Home Archive by category "Kidmin" (Page 31)

Category: Kidmin

MONSTER KIDMIN!

A few weeks ago, I took my family to the Monster Truck Rally at the Colorado State Fair, and my little boy LOVED IT! (of course) I enjoyed taking pictures with my zoom lens, and finally got around to making a highlight video… ENJOY: (Here is a download in case you’d ever want to use it in ministry! 24.6MB) What IS it about Monster Trucks that makes them so exciting? Is there a lesson for KIDMIN? I think there is. Do you know the history of Monster Trucks? I’ve learned quite a bit about them as a dad with a boy who is in love with them. It all began in the mid-1970s, when Bob Chandler, then a St. Louis, MO. construction contractor, owned an F-250 4×4 pickup truck.  Chandler used his truck on the job and for off-road family fun on the weekends. But he found ways to break even the toughest of trucks, and that led to the discovery that there was no place in the Midwest to get 4×4 parts and service.  Recognizing a potential market, Bob, Marilyn, and Jim Kramer started Midwest Four Wheel Drive & Performance Center. They still used their 4×4 as a work…

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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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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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Awana and Speed Stacks?

UPDATE: The LIMIT FOR TRIAL CHURCHES IS NOW CLOSED. But – read on, it’s still exciting! It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of both Awana and Speed Stacks. For years I have had a dream…that the two could somehow come together. Just as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the ULTIMATE CANDY, blending chocolate and peanut butter, in the same way, I’ve dreamed that Awana could collide with Speed Stacks. Maybe you are old enough to remember those commercials where someone was walking eating chocolate and another person was eating peanut butter, and they bumped into each other: “Hey! You got chocolate in my peanut butter!” “You got peanut butter in my chocolate!” They take a bite and say together, “Hmmmmmm” Well, years ago, I began to mix ministry and sport stacking and found it to be one of the most effective outreaches that brought new kids to church. You can check out the archived Speed Stacks site from one of my previous ministries here: VCBkids Speed Stacks. I’ve also had an Awana Club in nearly every children’s ministry I’ve led and have written about how it is one of the most effective ministires of the entire…

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Spooky Lessons from the Bible?

NOW AVAILABLE in the Kidology Store! Some might be surprised that I would write a curriculum for October that addresses Halloween – especially four weeks worth – a few offended even, others thankful. So in advance of it’s release I want to explain why. The decision regarding whether or not to write this unit was not an easy one. I understand that the feelings surrounding Halloween and how we are to respond to it as Christians run strong on both sides. On one end, there are those who decide to completely ignore the ‘holiday’ (in quotes for it is hardly a ‘holy day’), and on the other end are those who wish to take advantage of the opportunity to reach kids and families through outreaches and Fall events, with many views in between. By writing this unit, I am in no way condoning the events and practices surrounding Halloween that Christians disagree with and even sought to be very cautious in the images selected to both reflect the season while avoiding anything that is contrary to our belief system. I therefore focused more on bats, pumpkins, spiders, and items that exist in nature and that the kids enjoy. But why…

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