces to those electronic identities!
I was so glad to learn that Hester Drew from UW Sports Ministry lives in Colorado, which means that I no longer will have to wait until CPCs to hang out with this cool dude! If you are looking for a sports ministry that comes to your church and does all the work for you (well, most of it anyway) you NEED to check them out! I used them in my last ministry and they were fantastic!
This is the only dude I don’t know personally, but hey, you gotta pose with Bible Man!
If you haven’t seen my Ronnie Video on YouTube, what are you waiting for? Ronnie’s been a staple of children’s ministry for years, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still cutting edge! I love his music and his heart for reaching kids. During some tough times in life, he has been a good friend I’ve been able to call on. And that’s worth a million bucks.
I always wonder what new friends I’ll make at CPC and this year one of them was Andrew from Concordia VBS. (ConcordiaVBS on Twitter)
Another Tweeter I got to get to know in person both at CPC and later at the airport was Dean Butterfield. I tweeted several “guess who” tweets, and he won by guessing the most correctly!
Greg Sanford is not only a regular CPCer and Kidology groupie, but I learned at our gathering, has a rather unique claim to Kidology fame… he is the mysterious “Hose Head” in this Kidology Post. Though, he doesn’t even know who submitted the picture, since he didn’t submit the game!
Before the Kidology Gathering, I met this boy (and his mom). He told me that when he grows up he wants to be either a pastor or a zoo keeper. I informed him that if he becomes a children’s pastor, then he automatically is both! Since his last name is “Best” I also let him know, that he will be the Best children’s pastor!
Last, but not least, my favorite Cool Dude of CPC, had to be Caden Laflin! It has hard not to just bring him home with me! Luke could use a little brother after all.
It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about how I hoped 2009 would be better. And here it is 2010! Aren’t we supposed to riding around on hover boards and beaming from place to place by now? I read that post, and instead of writing a post about my New Year’s Resolutions, I think I can just say “ditto” to that post!
But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that an entire year has passed by when I reflect on all that I accomplished in 2009 – it’s actually quite an astonishing list – no wonder I am so exhausted!
And I wonder why I’m feeling exhausted?! No wonder I wasn’t ready for 2010 to arrive! I usually spend the last week of the year doing evaluation of the year just past and planning for the year to come, but I had some projects culminating and family visiting and am writing at CPC in Nashville (which I really don’t like being right after the new year) so I missed out on my week of margin for reflection and I can really feel it. Just reviewing my blog and making that list above has been very encouraging and eye-opening. For now – I need to survive this week at CPC – finish a few deadlines that still loom over me, and then do the planning and reflecting I wanted to do last week.
I’m excited that 2009 is behind me, and have NO desire to see 2010 “top” last year. In fact, you know what I am MOST excited about in 2010? Starting a guys hiking group here in Colorado for children’s pastors! Yup, I’m calling it “The Fellowship of the King.” (I know it’s corny, but I do like to hike to LOTR music.) I’ve been collecting a list of guys in Colorado, friends and soon-to-be friends via facebook ad twitter, and I’m going to be inviting them to join me hiking around this beautiful state to spend time away from ministry and with God. One thing I learned from Yosemite Summit was that once a year just isn’t often enough to disconnect from normal life and connect with God out in nature with others who share your passions in life. Most of them already know about this and are just waiting for info on the first hike – if you live in Colorado and are a guy – let me know, and I will add you to the list! (No, you do not have to be a children’s pastor or even in ministry to be included. But you may have to endure some worship music, prayer and spiritual conversation if you are not a Christian.)
I hope to meet several of you there!
