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!
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.
Since 1994 Kidology.org has been the Internet’s leading and ever growing source of supplemental ideas for teaching children in the church. And while there is a LOT of curriculum in our Zones and for sale in our Store, we have never had a complete and comprehensive Bible curriculum available for our members. Until now.
Starting in January 2010, we will have not one, but TWOcomplete three year comprehensive Bible curricula on Kidology.org!
And are you ready for this? THEY ARE FREE.
One is free for Kidology.org Premium Members – that means for only $60 a year you’ll have access to a complete three year curriculum for your entire elementary education. Too expensive? The other is completely free for Kidology Basic Members. (Yeah, those who sign up for nada, zippo, zilch!)
Check them out:
Discovering God’s Path: a wonderfully designed and visually appealing completely reproducible curriculum. Released quarterly on Kidology.org and downloadable for free for Kidology Premium Members or available in its entirety for purchase in our store. (January is already available with the rest of the first quarter of 2010 available next week!) Again, this curriculum will be free for Kidology Premium Members. It will be released online one quarter at a time. As long as your membership is active – you’ll be able to get the next quarter. Should you desire the entire curriculum (or a quarter not currently live) it will always be available in our store for purchase. However, while most curricula are released on a schedule, where can you get one for only $60 a year? (See complete details on Discovering God’s Path)
Kidology Open Source Curriculum: Rich in content and extremely customizable, this complete three year curriculum will be unveiled in January and will be hosted in the Kidology Forums so that users can collaborate and share ideas and improvements to each lesson as a community of teachers to help the material continually grow and expand – always completely 100% for free! (Ideal for home school families!) Again, this Open Source Curriculum will be 100% free for Basic Members – no charge – no credit card – nothing. Just register on Kidology.org and you will have access to the lessons for use in your home, school or church. Adapt as you want. And if you make improvement (we hope you will!) come back and upload them for others to benefit from! That’s what Open Source is all about! (See complete details on Kidology Open Source Curriculum)
FINALLY, Kidology.org will have what our members have been asking for – a complete “cover to cover” Bible curricula, and not just one, but TWO! Whether you choose to follow one of these weekly or use them like you do the rest of the site, as a supplemental resource to enhance your educational ministry, we are please to add to our ever-growing website another rich resource for YOUR ministry!
Your Kidology.org Ministry Toolbox just got incredibly more powerful!
Why would we give all this away for free?Because we know the need is out there. Churches are struggling. Budgets are being cut. Home school families are needing solid Bible curriculum but not another expense. Bottom line, we wanted to give it away and we trust that God will honor this gift and continue to meet our needs. After all, that’s our mission.
OUR MISSION: To Equip and Encourage Those Who Minister to Children.
This is a Very Merry Christmas for Kidology.org – because we are so delighted to be able to provide these wonderful resources to those who minister to children.
Can I give you another gift? Here is a download to the Discovering God’s Path Christmas Lesson: The Messiah is Born! (Available Only on my Blog!)
TERMS: You are welcome to use this lesson your local church ministry. It may not be re-posted or distributed in any way, it is copyrighted material and all rights are reserved. It is provided here only for your use in your local church ministry. By downloading this file you are agreeing to these terms. Thank you.
It is our joy to make both of these Bible curricula free to churches and families in order to be a blessing during these difficult economic times. We hope that many will find this a financial relief and help as they seek to find creative ways to both save money while still laying a solid biblical foundation for their children.
However, providing these curriculums is obviously not free to Kidology.org. If you would like to send a donation to Kidology during this holiday season, consider becoming a Kidology Champion or sending a gift via our donation page.
WE HOPE YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT OUR BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! WE ARE!
Got questions? You can discussDiscovering God’s Pathor theKidology Open Sourcecurricula in the Kidology Forum. Let us know what you think there, or just leave me a blog comment below:
I’m EXCITED to announce the release of the The Kids Church Cookbook, a project I have been working on for OVER 3 YEARS! This is a 7-PART massive RE-WRITE of my classic Kids Church Book, but this time with 7 TRAINING VIDEOS TOO!
Just as I rewrote my classic Kidology Handbook and revamped it into a THICK PDF that sells on CD-ROM, this time I went even farther! Inspired by the online training, Leadership Labs, which provided a 5-PART PDF each with a training video, for The Kids Church Cookbook, you get 7 TRAINING VIDEOS and 7 PDFs that cover a TON of material on how to “Cook up a service kids are gonna love!” Each is sold separately and the first is about to be released in the next newsletter.
NOTE: If you are a Leadership Lab student, there is a KEY DIFFERENCE between the Leadership Labs and The Kids Church Cookbook units. In the Labs, the videos and PDFs are related in content, each building upon the other. In the The Kids Church Cookbook, each is independent of each other. The Kids Church Cookbook is a 7-Part book on children’s church and “The Kids Church Cooking Show” videos are training videos, each introducing a different skill for teaching.
THE COOKBOOK OVERVIEW:
Part 1: Called to Be a Chef
This introductory unit establishes your role as a Chef of God’s Word and lays the foundation for the rest of the book. It is loaded with tips and secrets on planning, launching and running a successful children’s church as well as addressing the issue of whether of not to have a kids church in the midst of a resurgence of emphasis on family ministry.
Part 2: Setting the Mood
Learn how to create an atmosphere where kids can’t help but learn. Develop your personal presence, tips regarding discipline, and how to promote and launch your children’s church service.
Part 3:Developing the Recipe
Curriculum has its place, but should not be a crutch. After this unit, all you will ever need is a Bible to teach children! Learn how to create powerful lessons from any passage of scripture. Your presentation skills will be transformed as you learn how to develop your own recipes and formulate your own “secret sauce.”
Part 4:Choosing Ingredients
Learn how to bring your lesson to LIFE! Discover the best ingredients for Kids Church, many often overlooked. If your DVD player is your primary tool, your kids are missing out on tastier ways of learning. A whole smorgasbord of ideas awaits you!
Part 5:Getting Creative
Especially for those who don’t think they are creative, this unit will have your brain exploding with ideas. Learn the secrets of creative people. This unit includes an EXCLUSIVE INVENTION of Karl’s that will help even the most uncreative person create amazing lessons out of thin air!
Part 6: The Kitchen Crew
Developing kids into leaders has been the hallmark of Karl’s Kids Church for over fifteen years. Learn what happens back in the kitchen to get kids in charge as well as how to get parents and other adults helping out in children’s church.
Part 7:Menu Planning
No longer will you be planning a week or month ahead. A true Chef has a master plan for the spiritual health of the children in his or her care. This final unit will equip you to develop a master strategy for making disciples of the children in your stewardship. Kids Church may be fun, but it will now be strategic as well.
“THE KIDS CHURCH COOKING SHOW”EPISODES: The order of “The Kids Church Cooking Show” episodes will be a surprise with each release, but the topics are:
Magic
Puppets
Balloons
Games
Object Lessons
Hats and
Story Telling!
In case you are wondering where these pictures were taken, it is a cool story of God’s provision! Last December, through a nearly chance encounter, God provided a connection to a Christian business man who allowed me to use his custom kitchen showroom to film all the training videos while his business was closed after Christmas. So I spent the day after Christmas through New Year’s Day and into January (very long days) filming all of them at Bliss Kitchens! If you happen to have a need for custom kitchens, cabinets or doors, please consider giving Bliss Kitchens your business! www.blisskitchens.com
I had a lot of fun filming and making these videos, and even made a full length introductory video where I give away the secret of my favorite FOOD RECIPE while telling about The Kids Church Cookbook.
SHOWN HERE FIRST ON MY BLOG – You are invited to sit back, relax, and enjoy this 19 minute video that will introduce you to The Kids Church Cookbook as well as show you just what a wonderful REAL CHEF I am when it comes to real food. Perhaps, when it is done, you may think I should stick to children’s ministry and not real food, but it was fun to make, if not to eat!
THE FIRST “KIDS CHURCH COOKING SHOW” – INTRODUCTORY VIDEO!
In case you haven’t heard, www.ToyBoxTales.com has been completely redesigned and improved!
You can now watch ALL the 101 ToyBox Tales instantly via embedded flash, no more need to download first. And for those who want the downloads for showing at church, they are now all available on one page. Free for Kidology.org members or directly on www.ToyBoxTales.com for a very nominal once-in-a-lifetime fee.
So jump over and check out the ALL NEWwww.ToyBoxTales.com and enjoy some Bible stories like you’ve never seen them before!
Here are some of the most popular videos on the site:
This is the one that started it all. Karl did this at camp in 2001 and the following summer the kids were still talking about it and asking him to do more “action figure Bible stories” – discovering that it was a powerful method for teaching, and since he already owned hundreds of action figures, ToyBox Tales was born!
This is the #1 downloaded/viewed video on the site. It is also the only one where Karl had to pull the video feed at the end because a hampster was stuck in the oven!
This is the #1 requested video Karl is asked to show at conferences when he offers to show a ToyBox Tale before a workshop. And no, the hamster is not trained or remote controlled, he is just a natural.
This is the only tale on the site that was recorded live in front of an audience of all adults at the Kidology University. Seems adults are just big kids after all.
This is Karl’s favorite. It doesn’t mean its the best one – just that if you are a Star Wars fan, you’ll probably enjoy it the most. (There are at least 20 Star Wars themed Tales, depending on how you count them.)
There are several series on the site that are best viewed or shown to kids in order:
This was the first series Karl did and there are high school kids that still quote lines from it! “Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, Who Stole My Bubble Gum!” This series is a powerful parable explaining the background to the Gospel. Not just what Jesus did, but why He had to die for our salvation.
A classic and the #1 selling ToyBox Tales DVD. Roy, the Boy of Joy and TheLover Man are two that people mention as their all time favorite ToyBox Tale when they meet Karl.
This powerful series covers the book at Acts like no other ever has. Starts with Easter and ends with a missionary message to go into all the world. The Enemy of My Enemy is Karl’s favorite.
These can be shown independantly, but were done three weeks in a row. Each has a unique and important message to kids: Choosing Jesus as your hero, Choosing your words carefully, and your destination (salvation).
While Kermit introduces the vast majority of the ToyBox Tales, this is the only series that was not filmed live in front of children’s church. They are fully edited videos that therefore feature sound fx and other effects not possible in a live presentation. Probably the most difficult was filming live at local McDonald’s with a crowd of people watching the entire time!
DON’T MISS THE FREE REPORT AT THE END OF THIS POST!
TODAY is one of those days I declare Electronic D-Day! It is the day I process all the e-mails I have deferred recently to be done “later” – unfortunately, later may never arrive if you don’t declare an Electronic D-Day!
Why is it D-Day? Because on this day EVERY e-mail that is pending action is either:
Deleted
Deferred
Delegated or
Dealt with
If you struggle with managing e-mail, I have two gifts for you.
#1 Enjoy this video of me destroying a laptop, as I’m sure you’ve wanted to do the same!
NOW FREE! YES, FREE! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE NOT TO GET YOUR E-MAIL UNDER CONTROL TODAY! Why wait another day?
Perhaps it is time for you to declare an Electronic D-Day! The TEN POWERFUL E-MAIL TIPS FOUND IN THIS REPORT may just change your life. From the feed-back I’ve gotten from family and friends, that isn’t an exaggeration!
The ideas in this report are both simple and amazingly profound. You may never look at e-mail the same. Long Gone can be the day where your e-mail controlled you!
It is time for YOU to slay the E-Mail Monster!
Take it from someone who managed probably ten times the e-mail you do, you NEED THIS REPORT!
First, George Barna confirmed what those of us in children’s ministry have known all along – that the ripest spiritual field is children, and that the most strategic way to stop the disappearance of a biblical world view in our church is to renew our commitment to children.
Next, Larry Fowler established the biblical basis for churches not just value children, but prioritize ministry to children. Others then followed with a renewed call to broaden the scope of children’s ministry to include the entire family, the loudest voice being Reggie Joiner asking us to rethink ministry at the Orange Conference offering their virtue-based family time resources and strategy to incorporate complete families in the Sunday church experience.
Then Awana Clubs, long known for its success at reaching unchurched children and providing kids a solid biblical foundation surprised us by dramatically altering its approach and confessing its past “let us disciple your kids” attitude was insufficient and began to completely re-engineer its programs to better include parents in the process.
Soon many more, like Julia Duin in Quitting Church, began revealing stats showing just how poorly we are doing in translating Bible Quiz-Whiz kids into faithful disciples when they got old enough to choose whether to attend church or not.
While DiscipleLand has long offered a comprehensive home-based/church-supported curriculum strategy for discipling children, other companies all over the map are waking up to the need to engage the home rather than just keep adding to the programs and resources available at church. “Family Ministry” and “Partnering with Parents” are the buzz words appearing everywhere.
Then Larry Fowler was back with a strategy to build a comprehensive birth to high school strategy for preparing the next generation to be spiritually strong and healthy; to be “Modern Day Josephs” in an ever increasingly secular culture. Most recently, D6 (Deuteronomy chapter six) has splashed on the scene offering not only a family-wide church curriculum, but also devotional magazines from preschool through adulthood aiming to get the entire family in sync with what they are learning in the home.
Everywhere you look, from workshops at CPC to the newest children’s ministry leadership books, you are hearing a growing call: The spiritual formation of children must be done by parents, not for parents. The church’s role is shifting from one of serving and supporting parents to one of empowering, equipping and encouraging parents.
If you can’t feel the wave growing, you’ve either let it pass ahead of you – or should see the swell rising behind you. To best “surf” this growing ministry wave, you’ll need to carefully watch the swell growing, letting some of the smaller advance ones pass, position yourself in the best spot, start paddling in the right direction, and get ready to start pushing down at just the right moment. Soon you too can stand up and ride it in!
Perhaps you are convinced already. Children’s Ministry “as usual” isn’t cutting it. You’ve got to better partner with parents if you truly want to see children transformed into spiritual champion and modern day Josephs. But how?
Let me tell you this. The answer isn’t another curriculum, resource or program. That doesn’t mean you might not switch to DiscipleLand, send home FamilyTime CDs, encourage the use of D6 devotional magazines, or establish new programs or plan various family events. But these cannot be your solution. They can only be components of YOUR strategy. The solution for your church begins with you and your pastor.
As I wrote about in my article The New Deal, in the Jan/Feb 09 issue of Children’s Ministry Magazine, and expounded upon and detailed in my Kidology Leadership Lab: Partnering with Parents, the key is to start with a brutally honest and open conversation with parents as to what their needs, desires, frustrations, struggles, and hopes are for their kids and how they see the church helping or hindering their efforts.
Next, I would suggest, you’ve got to step back and ask yourself three key questions about every age level in your ministry:
1. What KNOWLEDGE do I want them to have?
2. What SKILLS do I want them to have?
3. What EXPERIENCES would I like them to have?
KNOWLEDGE: There is obviously a great need for teaching children the Bible and the truth it contains. Most ministries do this fairly well. Few can give you an overview of their strategy to ensure what their student will or should know at the various stages of growing up. A genuine strategy for forming disciples requires that the organizer of the process know what the long term goals are. As the old saying goes, “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it!” Now extend this to families! What knowledge do families need to be successful? Do we run the risk of filling our kids with a whole host of biblical trivia and neglect giving families the knowledge they need in order translate what the children are learning at church into real life? Perhaps it is time to get out paper and pencil and start writing out what you believe your families need to know to succeed, and then start evaluating whether they do, how they can, and how you’ll evaluate if they do?
SKILLS: My experience has been that the vast majority of church, if they focus intentionally on what their children need to know, stop there. But knowledge alone does make a disciple. (James warns that even demons know the truth about God, and shudder!) A disciple is one who lives out the knowledge of God in their daily life, and to do so requires key skills. Bible skills, while often taught to children, are only the beginning. We all learned to drive a car while young, but would all agree there is much more to driving than operating a car. Likewise, being able to navigate a Bible is useless if one doesn’t know how to study, understand and then apply what is discovered to life. Have you listed, by age range, what you want your children, youth and parents to be able to DO as a follower of Christ?
EXPERIENCE: The third aspect touches on one of the weaknesses of church programming. In the creating of programs and planning of events, we are often quick to forget the PURPOSE of programs and events. They are not the end – they are the means to the end. The goal of a church ministry is not to create programs or events, it is to create life experiences that impact the spiritual growth of the individuals enrolled in the program or attending the event. This is an important distinction because not all experiences that a disciple needs on along their spiritual journey can be programmed or created via an event. Programs and events can only create a context for life experiences. So, again, I would challenge you to invest some time in asking and answering the question, what experiences do the children, youth and families of my church need to grow as disciples of Jesus?
One of the best things you could do for your ministry is to mentally set aside all your programs, events and plans and answer the questions above. Then, after having answered them, take a look at your programs, events and plans and consider the following:
1. What is the best thing I could stop doing that doesn’t fit these objectives?
2. Does my curriculum support these objectives? (Beyond just teaching Bible knowledge)
3. How do my standing programs help or hinder these objectives?
4. What events do I need to create in order to provide the needed life experiences?
5. What events do I need to cancel because they may be good, but are no longer on target?
6. What experiences can no program or event create? How can I foster those experiences?
7. How can I help families develop the skills they need to keep growing?
In order to develop a ministry-wide strategy of making disciples, you must start to not only include parents in your considerations, but make them an essential ingredient. This will take effort, creativity, and a willingness to accept; even initiate change. “Ministry as usual” is certainly easier, but if long-term results are what we are truly after, then we must be willing to make adjustments now. If only one degree of change now can have incredible long-term results later, imagine the eternal impact of being more strategic now. Most ministries probably need more than one degree of change, but we’ll have all eternity to enjoy the results if we don’t hesitate. It all starts with asking the right questions. The answers to these questions will be different in every church. But if you don’t ask, you’ll never enjoy the results.
Because Jesus Loves Families,
Karl Bastian
Here are some helpful resources from Kidology.org to help you address this growing need to include parents in children’s minisitry.
I got an e-mail yesterday with a request from a senior pastor who will soon be speaking to a gathering of children’s pastors from around the country. He asked me:
If you were a denominational Christian Education Director who oversaw the children’s ministry for all the churches in a given state or region:
1. What 10 recent books would you read or tell other directors about?
2. What 10 web-sites would you share with other directors?
3. What 10 experiences, conferences or resources would you tell other directors about?
My response, “Sounds like a great blog post!” So here it is:
The Kidologist’s Top Ten Books for CM
Transforming Children Into Spiritual Championsby George Barna This is a must read for senior pastors as well as children’s pastors. Barna finally supports with research what children’s ministry leaders have known for decades.
Rock Solid Kidsby Larry Fowler The best biblical case made for church to prioritize ministry to children and to engage parents in the process rather than trying to do it for them.
Raising a Modern Day Josephby Larry Fowler Just released, this follow up to Rock Solid lays out a very doable strategy for the entire church to intentionally focus on raising up kids who stand strong against the culture.
Parenting is Heart Workby Scott Turansky & JoAnne Miller The parenting book that finally address the heart, not behavior. For too long have books and seminars focused on helping kids behave, rather than shaping hearts. Applicable to the church as much as the home.
Building Faith at Homeby Mark Holmen One of three books by Holman that lay out a strategy for engaging parents to take the lead in raising up children in the Christian faith.
Lead the Way God Made Youby Larry Shallenberger Instead of modeling your life after a leader you admire, Larry will show you how to lead the way you were meant to lead. Larry profiles me in one chapter exposing my weaknesses to the world!
The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday Schoolby Aaron Reynolds While “reinvention” may be an overstatement, it IS a fresh presentation of creative teaching that will make a difference in kids lives. Challenges thinking and is loaded with tips and examples.
Grow, Minister and Leadby Bill Allison
Everything from Cadre Ministries is concise, on target, and loaded with practical advice and encouragement that builds the leader as much as his leadership.
The Kidology Handbookby Karl Bastian Called by many their manual for ministry, this PDF book is a blueprint for relational ministry, creative teaching and can serve as a teacher training resource as well.
Running on Empty by Fil Anderson While not directly a children’s ministry book, it is one I wish I’d read years sooner and that many other overachieving children’s pastors may find pivotal in how they approach life as well as ministry.
The Kidologist’s Top Ten Websites for CM
Kidology.org Since 1994 the leading children’s ministry website with more features than can be listed in a single sentence. If you could only have one site, this would be it. However, since you can have more:
CMconnect.org
The newest CM site, like Facebook for Children’s Ministery leaders.
BiblicalParenting.org The best place for resources for equipping and supporting parents in the church. Fantastic e-mail newsletter with parenting tips you can pass on in your own communication.
ChildrensMinistry.com – Children’s Ministry Magazine
The standard bearer of children’s ministry with a battalion of resources from its standard magazine, professional edition, books, resources, curriculum and conferences.
KidzMatter.com & K! Magazine Creative media teaching resources and the new K! Magazine provides a fresh perspective from many new voices.
HarvestBooks.orgfor books, curriculum & more
The trusted source for discounted children’s curriculum from all major publishers plus nearly any book you may be looking for. Known for the personal attention they give their customers.
JellyTelly.com& JellyBits.com The latest online video channel from Phil Vischer (Creator of VeggieTales) and a place where you can purchase videos to use in your own ministry.
ToyBoxTales.com Toys Teaching Biblical Truths
Karl never imagined this teaching tool he created for the kids of his own church would gain a cult following and end up having videos being shown in hundreds of churches across America.
HONORABLE MENTION:There has been an explosion in recent years in children’s ministry related blogs, there is simply no way to list them all, or choose just one, to put in a “Top Ten” list. (Visit mine!) Rather than merely being a place for helpful content, the Internet is now interactive as children’s ministry leaders connect and share information peer to peer. Facebook is rapidly growing as is Twitter.com were you can network in real time with others who share your passion for children’s ministry. (I’m on both!)
The Kidologist’s Top Ten Experiences for CM
Sunday Worship (See your church website for details)
There is no substitute for regular weekly worship with your local Body of Christ. You are a Christian before you are a leader. “Do not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing…” (O.K., getting off the soap box!)
Children’s Pastors Conference
The #1 children’s ministry conference. Often imitated, never duplicated. CPC is the first major conference any children’s ministr leader should attend. No other conference offers an Exhibit Hall packed with resources like CPC.
Conspire Conference(Willow Creek)
Amazing corporate worship, “big name” speakers, and a wide variety of breakouts. Plus, it’s in Chicago!
Orange Conference
The conference with the most “buzz” due to speaker line-up and a unified message and challenge to creatively adapt ministry to a new era. Strong focus on partnering with parents.
D6 Conference (NEW!)
A brand new conference from D6family.com championing a comprehensive approach to children and family ministry inspired by Deuteronomy chapter six.
How 2 Conference(NEW)
Group’s regional conferencing promising to help children’s ministry leaders get organized and then be prepared to train their own leaders back at their home church.
One Way Street Conferences
Puppet Festivals and creative art conferences around the country and as entertaining as they are practical.
Kidology Coaching
If you can’t travel to a conference, a seasoned personal coach can guide you through helpful materials customized to your ministry at your own pace while responding your current needs and struggles.
Kidology.org Online Training Leadership Development right on your computer that also equips you to turn around and train your own leaders and volunteers. Conferences are great, but when they aren’t possible, focused training is still possible.
Yosemite Summit The UNconference for children’s ministry leaders. No workshops – Just worship; No resources – just relationships; No networking – just God working. Spend four exhilarating days hiking in the spectacular Yosemite Valley with other children’s pastors. It may be that the best thing for your ministry, is to disconnect from ministry, and reconnect with God.
Forgive me for including some of my own resources/events, but hey, it’s my blog and I think they are in the top ten, even if I am a little biased. Of course, anytime you make a list – you can’t include everything – and nothing negative is inferred by the absence of any resource, ministry or event not included. It was difficult to keep it at ten.
However, my list need not be final! PLEASE use the comments to let me know of any books, websites or events/resources not listed above that you would include in YOUR “Top Ten” list!
This was the quietest Thanksgiving I’ve ever experienced, but I liked it! For the first time ever, neither of us had parents nearby and all our other local relatives had special plans so it was just the three of us. At first we were kinda bummed being used to big noisy family gatherings… but it was a nice change. Yesterday we dug out the Christmas stuff and got the tree up and started the always difficult task of figuring out how to arrange the furniture to accommodate Christmas. We have one of those front rooms where no matter what you do, something ends up awkward. I’d had a long nap so when Sara went to bed I was still full of energy. (Also in part due to some medicine that tends to put my metabolism into overdrive!) So I stayed up super late and got the whole front room all set up and decorated as a surprise for the wife, so she could just enjoy preparing the meal without the hassle of the dysfunctional house! Anyway, all that to say, the day started out wonderful as the little boy got to come down and see the tree, the fire place, and the new arrangement of his “car table,” media center and toy box.
I so enjoyed explaining that today was a special day called Thanksgiving. This was the first year we could explain it and know he understood. At breakfast we started by going around the circle several times to say something we were thankful for. Luke surprised and delighted us when the first thing he said was “Jesus.” Which honestly was a surprise! Obviously, Jesus is a part of our life, but we aren’t teaching him parrot answers when it comes to our faith – so for him to answer that way was a positive reflection of our family and life, and perhaps some church influence played in there as well. (we certainly hope!)
This will sound odd, but I spent the bulk of the day cleaning out the garage – with a little helper – and getting all the outdoor decorations ready to set up so that by nap time I would be ready to get it all up in that two plus hour window without little eyes. I was just putting up the final lights when he woke up! Whew!
The Thankful Bastian Family
I had offered Sara the option of us going out to a nice restaurant for Thanksgiving Dinner – maybe Cheesecake Factory or a Steakhouse (or should that be Turkeyhouse?) in order to save on cooking time since she was only feeding two men, but she loves to cook and when I tasted the turkey I was so glad we ate at home. WOW! She rolled the turkey breast in some kind of garlic salt with ground pepper and baked and sha-zam! It was the best turkey I’ve ever had. We used an alphabet puzzle to focus Luke on thinking of things that start with every letter that we are thankful for, and one of Sara’s was the Internet for finding recipes. Me too! The best thing is, there is left overs for tomorrow!
Then came the “surprise” Luke had been promised since waking up – that there was something outside for him after dinner. He was so excited. Even after he said, “A car?” and I had to break it to him that I hadn’t bought him a car. (It’s gonna be a long time until he is sixteen!) FINALLY, we bundled up and headed outside into the dark. Mom and the boy cuddled on the swing and Dad turned on the lights:
Oh if you could have seen his face! He ran around the yard beside himself with excitement! I didn’t bother with the camera then, we just wanted to enjoy the moment, so I took these pictures later after he was in bed. Then we got to introduce him to Joseph and Mary and begin the anticipation of Christmas.
On a humorous note, we got the lawn nativity set from Grandma and Grandpa who moved to California this summer and gave us some of the larger things they didn’t want to haul across America. (including the swing!) When I did my first “test” to see if everything worked, the only light that was out was baby Jesus! I quipped to Sara, “I had to change the light bulb in the Light of the World.” Just another reminder that our world is broken – the very reason He came to BRING Light into this dark world.
I can’t end this post without expressing gratitude for so many blessings from the Lord this year. Last night I asked Sara to help me make a list of things all three of us were thankful for and then I entered them in Wordle and after she went to bed I snuck over to the office and laminated four of them and made them place mats for the beautiful table arrangement she had made for our feast today.
Rather than try to express all my gratitude, here are my Wordles:
Planning for Thanksgiving themed after school club session yesterday, I was reminded of a ToyBox Tale I did in 2004 called “The Dude of Gratitude.” The kids enjoyed it so much I thought I’d remind my readers in case they need something fun for this Thanksgiving holiday.
Got some encouraging feedback on over the years:
“This is your best yet. I showed this episode to my class this past Sunday and they loved it. It had us all laughing. I especially like the ending when Dude flies off and forgets his baby the 1st time and then the 2nd time and finally remembers to take the baby the last time.”
Frank Torres, CA
The kids enjoy you, but we youth workers do too! I almost wish we had a Sunday Night Live telecast for the high school and college groups featuring, of course, Toybox Tales. Thanks for allowing God to use you in such a creative and wonderful way. My favorite is the Dude of Grattitude, with take your baby to work day attached–of course.
Lynne M. Thompson, Modesto, CA
So, enjoy this FLASH BACK: The Dude of Gratitude
If you want to download it to show in children’s church, be sure to visit the original post page. If you use it, let me know, it’s always encouraging!
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!
