Back in the Saddle

Yeeeeee-HAW! Well, it’s been about a month that I’ve been “back in the saddle” as a full time children’s pastor and what a ride it’s been! I suppose I should get back to blogging and letting y’all know how it’s been going! I’m having a blast and it’s going great so far. I’m not changing too much too fast – mostly getting to know people – learning how things are done here, and evaluating. I’m impressed with the number of volunteers, the commitment of the staff and with so much of what is already in place. We have some excitement in the air because of a new building that will be breaking ground soon and so the opportunity is ahead of us for growth as we will be moving in to a new building (Lord willing) in the fall of 2016. That’s going to mean preparing to raise the bar in how we do thing to prepare for anticipated growth over the next year. I’m also busy looking at how we are organized, how we process things, and how we recruit, schedule, do check in, retain volunteers and visitors and theming both here and when we move into the new…

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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!) This 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.) It’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. I 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…

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Download My New Book FREE!

  Download My New Book for FREE! I’m so excited to let you in on a NEW BOOK that David C. Cook just published for me – and the best part is, it’s 100% FREE! Jesus’ ministry was all about relationships, and kids loved him! How can we do ministry with kids and families in the same way? How can we close the gap between Sundays by creating real, meaningful, life-changing relationships with parents, kids, and volunteers? In It’s about Relationships, you’ll learn: How to connect with kids by thinking like kids The HUGE difference between why you do kid’s ministry and why people volunteer Practical ways to make kids feel welcomed and special How to make time in your week to build relationships Get your free ebook now!  

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Movie Review: Where Hope Grows – in theaters May 15th

I’ve had the privilege of meeting and hanging out with David Desanctis several times this year. He is quite the character and a lot of fun! Plus, he is a movie star! I had him auto-graph one of the movie posters for me for his first major motion picture Where Hope Grows coming out in theaters May 15th. We even had fun trying to re-create the poster: David pulled some strings for me, and I got to see a pre-release copy of the film. The entire family say down and enjoyed our “sneak peek.” I highly recommend this film for adults. It is about the journey of an alcoholic to find healing through a unique God-ordained friendship. But need to caution up front that it is NOT for children. One of the very first conversations is between the single father and his daughter about sex and there is, of course, heavy drinking, plus adultery, and some violence including an attempted rape scene (with little consequence to the boys doing the attack). So we had to at times distract my son and ultimately, remove him from the room. But with that said – there is much to enjoy for adults. It…

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Have You Heard of The Gathering?

Have you heard of The Gathering? I recently got to hang out with Michelle Anthony at a conference, and was excited to learn more about this amazing event called The Gathering! I can’t make it this year, but I’ve penciled it in for the following year! My friends Greg Baird, Keith Ferrin and others will be there with the goal of pouring into YOU! This is a conference focused on spiritual formation and family ministry. You’ll be given the chance to collaborate with other ministry leaders and leave with practical ideas you can use right away in your church! You can choose from 2 locations, Costa Mesa, CA and Chicago, IL. But don’t wait to register…seating is limited. Come be inspired, refreshed and renewed at The Gathering! You’ll be glad you did! LEARN MORE:

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