Home Archive by category "Kidology" (Page 105)

Category: Kidology

Hinson Memorial Baptist Church…

We are currently in Portland, OR. Not only did I get to visit with my long-lost buddy and pal Rich Stafford (as usual, more pics to come!), but we got to visit a dear sweet grandma named Evelyn Monnier. There is no slowing down this 85 year old saint! Just a few years ago, she and a friend (not much youger) drove all the way to Chicago for a visit, on the way to the Cove in North Carolina! This time it was our turn to make the trek. Returement is a time when most people slow down, but not for Evelyn. Since retirement she has served on the mission field and been active in church and was on staff with ISI. (International Students International) It was while she was in the Philippines serving with Sara’s parents, that she was adopted as ‘Grandma’ to a 9 year old Sara. Evelyn with a picture of herself at age twenty. Quite a catch, eh? Rock of Ages. This church supported Sara’s folks years ago. Tonight we went with Evelyn to church – Hinson Memorial Baptist Church – and met the children’s ministry director, Judy Busch, who I was surprised to hear was…

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Children’s Pastors "Havefunner"

Who is the Man Behind the Mask? Allow me to travel back in time, a few blogs anyway, to Portland Oregon where we visited Shiloh Hills Fellowship. (see post and photo gallery) Spokane held a few surprises for us. Besides the amazing hospitality shown to us, I was glad to get to meet a great children’s pastor. Our original purpose in visiting Spokane was to meet Danile Bigler, a gifted young man who has impressed me (and many others) with his contributions to Kidology.org A Young Man with a Heart for Preschoolers. Daniel proved to be a fascinating young man with many talents and passions that could lead him in many directions… though I’m encouraging him to be a children’s pastor, one of his many possibilities. But whatever he does, he will have a great impact on the Kingdom, I’m sure. I was very glad, however, to find out that he is working as an intern for a fantastic children’s pastor at Shiloh Hills Fellowship. Daniel is at home with kids… Rick “Havefunner” Pastor Rick Haffner, (often called by his kids Rick “Havefunner”) has over thirty years of children’s ministry service, having served both in the church and public school…

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Let’s Be Frank…

As promised, here is the summary of my visit with Ryan Frank… Let’s be Frank… Let me be Frank with you…. Ryan Frank began his ministry at Liberty Baptist Church the same year I came to my present church, 1998. However, for Ryan, it was the church he grew up in. While marrying the pastor’s beautiful daughter may have helped in the job interview, sine then he has shown himself to be both a creative and resourceful children’s pastor. This was not my first time to his church. Ryan has been a long time contributor to Kidology.org and has been a trainer at Kidology events. Though I wasn’t able to visit on a Sunday during this visit, I did get several opportunities to sit down and ‘talk shop’ with Ryan. I asked him to share some of the lessons he has learned from being faithful to one ministry for seven years. I told him to feel free to be ‘Frank’ with me… DEVELOP A LEADERSHIP TEAM Ryan said one of the critical things he has learned is the importance of Team Building. An effective children’s ministry leader has got to surround himself with qualified and dedicated people. He emphasized the…

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A Vacuum Powered Goat and More!

UP-DATE: A.R.M. 4000 XL Video below… Finally time for an update on our adventures! Bloggin’ on the train… The Amtrak ride was fun. There will be some more pictures and video later, but overall it was a good trip. It was relaxing, and fun to watch the scenery. The bumpiness was ok, though walking was sometimes rough, it was fine while sitting/sleeping. The bed was NOT very nice, planning a chiropractic visit upon my return! :) But, on the bright side, I found my retirement home… This is where I will retire…. if there is Internet, of course. 37 hours later, we arrived in Spokane. Contrary to online reviews, we arrived right on time… exept that ‘on time’ was 2:40am (4:40am Chicago time) so that added to an already rough night. We were greeted by Darth Vader, and Daniel Bigler. Our illuminated transport. The picture is blurry to capture the lights underneath that were also under the seats inside, the children’s pastor’s ministry vehicle. (see I’m not the only CP with a cool car to interest kids!) Non-blurry pictures coming in photo gallery. WOWIE! Fancy Schmancy! They surprised us by putting us up in the fanciest downtown hotel called The…

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I Kid U Not…

Well, it’s hard to believe that KID U is over! What a FUN BUNCH OF DAYS! Friday, was the pre-conference, and WHAT A BLAST that was! Every presenter did a BANG UP AWESOME job at presenting the theme in their own creative way. We had an in-house contest to spur them all on… every Kidology staff member and volunteer that wasn’t presenting was given a ballot to choose who did the best job, they ALL did awesome, and the vote was close, but the Winner of the Most Incredible Presentation went to: Jamie Doyle and his magical presentation. He won an Incredibles DVD, Basketball, and Pez Dispenser. Not bad, eh?Saturday was KID U! We had over 250 people there all to be equipped and encouraged. Dave and Jody VanKley leading the opening session I taught workshops along with several other presenters. But my favorite thing of the day was meeting Monty the Python from Camp Timber-lee: How do you like my necklace? Monty made a great hat too! OK, maybe the snake wasn’t my favorite thing, but it was pretty cool. My favoirte part of the day is usually at the end when I like to treat the staff and…

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