This week I spent a few days in Portland, Oregon. It was my first time to Portland and I thought it was a nice town. I was there for an INCM board meeting. Friday we spent a few hours touring some hotels and the city considering it for a future INCM event.
We toured the Double Tree Hotel, which is conveniently located across the street from the Convention Center. We were greeted by a sales manager wearing a nice smile and a button with nothing but the number 10 on it. After her warm welcome, I raised my hand and asked her what the 10 was all about. She smiled and thanked me for asking.
I learned that every Double Tree employee in that hotel wears a button with the number 10 on it. I guess each customer is given a comment card after their stay and it’s a reminder that they want to earn a 10. Cool, huh?
What had us talking as we loaded the bus to leave? The warm cookies they served? No, we expected that at a Double Tree. It was the 10.
So, if someone rated the customer service in your children’s ministry, how would you score? Go for 10. It will have people talking as they get on the bus.
This past Saturday we went to Lafayette to hang out with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend at Purdue. We decided to eat lunch at the Triple XXX Diner. The Triple XXX (named after an old root beer factory) says that “our name may be Triple XXX, but our food is rated G”. The root beer got it’s name after someone said it was extra, extra, extra good.
I was impressed to discover that the Triple XXX Diner was be featured on the Food Network series “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” with Guy Fieri just last month.
The food was superb. I picked the Duane Purvis All-American (the recommendation of the waitress). What a good pick. It was 1/4 lb. of 100% ground sirloin (ground right there in the kitchen) served on a toasted sesame bun that had thick creamy peanut butter on the lower deck. A hamburger with peanut butter? That’s what I thought. But I would get it again.
The point of this post is this. In a world of change, and yes we must embrace change, some things don’t need to change. The Triple XXX has been doing it right since 1929.
What should never change in your children’s ministry? Give it some thought. Maybe you can think about it as your drive to Purdue for a hamburger.
I have always loved Fazoli’s. That’s probably why I chose to work there through college. They promoted me to night manager which I thought was cool at the time. I even had keys to the building, which was cool to a 20-year-old geek like me. Fazoli’s has always been known for their free breadsticks in the dining room. Not any old breadsticks, but hot, buttery, garlic breadsticks. All you can eat - free. That’s purple.
Today, the purple cow left the building. Tonight Beth and I took a kid to Fazoli’s. When we placed our order, we were informed that unlimited breadsticks in the dining room now cost $.25 per person. I agreed to pay the $.75 for the three of us but with disappointment.
Unlimited free breadsticks in a fast food restaurant is a remarkable concept. It has had people talking for years. Today, Fazoli’s lost their remarkable trademark - the free breadstick.
The solution? They need to introduce a new purple cow and fast. Tonight I didn’t see a replacement. If they don’t they will die.
The application to ministry? Sometimes purple cows have to leave the building. When they are forced to leave (for financial reasons, personnel reasons, or whatever) you better work hard at introducing something else remarkable. Remarkable things get talked about, the others are soon forgotten.
This morning between services I ran to the gas station for a bottle of water. Okay, technically I drove, but you get the point. I found myself chatting with a guy in line about his kids. He said his house that was once full of kids is empty, as his youngest two are in their first semester of college. I asked how him and his wife were coping with an empty nest. He told me about a clock in his living room that has been there for years. His wife just made him get rid of it because for the first time she heard it ticking. That ticking sound was driving her nuts.
That clock ticked for years, but not until the kids were gone did they hear it ticking. I left the gas station and thought about the kids that God has called me to shepherd. I thought about my daughter. Every week the clock ticks. There may be so much going on in my world that I don’t hear it, but it is ticking.
Ephesians 5:16 says, “Make the most of your time.”
The wheels have been turning at KidzMatter. If you haven’t heard, we are launching a magazine. The image on the left is one of the early comps from our art director. The first issue of K! Magazine (January / February 2008) will drop in the mail mid-to-late December.
If you would have asked me a year ago if KidzMatter would be in the publishing business, I would have told you that it’s a dream, but it’s a long way down the road. Isn’t it something when God makes your dreams a reality - even quicker than you would ever expect? A few months ago on our way home from Sunday night church, I told Beth, “Tonight God told me to start a magazine.” I was expecting her to go, “what?!?!”. Her response was, “I thought the same thing this morning.” A few days later I told Evan Doyle, our technology director, “Evan, we’re starting a magazine.” I didn’t get a “what?!?!” from Evan, I got the blank stare. You know, that stare that says, “Did he just say what I think he said?”
Our team has been great the last few months. We’ve been busy hiring an art director, working with Electricurrent on branding and concept design, meeting with editors, and everything else that comes with launching a magazine.
Electricurrent (the cool people who do our web work) will be making some major revisions to KidzMatter.com to include tools and information about the magazine. However, these changes won’t take effect until later this fall. In the meantime, check out the temporary K! page to get the 411.
One of the coolest things about this new magazine is that it’s being created for children’s pastors by children’s pastors. Our editorial team are people that know kids and work with them. They are each culturally-current in their approach to children’s ministry.
Check out the web page about K! Magazine. There are advertising opportunities, writing opportunities and you can even subscribe.
Our daughter Luci has a third birthday coming up in a few weeks. We decided to order her birthday party invitations from PhotoWorks. They have some cool invitations and the prices aren’t bad. The theme for the party is ducks (Luci is really into her ducks right now) and we put on the invitation to come for a splashin’ good time. Except I put “splahin” (without the s). I read that thing 20 times before I finally hit submit to place the order. It wasn’t until my mother-in-law got her invitation and found the typo that we realized there was a mistake.
Sometimes in ministry we get so use to things that there can be something really wrong but we don’t see it. Those old beat-up chairs are okay to you and your pastor because you’ve lived with them for 20 years, but they send a red flag to the visitor in your church. That green carpet from the 60’s is fine, after all, everyone is use to it. Everyone except the person who sees it for the first time.
I wish I would have stopped and had an outsider proofread Luci’s birthday card. Maybe I need to get an outsider to walk with me around my church or to observe me in action this weekend.
I served on church staff with a friend of mine for a few years. We went to youth group together when we were teenagers. Robert went to ABWE candidate school and became an ABWE missionary. Since then he has married a great gal named Alejandra and they have been working in LA Country reaching Hispanics. This past Sunday was their first church service.
I was excited to get a phone call from Robert this week at my house. He wanted to tell me about their first kids church service. The two kids in this picture were part of that service. It warmed my heart to hear that they used some of the products that we had sent them from the KidzMatter store. The kids loved Will it Float, the songs on Worship Aid, and more.
Here’s part of what Robert had to say:
“Our Saturday outreach ministries during much of the year have helped to build up a core group in order to begin Sunday services. September 16th was our first Sunday worship service. Ten countries were represented! The building only holds 40 and there were 39 adults in attendance. We also had 11 children outside in junior church. It was a great beginning!
“The kids loved our first Sunday Adventure Club! My only disappointment was that we did not have more attend, but the kids are excited about inviting their friends next week. During the Bible lesson, they were asked, ‘Where do we find the story of creation in the Bible?’ and a little boy enthusiastically responded, ‘On the first page!’ It is a blessing to see these kids eagerly learning about God while their hearts are still tender. Thank you for praying.”
Please pray for my friends Robert & Alejandra Cupps as they attempt to reach Hispanic boys and girls in Los Angeles.
I’ve never liked meetings. I think it’s the way I’m wired. 10 minutes into a meeting and I’m ready to leave and go DO something! That’s why the idea of going into a church staff meeting without my MacBook Pro on my lap is out of the question. You see, I can’t just sit and listen. I have to be doing something. This brings up a question. Why have I always thought that meetings are for the birds?
Meetings are for the birds when:
1) they get off the point
2) one person dominates the conversation
3) rabbit trails get followed when more important things are at hand
4) the leader won’t make a decision
5) no one talks
6) 95% of the dialog has nothing to do with your ministry
Meetings can be a big old waste of time. But they don’t have to be. Nor should they be allowed to be. Tonight I had six of our children’s ministry leaders over to my house for an informal meeting. We sat in the basement and talked about what’s working well in our children’s ministry and what needs to improve. Then we made some decisions.
This meeting worked because it had a purpose. Everyone knew the purpose going in. I gave everyone a heads up about what we would be talking about so they would be prepared to contribute to the discussion.
This meeting wasn’t for the birds. It was well worth our time. We discussed current priorities, talked about who is responsible for doing what, and where we hope to be a few months down the road.
Thursday night I stood at the entrance to our children’s ministry center and greeted the bus kids as they unloaded off the buses and walked into church. I got on one knee and asked a 10-year-old girl, “How are you?”. I was caught me off guard when this bubbly little girl answered, “Not good.” She proceeded to tell me that her mom was taken to jail yesterday and wasn’t coming home until after Christmas. What happened next? I stopped right there and prayed her mom. The prayer ended with a hug.
If I hadn’t asked her how she was doing, I would have never known. I wouldn’t know how to pray for her. When’s the last time you stopped to ask a child what’s going on in his/her life? I feel convicted even as I type these words. We often get busy trying to come up with all these innovative, dynamic, critical, crucial ways to do ministry, yet we overlook the obvious.
I am sitting on my lazy boy watching TV after a a great morning at church. I want to apologize for not posting on the blog much the last 2-3 weeks. Today was the first Sunday in our new children’s ministry center at my church. Enough said? It’s been a super busy month moving into a new building, implementing new security procedures, recruiting new volunteers, and so on. We also have a major project in the works at KidzMatter (formal announcement coming this week).
So anyway, thanks for your patience. The posts will start flowing again on a regular basis, you’ve got my word on it!
