Home Articles posted by kidologist (Page 75)

CM Leaders Conference is a Must

The 1st CM Leaders Conference, hosted by INCM, is coming to a close. It was a fantastic time of challenge, inspiration and fellowship for leaders in children’s ministry. I highly recommend it to leaders for their own enrichment – in addition to CPC, and INCM is offering a bundle on registration that makes the cost of this conference close to a meal out with a colleague if you attend both next year, so you have no reason to miss it. I especially enjoyed meeting folks from Kidology that I’ve never crossed paths with before and getting to ‘break bread’ with my ‘kidmin peeps’ at meal times. The conversations were fun but at times intentionally focused on issues we were facing in our ministries. Opportunities to encourage or equip one on one were memorable. The comradore on Twitter via the hashtag #CMLeaders was at times hysterical. I appreciated that there was both speakers who were well known and experienced, but some who may be less known, but equally qualified and with much to share and great challenges and insights, even if conference speaking isn’t a career for them. The blend was well thought through. There were some helpful resource providers, but…

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More Than Just a Coach

Just one of many thank you letters I receive from our Kidology Coaching graduates: Dear Karl, I want to thank you for organizing the Kidology Coaching program. It has helped me tremendously and I have learned both ministry and life skills through the material and my coach. I joined Kidology and the coaching program about three years ago. When I first joined I was in a position where I was leading a Children’s Ministry with NO experience and feeling very overwhelmed. When I started there were only between 15 and 20 kids. I originally was looking for a coach to give me some direction and advice. As I sit here three years later, I realize that I have achieved both of these through Kidology Coaching. However, I have gained so much more. Barney has become family to me. He is more than a coach, and the life skills he has taught me have given me guardrails and guidance that are priceless. He has instilled confidence in me when I was drowning in fear. He has helped me form good boundaries with family members. He has been patient with me when I struggled to keep in contact and on task. He…

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Kids Music CAN be Cool AND Rich!

Just like much of our adult worship music today, kids music too often reflects what Jesus warned against: “vain repetition.” (Matthew 6:7) We have songs that are nice, peppy, and certainly full of praise, but lack biblical depth or content. It makes me miss the classic “Sunday School Songs” I grew up on. In fact, when I have an opportunity to lead kids worship, I rarely use “video worship” and instead lead with my guitar, despite the fact that I only know about 6 chords! (My musical gift is being able to convert nearly any song into a D-A-G! LOL) I’ve learned that if you are enthusiastic, speed up, slow down, have kids on stage, use motions, and then bring it all down and end with some seriousness, you can make up for what you lack in musical skill. Remember, it’s all about relationships. And I think a person is always better than a screen in the end. But all that aside, I want to make sure you are using GO FISH in your children’s ministry. If you use video worship, Go Fish is probably the BEST out there – in every category. First, let’s talk about production quality. While…

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10 Ways to Make a Difference

We aren’t in children’s ministry to administrate. We aren’t even in kids ministry to teach. We are ministers of kids because we want to make a difference in the lives of children. Below is a PDF of some slides pulled out from one of my presentations I like to give when I am speaking at conferences or encouraging volunteers. I enjoyed speaking to the volunteers at a church this Sunday, and wanted to make these slides available to them, and to anyone else who might find them helpful and challenging. They are TEN WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the life of a child. They are, in a sense, “ten secrets” to connecting with kids beyond just teaching great lessons and being a good leader. These are the things that will set you apart. They are what make you a relational minister. And they are the things that kids will remember years later long after lessons are assimilated into who you are and events are forgotten. I almost hate to give away my secrets, except that they will change lives when applied. So I can’t keep them to myself! Download and Apply Often for Great Results in your Ministry!

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Checking In with KidCheck

I recently caught up with KidCheck CEO Alex Smith and interviewed him on my podcast, Kidmin Talk. Let me encourage you to invest just a few minutes to give a listen. WHY is this worth your time? If you are in children’s ministry leadership, one of the areas of responsibility you inherited, that you may not have counted on when you got your Call to Ministry – was the safety of the kids you oversee. When I meet children’s pastors/directors and ask them, “So what was it that drew you into kids ministry?” No one has ever said to me, “You know, I just got this divine Calling from God to make sure kids were securely checked in on Sundays and all entered into the church database and that their addresses and parents cell phone numbers were all kept up to date so that we could sent text alerts. Oh, and I felt the Holy Spirit tell me that allergy awareness was just something that I was gifted at and I needed to find a profession where I could make it a major focus.” No. No one has ever said that to me. And yet I have had leaders tell…

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