Recruiting

Well it is that time of year again. You know what i'm talking about the "recruiting phase". Where Children's Ministers, Youth Ministers, and church staff in general are in full recruitment mode or in some instances you might call it begging mode. Personally, I haven't really had to ask many people, I've had a lot of people willingly agree to help. It is always nice when you don't have to beg and plea for workers isn't it? Anyway, maybe there are some of you out there, who aren't sure how your going to get workers and time is running out. So here are my suggestions for recruiting children's workers or just workers in general for your ministry.

1. Pray

I know this sounds simple but have you taken time to ask God for a direction in recruiting volunteers? Of course we can pull out a church directory and just start calling people. But why not ask God to put those specific people in your mind.

2. Ask your present workers

The people, who have served with you the past year, have an insight into the children's ministry that others do not. They also have relationships outside of the children's ministry that you may not. So ask your workers who they think would be a good children's worker. This allows them to have some more input and ownership into the ministry and it shows them you trust their opinion.

3. Look for those who have kids in your ministry.

Now this choice is a bit more difficult. But parents of kids are often willing to help work in something that is helping teach their child about God and His word. The difficult part is making sure they understand not to be the parent when at church but that is what training is for right?

4. Look for those who have kids coming up.

It is also possible that you could recruit parents, who have younger kids not yet in your children's ministry. This allows the parent to already become accustomed to the ministry before their child gets there. It may also help retain workers, because they may want to stay around while their kid goes through the ministry too.

5. Look for someone who likes kids

A good children's volunteer is going to have a passion for kids. Of course this sounds like a duh moment but I've heard several stories of people recruiting any warm body in the church. To make the best ministry possible for the kids, we need volunteers who truly care about them. Not everyone is called to children's ministry, just like not everyone is called to youth, senior adults, and other ministries.

Children's ministry is a wonderful place for people to serve. It is also an important place for people to serve. This is a key point that we must remember as we recruit new volunteers. Children's ministry shouldn't be a place where we beg people to participate but one we value people who participate.

Journey Off the Map

It is that time of year again. VBS is just around the corner. Children's ministers and VBS directors are scrambling to get those last minute volunteers to sign up and help out with what is probably one of the greatest outreach opportunities for the church throughout the year. Decorations are being made so the church looks awesome. Snacks and crafts are being ordered in bulk to make sure that everyone has enough supplies. I encourage you to take a quick break though and look at what VBS is all about. That's right for just one second take a break, put down the volunteer recruiter sheet or supplies request list that is in your hand and think about VBS as a whole, not just the workers or stuff you need.

The Message

Of course every year Lifeway seems to come out with an awesome, amazing, and exciting theme for the week. This year is no different as kids will Journey Off the Map in search for God and the amazing truths in His word. This message is great for kids because in order to meet Christ we have to come to know and have faith where we didn't before. We have to come to the realization that Jesus is God's son, who paid the price for our sins. Which means we journeyed into unknown or uncharted territory.

Throughout the course of the week kids will go through stories of Jesus and his ministry, death, burial, and Resurrection. But they will also spend time in Daniel looking into the life of people, who were not much older than them when they made amazing stands for God. This is a driving home point to utilize in showing the kids (especially preteens) that they don't have to wait to become adults to follow God.

The Week

What an important week this is! Hopefully you will see kids come through the doors of your church that never would have otherwise. Family Night might bring not just kids but their parents as well. And this is the time you have to try to reach or connect with them. Don't take that time for granted. Instead be mindful and intentional with the opportunity your church has been given. If you haven't already begin praying for the kids and their families, who will take part in your VBS. Also remember that while now is the planning stage. The week of should be all about relationships. Building relationships with kids, their parents, and your community as a whole.

Now that you've thought about some aspects of VBS as a whole, take a moment to pray then pick that volunteer sheet back up and get ready for what is probably going to be an amazing week.

Kids and conversion

I had the chance to attend a National VBSI training conference this past week. It was great, and I can't wait to take back some ideas to my church and state. But there is one breakout session that stuck out to me. It was titled Kids and Conversion and done by Jerry Vogel of Lifeway. This is such an important topic. A kids salvation is nothing to take lightly. So here are some things Jerry reminded me of this past week.

1. Stay away from "churchy" words.

Now of course those of us, who go to church regularly and have been a Christian for a while, understand what words such as repentance, salvation, and being washed in Jesus' blood mean. But a kid often does not. So be ready to explain these "churchy" words that we have become so accustomed to.

2. Always counsel kids 1 on 1.

This allows the child to speak for themselves. If you get a bunch together there will always be a few that speak up over the rest. Of course if a kid hears the "right" answer they are going to repeat it, because it is right. The question though still remains if they understand the why?

3. Ask open ended questions.

It is very easy to ask a yes or no question. Do you want to be saved? Do you want to spend eternity in hell? But as we counsel children, try and ask open ended question so you can better see where they stand spiritually. Questions like What is sin? Why do we need Jesus to save us? How did Jesus pay for our sins?

This is one of the highlights of being a kidmin leader, getting to see a child come to know Christ! How exciting! It doesn't get better than that. But let's make sure we counsel them in the right manner and let Jesus do the rest.

Speaking Christ through your actions

Today as I was listening to a pastor I was reminded of the saying actions speak louder than words. Now I know this is going to upset you because you have studied for hours preparing the best children's sermon series possible. Perhaps you just came across the coolest object lesson or sermon illustration there is and know the kids will be extremely focused during your lesson time this week. While I hope this is true and that we all (me included) are digging into God's word in preparation for when we get to speak to the kids in our ministry, it is possible we are missing a key aspect to sharing the gospel of Christ. Our actions.

In Acts 20: 18-19 Paul is addressing the Ephesians stating, "When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents." Isn't it interesting that instead of pointing back to some the sermons or teachings Paul had spoke it was his actions that Paul referred to as a teaching point here?

What if instead of just interacting with the kids in our ministry we began to view it as a evangelistic or discipleship time? If there is one thing I know its kids maybe listening but they are definitely watching. This includes in how we treat others, if we are fair and honest, how we act in Walmart, or anywhere we go. The question is are they seeing Christ through your actions or are you harming the message of Christ? I pray they do in mine.

Training Workers

One thing that every children's ministry needs is equipped, committed, and faithful workers.  After all you can't do everything yourself in the children's ministry or at least you shouldn't. But that is a whole different topic. Now i'm sure you have some people like this is your ministry already. There are some people who just naturally are very gifted, even at being a children's ministry worker. I believe that every worker can become this equipped and committed worker though. It just takes time and effort from you, the children's minister, to help aid and equip them for that purpose.

But in today's world it is a fact that people are ever increasingly busy. This presents a problem when it comes to pouring into today's children's ministry workers. At a Conference I went to several months ago only 1 out of 25-30 children's ministers were having a monthly training, where most if not all their workers attended.  This shows us that today meeting once a month at a set time does not always promise a good turnout. Which means that some of your workers are being equipped while others are missing good training points. The majority of the children's ministers had one meeting every quarter or half a year for training. This doesn't give a lot of time to equip those in the forefront battle ground of your children's ministry.

So in order to equip your workers one is going to have to think outside of the box. How can I equip my workers and manage to not ask of a lot of time from their daily schedules? This is a question I have looked into myself. Here are two ideas I came up with. Perhaps some of ya'll have come up with another solution. I'd love to here how others are equipping their workers, please leave your training strategies in the comments below.

1) Training Online

There are several different online training tools available today. My children's ministry is actually in the process of getting all our workers signed up for this as we speak. One benefit of training online is that you can track each workers progress, allowing you to provide different trainings for more seasoned children's ministry workers. These also give you a database of training videos so you don't always have to make your own.

2) CD/DVD

Another thing you could try is making a CD/DVD each month for every worker with videos or audio on it. This takes a bit more work as you have to make and/or compile the videos. But it allows them to carry the training with them anywhere they may go.

Ultimately I believe that a key to equipping today's kidmin workers is making training conveniently available. Whether this is online, through a CD or DVD, people will be more willing to listen or watch a short 5-10 min training if they can listen while driving to work or pull up a video on their Ipad during commercial breaks. The question is how will you equip your kidmin workers?

Feeding Yourself

Are you taking time to feed yourself? Now I know this sounds like an odd question. I mean of course your taking your lunch break and maybe hitting up the closest fast food joint from the church. And every morning you wake up and grab that bowl of cereal or eggs. Then at night you know supper is a great meal. Of course your feeding yourself right? We all make sure we take time out of our day to eat because our bodies need fuel to keep going. Without food we will become sluggish, tired, and lethargic. So to keep going and hopefully fulfill our jobs and relationships to the best of our ability we eat right.

But are you taking the same stance in your spiritual life? Are you, as a minister of the gospel, taking time to feed yourself God's word? Now don't get me wrong I know it is easy to get caught up in whatever ministry your focused on and there is always someone you can help and serve. But the fact is your still a person like everyone else. You still must have a relationship with the God you serve, like everyone else. One thing that requires is purposefully spending quality time with Him daily.

Notice, I said quality time not quantity time. Because the length of time can vary from day to day. And I believe it can be different for every person. But quality time, that is needed no matter who you are. Time where you get alone with God and personally meet with Him. This is vital for all ministers, after all its hard to tells others about someone you never meet, spend time, or talk with. So maybe you've been in a rut and neglecting your time with God, maybe you need to make it a meeting time where you set aside a specific time daily. But make sure your connected to the vine.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:5

Conferences. . .a great opportunity

One thing that is a great resource for ministers are conferences. This is a time where maybe you get to take a road trip or even fly and be around a lot of other ministers too. In a conference setting, as a minister you get to go somewhere and hear from others about things happening in ministry and hopefully catch onto some great ideas of things that could help boost your ministry at home. Obviously it is a great time for one to gain a greater knowledge and understand. It is a training opportunity for ministers today.

But by going to a conference one can gain so much more than just realizing new ideas and trends in ministry. During the course of a conference, a minister can network and develop relationships. I would say that at no other time can you as a minister so easily and effectively meet other like-minded people face to face. Not to mention that the other ministers you meet will probably be from all over the region, country, or at times maybe even world. This allows you to see what’s going on in ministry in so many different situations. Developing these relationships can be a great opportunity, as you can later go back and see how each other is doing in ministry, bounce ideas off each other, and just simply share in life together.

Conferences can also be a time of rest and renewal for ministers. Perhaps you have been super busy lately and just had no time to get away. Conferences can be that opportunity, where you can relax a bit and rest. Sure you are going from session to session, but you can relax in knowing you just get to listen. This could also be a time where maybe you get to focus more on your own relationship with Christ, instead of planning and studying all the time.

I have been to several great conferences over the years and have some already scheduled for the upcoming year. I hope that you will consider going to a conference this year as well. Whether you need to gain some insight and knowledge, rest, or network with other ministers. Perhaps, you even need all three. It seems there are so many conferences readily available today, I hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunity set before us.

You Must Read To Succeed

I once had a Bible college professor, who said “You must read to succeed”. Now I don’t know about you but I am not a reader. As a kid, I read the Bible and that was about it. In college reading was a necessary evil. I did not like it but I did it so I could pass my classes. At the time I thought his saying was just for the classes my professor taught, because we had reading quizzes all the time. But I have since realized that this saying applied to far more than just his class but ministry in general.

I now find myself reading to help my ministry. So rather than being a necessary evil, reading has become a tool. It is a way for me to continue to keep up with trends in Children’s Ministry, whether I use them or not. Reading helps my mind brain storm different ways that our ministry could reach kids. Through reading I continually develop my own views on the process of Children’s Ministry, how I need to react to volunteer workers, as a leader. The list could go on and on with different ways reading is effective and profitable for ministers. But I think you get it, reading is important. Especially to those ministers, who don’t always get to conferences and workshop seminars.

So if you aren’t currently I would like to encourage you to find a book, pick it up and start reading. Maybe it’s a book about children’s ministry, disciplining in church, teaching kids to pray, training volunteers or leadership. There are a ton of books out there. Two books I would suggest are WHOLLY KIDS and Children’s Ministry That Works, which I’ve read recently. Next on my list of books to read are Kid Ministry 101, and The Kidology Way. But these aren’t the only books that could prove helpful to your ministry. I’d love to hear some suggestions on books you’ve read, which helped you in ministry? Just leave them in the comments below.

Story telling

So you are preparing for Sunday morning, or Wednesday night and you want to make sure the story is exciting for the kids. What do you do? Now there are many ways to capture a child's attention as you relay a story from the Bible and how it applies to their lives. There are object lessons, power points, videos, felt boards, and the list goes on. One great way to teach kids is through story telling! This is after all one way that Jesus taught. There are many parables such as the prodigal son, the wise and foolish builder, and the mustard seed are just a few. But I'm not just talking about having them sit and listen.

Instead, step out of the norm and put a new twist on story telling. This could be done by getting some of the kids to help you act out the story. This is a great way to keep the kids interacting and engaged. It also probably makes them feel special. Not only are they getting to help teach the story for the day but they also get put up on stage in front of their friends.

Using children to tell the story also ensures for a lively time. Just this night I had kids up on stage helping me act out the three little pigs. Now yes this is a simple story that preschool kids learn. But even my sixth graders were excited and engaged. Of course having a little girl be the big bad wolf can be fairly entertaining. So can seeing your adult leaders crumble as the house gets blown down too. The point is using kids can produce some funny visuals as you have them act out different events.

So next time your looking to change up how you teach the kids. Try using them to help act out your story. It is a great visual and can keep the kids engaged as they are thrown into the story. No matter what you choose, just don't be afraid to try something new.

Summer Camp

So this year I changed up our summer camp at the church I am currently serving in. For the past several years the kids group has gone to a "big" camp. Now before I continue please understand I am not in any way bashing these big camps. In the right in the right situation, with God's leading, they can be very helpful to a church. Instead though I felt God leading us to go on our own camp. It was definitely a great decision. We doubled our attendance for camp from the previous year. All the kids had fun. We got to do a shaving cream/water balloon war, giant soap and slide, and much more. But these aren't the benefits of doing your own camp. Rather the benefits are so much more. Below are just a few reason I believe God led me to choosing our own camp this year.

1) Your own camp allows you and your adults to connect with the kids.

By being the only church there it allows your kids to focus on you and you to focus solely on your kids. This is a great time to build and strengthen relationships with them. Because you are going from a couple hours a week to being around the kids 24/7 for several days.

2) Your own camp allows for the speaker to connect with the kids more.

This past week at camp, one thing that blessed my heart, was seeing our camp speaker interact with the kids. Now yes this was done during the service, as he spoke and called kids up to help. But he also was there during meals, games, crafts, and more. The kids actually got to know our speaker. He wasn't just someone, who preached to them, but was real and his walk with Christ was evident outside of the pulpit.

3) Your own camp allows you to tailor the week for your group.

By having your own camp you, their children's minister, can tailor the camp to help fit exactly where your children's group is. Do you have a lot of unchurched kids? kids who haven't made a profession of faith? Kids, who are already on their walk with Christ? Younger kids? Older Kids? Of course the answer, is different for every group and could even change from year to year. By knowing where your group is overall, the camp can be tailored to their stage of life. If you have a lot of kids, who haven't accepted Christ, then the gospel should be a constant focus in crafts, services, and more. Perhaps this means also doing more group Bible study so that an adult is clearly relaying the Bible message. If you have kids, who have already accepted Christ, then perhaps doing more small group discussion or personal devotion time would be a good choice. But its your choice, and responsibility to tailor the camp.

Of course, I would urge any children's minister to consider taking your kids to a camp of their own. There are so many positives to it in my mind. But ultimately there is really only one thing that matters and I was reminded of that this week. Are we reaching kids for Christ through the camp. Whether it is your own camp or a big commercial camp, if the gospel isn't being presented, if kids aren't growing deeper in their walk with Christ. Then something needs to change and a serious evaluation should be made. Yes, camp should be packed with fun, but even more so camp should be packed with Christ!

Keeping the Vision

You are at a new place in ministry. Maybe it’s a different church, state, even age group focus. So what do you do? One of the first and most critical aspects of beginning a new ministry, I feel, is establishing an overall vision for the ministry you are put in charge of. Now sometimes this may be done for you generically, as the whole church operates under a certain vision from the head pastor. But perhaps not. Maybe you have come into a situation where you’re responsible for the vision of the ministry. So you pray and seek God’s guidance and develop a vision, mission statement, a plan of attack or ministry strategy, if you will. It sounds great, looks great, and you can’t wait to implement it into the ministry.

Fast forward several years, possibly months, and a question should arise. Are we still following the vision? You know it is easy to make sure the vision is followed at first. It is fresh, new, and exciting. But keep going down the road and it becomes more of an afterthought at times than a driving force.

Of course from time to time you may see the vision adjusting and need to change it some but I believe that one key to being successful in ministry is sticking to the vision God has laid out to you for the ministry. This is not an easy thing to accomplish though. It takes perseverance and focus. Constantly, reminding all of the workers of the goal. Doug Fields, In Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, suggest that you at least remind people of the vision or purpose of the ministry every twenty-six days.[1] This may sound very repetitive but it drives the purpose into the forefront of thought. It keeps focus in the ministry. It keeps organization and a general unity amongst the workers.

So the question is simple. Are you focusing on your ministry vision? If not why? Perhaps you have simply gotten busy and distracted from the vision. I encourage you to return to it as soon as possible. By focusing on the purpose your ministry can be more effective, unified and focused. The challenge is not to lose sight of the vision.

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[1] Doug Fields. Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998.

Do I really need to be prepared?

Weeks sure are busy aren't they? You have to prepare for all the programs and events. Look ahead to keep the calendar moving. Of course there are weekly meetings as well. Sometimes things are just so busy that part of the ministry gets neglected or not done as much. I think that often times the aspect that is first neglected is preparing beforehand for those weekly activities or events that seem to repeat every year. This is in part because they have been done before. You know the typical order of your children's church service or Sunday School lesson. So is it really all that important for you or a Sunday School teacher, or any other volunteer in your children's ministry to come in prepared? Absolutely, and here are just a few reasons why.

1. Being prepared allows you to connect with the kids before hand.

One of the best times to connect with the kids in your ministry, on a personal level, is by going around and talking to them before your weekly programs. This cannot be done though when you aren't properly prepared for the day. Make sure your prepared before instead of running around looking at your lesson plan or trying to set up a game. Just a few minutes of talking to a child could create a personal relationship, enabling them to listen to the gospel your about to present.

2. Being prepared shows the kids they are important.

Now I know what your thinking, and I've even had another minister tell me, the kids won't know we are winging it. But I must admit, I disagree. Kids can tell when your not prepared or coming up with things on the fly. And it shows them that its not important enough to take time before hand. Not to mention that kids are going to be more likely to bring a friend if your program is exciting and well planned, instead of thrown together at the last minute.

3. Being prepared allows you to connect with your workers.

Yes, before an event or program you should be visiting and connecting with the kids. But also make sure to stop by your volunteers. Let them know how much you appreciate them or just simply get to know them. A volunteer, who is invested in, is much more likely to stay in the long run. Which allows you to train and develop positive, strong leadership.

4. Being prepared allows you to include others.

If you are throwing together a lesson plan, or service order it is a lot harder to include others because everything is last minute. Instead by preparing, you can include other workers in leading a game, craft, music, etc. This helps develop solid workers, and ensures the program will be well ran when your on vacation, or a conference.