Home Archive by category "Leadership" (Page 34)

Category: Leadership

New, Revised, Expanded! The Kidology Handbook!

Whew! It finally happened at 6:27 p.m. today! After literally years of work, the NEW, REVISED, and GREATLY EXPANDED Kidology Handbook is NOW LIVE for pre-order in the Kidology Online Store! Not only is the Kidology Handbook GREATLY expanded – it now includes a short but practical LAB ASSIGNMENT at the end of each chapter to help you put what you learn into practice so you will see the changes in your ministry as a result. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s MORE! The ALL NEW Kidology Handbook is ALSO an Audio Book! That’s right, you can download and print the 143 page PDF for your personal self study guide, but you can also listen to the book in your car, on your iPod, or while you are biking, cooking, doing laundry or mowing the lawn if you want! The entire book is read by yours truly (me) so you auditory learners can benefit as well. It’s practical training “on the go” for busy teachers! AND (yes, it gets better) because it is a dual-function CD with data and audio, you are not limited by the restrainsts of a print book! For an additional fee you can purchase the rights…

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How Important Are Kids… Really?

Most churches claim to value children… but few actually do where it counts. A friend recently sent me to this blog post, and I thought it was fantastic, so I am re-posting a part of it here for feedback. (italics is quoted) These questions are good food for thought for those who claim to value children and/or children’s ministry in their church: Are your kids’ rooms painted beige, so they can be “multi-purpose”? (preferring to be attractive to adults who may share them) Could you answer specific questions about the curriculum in your kids’ rooms? Do you believe it’s the parents’ job to lead their kids to Christ, while they assume it’s the church’s? Have you addressed this disconnect? Does your children’s ministry struggle to get and keep passionate volunteers? Even if you can list the activities you offer children, can you show how they support your desired outcomes? Do staff salaries/prestige increase in proportion to the age of the people they serve? Are your children’s ministers regularly challenged to update their strategies? Can they demonstrate a healthy return on resource investment? Are you satisfied with merely “entertained kids” and “satisfied parents”? GOOD QUESTIONS! Thank you Kendra Golden for these questions.…

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I HATE PAPER!

I am cleaning up my office today (my inspiration) and going through stack of EVIL PAPER. Part of the problem is that I prefer documents electronically and tend to ignore paper, the other problem is that there is too much that can’t be stored electronically, gets forgotten if electronic, I don’t really know what to DO with, or I’m just too stinkin’ sentimental about some, ok, a LOT of my paper. I am also trying to get caught up on a bunch of personal organizational stuff I am behind on because next Friday I will be in line all day to get an iPhone, and it will be my “fresh start” at organization since I will finally have a reliable (fingers crossed!) tool for managing my calendar and to-do’s. (Palm Treo w/ Mac has proven untrustworthy, so I’ve been limping along waiting for an Apple PDA) HOW DO YOU MANAGE PAPER? Post a comment here, or join the discussion on Kidology.org

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My Canadian Buddy, Tyler

Here is a picture of my Canadian buddy, Tyler, doing what he loves best: READING! I have never met Tyler in person (yet!) but I hope to some day! His parents are missionaries in a remote part of northern Canada, where kids church looks like this: (Tyler in the yellow shirt) I got to know Tyler via his mom when I learned that he is a big fan of Toyboxtales.com, my novel (Order of the Ancient), and my blog. In fact, I am blogging about him today in order to encourage him with his new blog, since I just discovered tonight that he credited me as his “inspiration” to begin his blogging career: Maybe some of the zillions who come here can visit his blog and leave a comment to encourage him! Here is Tyler, at a local landmark–the moose head at the gas station, with the autographed copy of my novel I sent him after I learned that he only had the downloads and needed to clear up some harddrive space and was sad to lose it. (The book was released originally online a chapter a week, which is when Tyler read it) Here is Tyler in trouble with…

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9th Annual Success – I Kid U Not!

Hard to believe this was the 9th annual Kidology University here in Chicago. (14th Kid U if you count the ones in other states!) My new church played host and we had a great turn out, many of the rooms were standing room only, so next year we will be looking for an even larger facility. (leads anyone?) I enjoyed a break this year. No workshops. No EmCeeing, just taking pictures and visiting with our speakers and guests, it was a welcome change of pace for me. Especially walking around with my little boy. I was more daddy and less “Kidologist”… a refreshing change for me. Bill Allison was one of our many excellent speakers – one of the hallmarks of Kidology is that I am extremely picky about who speaks at a Kidology conference. All of our speakers embody our mission, Equipping and Encouraging. (but doing it while being Entertaining is ok too!) Master Ron, who as of yesterday is officially now “Pastor Ron” had the place cracking up with his balloon version of Samson and Deliah! And as our VIP, we had none other than Rob Biagi back! He is a V.I.P. to K.I.D.O.L.O.G.Y.! (not as catchy as…

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