Home Archive by category "Children’s Ministry" (Page 56)

Category: Children’s Ministry

Kidology Gave Away Over $12,000 in Kidmin Resources at CPC

My 43rd consecutive Children’s Pastors Conference is now past, and my 44th is rapidly approaching! While there are MANY fantastic kidmin conferences today to choose from, only CPC brings together all the large publishers and many small ministries to exhibit, has general sessions to knock your socks off, and more workshops than you can count. OK, maybe you could count them, but there are a LOT! This year Kidology exhibited and had a blast with a “PRIZE WHEEL” giving away resources from Kidology and a select group of our vendors who we featured in our booth. When all was said and done we gave away OVER $12,000 in Kidmin Resources. WHY would we do this? Because of our MISSION: To Equip and Encourage Those in Children’s Ministry. EVERYONE who came to our booth won something – and not just samples! They went home with a set of Speed Stacks or DVD curriculum from EKG, or they won a free downloadable resource like River’s Edge Easter lesson, The Hunt is On!, or Jesus is Real from Tadpole Tales, or Knights of God 12 week curriculum from NextGen4Christ, or Scripture Lady’s downloadable Fruit of the Spirit music collection, or TruthQuest’s Easter curriculum…

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Balancing the Sacred vs. Silliness

In kids ministry we try to connect with kids in order to reach them – Kidology is a philosophy of ministry that strives to minister to kids from within the culture of kids. In order to interest, engage and even at times (dare I say it?) entertain kids, we will do the craziest things, won’t we? Dunk tanks! Drop eggs from helicopters! Pies in the face! All manner of craziness and silliness goes on in children’s ministries. And this is good! But there is also a danger. We can risk losing the sacred. We can risk being flippant with holiness. And at some point, all that FUN needs to decrescendo down to some sacred seriousness, or else it loses it’s purpose and was all for naught. Fun isn’t the goal, it is a means to a greater end. We aren’t in the business of giving kids a great time. We are in the business of making disciples. Consider: “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” Matthew 7:6 MSG I’m not going to offer the answer…

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Why I Do What I Do

I just got an e-mail that MADE 2014. It defined why I do what I do. I share it with his permission: Subject: I’m Going to Be a Children’s Pastor! Hey Karl, This Sunday I am going to be appointed as the Assistant Pastor of Children’s Ministries at my church. I am so excited to finally get to be focused on Pastoral ministry to kids and their families. However, when I think back over the years, I know I need to thank you. You were a HUGE encouragement to me and one of the reasons I kept pressing forward in this call. At one point I was simply a 6th grader with a call from God, but you were one of the touch-points God used along the way in order to keep me focused on that call. I know I was not the best employee at times, but you still saw through my work and saw the call God had put on my heart. I wanted to thank you for supporting me through the years I was blogging and working for Kidology. Honestly, I’m not always sure why you were so willing to empower me, because I know I was…

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FREE Family Devotionals on Victory!

As you may (or may not!) know, every unit of DiscipleTown comes with 12 family devotionals – 3 per week – in a cool “Table Talker” design like you see on your table when you eat out at a restaurant. I have now written 288 of these devotionals with the upcoming 24th DiscipleTown “How to Walk in Victory” to be released soon. I wanted my BLOG READERS to be the FIRST to get a sneak peak! So enjoy these FREE THREE DEVOTIONALS! Here is what they look like: Download THREE COMPLETE DEVOTIONALS for your family. There are nine more with the unit that will be released shortly, and 12 with every unit of DiscipleTown – but I encourage you to use these with your family and enjoy the fun you will have and the engaging conversations that will result.

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The Hunt for Odd Ministry Props

As I write in extensive detail about in the Kid’s Church Cookbook, Part 5: Getting Creative, creative teachers are ALWAYS on the look out for unique teaching items. So I thought I’d share one I picked up over Christmas Break: iWipers When I saw these I cracked up! The potential for this prop is fantastic! Teaching on Noah and the flood! Teaching on Jesus calming the storm! Simply wear on a rainy day at camp or VBS Do I know when I will use these? No. But they are now in my collection of creative kidmin props! You can’t wait until you need something to find it – you’ll never have a lesson and say, “Boy, sure wish I had some glasses with windshield wipers on them!” But when you own a pair and are preparing a lesson, one day you’ll say, “HEY! This is when I can use those cool windshield wiper glasses!” And you’ll be so glad you have them. The point of this post isn’t to go and get yourself a pair of iWipers. (Though some of you might!) The point is, always keep your eye out of unique props as they engage kids, create memories and…

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