John Moore talks about Borders Reducing its Borders. It turns out that cutting inventory by 10% and fading books out increased their sales by 9%. I find this very interesting. How can we apply this to children’s ministry?
1. More in ministry is not always better. Success is not always found in adding one more program, event or class. Conventional wisdom says that more choices will increase sales. Borders has demonstrated that this not always the case.
2. Kids are stimulated visually. Borders learned that spines don’t sell; covers sell. Do whatever it takes to show kids the cover. Use visual props and aids every time you are in front of kids.
3. Be willing to let things go. Borders is going to lose some money cutting inventory by 10%. The loss will be recovered by future gains. What do you need to cut out of your ministry?
Am I missing any other application points? If so, post them in the comments.
Ask, and you shall receive. Bible works, doesn’t it? Here’s the pictures you all requested from our rock climbing wall, as well as a couple more from our Easter celebration this morning! These pictures were taken by Aaron Pickering and his wife, Briana , both volunteers in our Liberty All Stars children’s ministry. Enjoy.
Take thirty seconds and watch this video.
It will make you think twice before you rely on the church bulletin to recruit your nursery workers or drive VBS registration.
Yep, you read that right. Ryan and I have lost it. It’s been in progress for a few months, but it finally happened. We put up a rock climbing wall in our Kids Church room.
I know. You just read that and went “WHAT?!?!? They are crazy!” Yes, we know. It’s a small one, and you have to climb on it horizontally instead of vertically, but the kids love it. And amazingly, they’re actually not too rough with it. (Yours truly has not yet attempted the wall. I don’t think it would be pretty.) It is a lot of fun for the kids. This last Sunday, all in all, reminded me of a few things:
1. Kids love having fun. What’s coolest about the rock climbing wall is that the kids are enthralled with it. They’re going to find their friends and telling them to come see the new rock climbing wall. The line can get really long. It’s something that’s just so cool for them they have to remark about it to someone else.
Continue reading ‘We’ve gone crazy’
This morning in Kid’s Church I started a 2-week Kidmo series called Smackdown. I picked it up last week when I saw the Kidmo guys in Seattle. It was a hit. Here’s what made it great:
1) This is a short two-week series perfect for plugging into your program. My kids hadn’t seen Johnny Rogers since the summer when we did Fetch.
2) The media elements are excellent. The Kidmo team is getting better and better and have set the standard high for media-driven curriculum.
3) Smackdown is a funny story about Los Hermaños Stinkos (the three Stinky Brothers) as they search for the mighty El Salvador. The videos centers around the wrestling ring which the boys in my church loved.
4) Today’s episode was about communion. For the first time ever, I served communion to the kids. Was I nervous? Yes. I was second guessing it all the way until 8:00 this morning. How would I serve 150 kids communion without staining the carpet and having a mess on my hands? Well, it worked great. The video set the stage, I followed up with a five-minute talk about communion and what it means, and during some worship songs, I took the kids in groups of 10 to the back of the room where they were given a cracker and small cup of juice. It worked beautifully.
5) “It was funny but serious.” This is what one of my leaders told me after church about the Johnny Rogers video.
I think communion on Palm Sunday might be a new tradition in my kids church. It was very meaningful and the kids really took it seriously.
1. Get those monkeys off your back. Deal with problems and don’t let them weigh you down. Remember that procrastination is the biggest thief of time.
2. Get training. Go to a good conference targeted to Children’s Pastors and leaders.
3. Delegate. Get experienced people to help you.
4. Renew yourself spiritually.
5. Get control of your tasks don’t let your tasks control you.
6. Learn from others. Let every person teach you.
7. Be a planner. Anticipate what is coming ahead.
8. Treat yourself to something special now and then. Buy some new clothes. Go on that shopping trip. Take a few days off and stay at home.
9. Make much of prayer.
10. Don’t take yourself and those around you too seriously. Lighten up.
Yesterday my pastor and I spent most of the day in Indianapolis making a hospital visit. A man in our church had open heart surgery. On the way home I pulled my Nissan off the road and stopped at Lisa’s Pie Shop. I have driven by the store many times, but never took the time to stop. Those of you who know me best know that I love sweets. We stopped to buy a few pies.
In the pie rack were some good looking pies. Dutch apple, cherry, sugar cream, peach, you name it. Lisa’s Pie Shop creates about 25 kinds of pies fresh every day. Without going into details, we had the opportunity to meet Lisa herself. We asked her what kind of pie she recommended. She said she’s not the right person to ask because she doesn’t like pie. How can you create and operate a successful pie shop and not like pie? That’s what I asked.
Despite the fact that the walls were lined with award-winning ribbons she said she has only tasted about five of the twenty some pies that she makes.
Let me pose a question: Can you do (with excellence) what you don’t like? Lisa does every day. For most people it takes great discipline and character, but it can be done. Be committed to excellence even when you don’t like what you are doing.
Well, I’ve gotta run. That cherry pie in the kitchen is calling my name. Oh, and watch for Lisa’s Pie Shop. The Food Network is coming her way soon.
“Among young outsiders, 84 percent say they personally know at least one committed Christian. Yet just 15 percent thought the lifestyles of those Christ followers were significantly different from the norm.” (Page 48, unChristian, Baker Bookhouse, Grand Rapids, MI)
The first time I read that statistic it hit me hard. It’s really something to think about. According to Barna Research, approximately 120 million Americans are true born-again Christians. Think about that fifteen percent. That means that out of the 120 million Christians in America, just 18 million of those live like a Christian.
Let’s visualize that number. Say that everyone living east of the Mississippi River was Christian. Based on 2005 population estimates, the only region within that area that would be living for Christ would be the New York City Metropolitan Area. All I have to say is wow. That’s pathetic. Puny. Miniscule in proportion.
According to Barna Research, statistically speaking, Christians live very similar lives to non-Christians. Just as many view pornography. Just as many are adulterous. Just as many get drunk. Just as many use illegal drugs. Just as many get divorced. For all intents and purposes, as far as scientists are concerned, the modern Christian lifestyle is identical to the secular one. We’ve got a problem.
We can’t just ignore this. We may not like it, but it’s simple truth. Our job: to raise a generation of Christian children who don’t have that problem. To make them part of that fifteen percent. To be in the world, not of it. To reverse the problems Christianity has. To remind the world that Christians are true, loving, real, transparent people. You, as a children’s minister, have the task of fixing it. It won’t be easy, but one child at a time, we can change that with God’s help. That’s not the way I see it. That’s the way we all need to see it.
I just got back from CPC. It was great by the way to see the other two guys on this blog live and not in cyber-space. I love CPC especially San Diego. But I’ve never met a conference I didn’t like. Why? Is it the general sessions? No, unless I’m speaking I don’t always attend them all. Is it the workshops? No, I don’t always attend those either. Is it the resource area? I do like to shop but I never got a chance to walk the entire room in San Diego. It comes down to 3 things…
1. To meet people I need to know (Most of my dearest ministry friends that cause me to grow I’ve met at a conference.) There is more to it than just meeting them, I want to make a connection so an on going relationship can be forged. I want to come home with key cell phone numbers, email addresses and a personal connection. I set a goal for how many based on the size of the conference. Sometimes I know who I want to meet before hand other times I ask let my helper (the Holy Spirit) set it up.
2. Find key churches, I need to know about. I’m always looking for excellence. When I hear of or see excellence in any area, that’s my cue to explore and find out more and see if it’s a church to benchmark with. I then bookmark their website and keep watching and growing long after the conference is over.
3. To find answers to my questions. Every event I attend I make a list of questions I want to find answers to.
Many times the people I want to connect with in #1 I have specific questions for. I am always on the lookout for young leaders who seek me out with specific questions at an event I’m speaking at. When I see a hunger and zeal to learn I turn my heart to those leaders. It disappoints me when I see people not take advantage of opportunities to learn.
This is how I judge an event. This is why San Diego CPC was a better conference for me than Orlando. Monday I’ll be attending another conference and I’ll rate it by these 3 things rather it’s a success for me.
If you don’t identify why you are attending, why go?
You. You know who you are. The person who sits in coach class and puts your seat allllllll the way back. Hence, the person behind you sits cramped and uncomfortable while you lay in comfort. Yep, you’re a layer-backer.
No one likes the person who puts their seat back like that. Unfortunately, I spent three hours on a plane from Dallas to San Diego this week with a person like that in front of me. That person was more concerned with his comfort than the comfort of those around him.
If, in all your days of reading this blog you haven’t noticed that I like to use random things to make ministry analogies, this is going to be one of those posts. So what does it have to do with children’s ministry? Simple. Many times we, as humans, choose to ignore the comfort of others in favor of what makes us feel better. We come up with this “cool” idea that we are totally sold out to, but our volunteers aren’t. We just insist on pushing through with it, because we’re convinced it’s what we need to do. In the process, we totally alienate all of those around us and end up trying to run our ministries all by ourselves.
Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Let go of your emotional attachment to something and simply look at it through the eyes of another person. There may be this sudden realization that what you are convinced is good, is not really that good.
That’s not to say that you should ignore God’s will for the favor of man. That’s also a dangerous place to be. If you are sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that what you are doing is right, do it. God will help you with that.
Let people know you really care about what they have to say. Accept input from others. It’ll really help for you to communicate with those you serve and that help you to serve.