Ministry can get crazy…so many things to do, so little time. I’ve learned a little secret that will make your efficiency in ministry blossom. Here’s the different chip values.
BLUE CHIPS: the most important, biggest impact stuff
RED CHIPS: the somewhat important, medium impact stuff
WHITE CHIPS: it’s usually the most fun, yet extremely low impact stuff
As your to-do list grows with weekly responsibilities, events, planning, meetings, rehearsals, team building, ministry, etc. ASSIGN A CHIP VALUE TO EVERY SINGLE THING. Start giving the majority of your time to only your blue chips. Even though white chips sometime’s need to get done, don’t give them much time. Kind of like keeping track of the food you eat or the money you spend…this will really change how you focus your time on your ministry.
After implementing this myself…I realize I used to spend the majority of my time on WHITE CHIPS. Now I say no, delegate, or spend an extremely small amount of time with them. BLUE CHIPS are my new thing.
Yes…it’s true. I’m an official Kentucky Fried Chicken taste-tester. Once every three months I get to paid to go to the test kitchen at the headquarters and eat chicken and fill out extremely detailed surveys on what I liked and didn’t like about the chicken (or mashed potatoes, macaroni, creamy cheese and broccoli, etc.). Today was my day…it’s was hot wings this time. We taste the same product numerous times, but with slight variations. Some slightly hotter, spicier, more salty, more tender, crispier breading and so on.
I’m always amazed and the number of people they pay to do taste-tests, and the extreme care that goes into the whole process (I’m guessing millions of dollars). It’s because they know that if they want to have a successful company it’s imperative that they offer not only food that people like, but food with exact specifications to our liking. We children’s ministers should take note of KFC’s dedication to finding out what works.
We have a term at church called being “store blind.” It means that you are in and around your ministry so much that you fail to see things that might stick out like a sore thumb to others. Quite often, the fix is simple. Getting feedback from others is a great way to restore your sight.
The next time you have a camp or VBS…gather some people together and have a debrief. Find out what worked and what didn’t and implement the changes next year.
Is your ministry needing some revamping? I challenge you to get a few kids and parents together for an idea sharing lunch or dinner. Ask them a variety of questions regarding specific areas of your ministry, brainstorm, ask them what works and what doesn’t. I guarantee it will be the best $50 you’ll spend this year.
KFC has chicken. We have Christ. They collect data from thousands of taste-testers to make sure the chicken they offer is actually working (tasting good). Shouldn’t we do the same thing to make sure that we’re presenting the Gospel in such a way that it’s actually working with the children and families we minister to?
The making of a great ministry team leader revolves around Call and Community. So where do you fit on the Matrix? Are you a Prophet, an Employee, a Clique? Click below to read more about what each box means.
Continue reading ‘The Making of a Great Ministry Team Member’
Awards are fun to get, but even more fun to give. If you’ve got some volunteers who are helping out in your ministry, why not get creative at your next volunteer appreciation dinner, or even between now and then. Here’s my top ten favorite volunteer appreciation awards.
10. The Extra-Mile Award. a gift certificate for a gas station and a can of beans, for the volunteer who quite literally drives the farthest.
9. The Candlelight Dinner Award. a $10 gift certificate for McDonald’s and a candle, for a volunteer husband and wife team.
8. The Spam Award. a big can of spam, for a volunteer who helps out in a variety of ways and is good with everything.
Continue reading ‘Volunteer Awards’
I was having a nice barbeque dinner at Famous Dave’s last week with a minister who is launching a satellite church…we were talking about a myriad of subjects. One subject in particular was preaching in a way that helps people to learn on their own. He shared with me the acronym of S.O.A.P. that a minister was using to teach his congregation about reading their Bibles. Unknown to me, we’re actually using this illustration in our children’s Bible Study curriculum, and it is also being used to teach adults as a simple and lifelong way to engage the Bible. If I could pick one thing for a kid to remember after they leave our ministry, this would be it. Because it will continue to teach them for years to come, long after they’ve left our doors.
S - scripture (you start with reading your Bible everyday)
O- observation (you pick out one verse or topic that jumped out to you)
A- application (you think about how that scripture should apply to your life)
P- prayer (you pray that God would help you to apply the scripture to your life)
It’s relationships, not programs that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community.
-Bill Milliken, founder of Communities in Schools
The Way I See It #237 off a Starbucks Cup
I love doing stuff at any given moment that I’m almost positive no one else in the world is doing. There’s something fun about the thought that “could I be the only one in the world doing this right now?” A few years I ago I tried to do such a thing…I was at Milligan College and got a ton of Barq’s root beer and threw a huge root beer party. It was a blast and created quite a few memories and new friendships. In our ministry I believe we’ve taken a similar approach to how we do events, camp, and worship…we think way outside the box and usually get a little crazy in the process (like a singing memory verse puppet using only a sock named Sir Stink A Lot that stole the show at camp last summer week after week).
So where in the world am I going with this? I have no idea other than the thought that I believe we need to think way outside the box, get original, and get crazy to reach the kids in our ministries. If you get a chance, take some time and post some things that are possibly unique to your ministry…perhaps the way you do worship, small groups, games, events, camp, choir, puppets, decision counseling, announcements, etc.
We’ve got volunteers…but we don’t really have the number of volunteers we want to take our ministry where we want it to go. Here’s 4 things I believe will help us make our goal.
1. GETTING REAL. Deciding how many volunteers you really want to take your ministry where you envision it. For small groups, we know we need 183 more because we really envision small groups as being small groups (not 1 adult for 20 kids). For our tech team we need an additional 45 for our new family service and regular elementary worship. I believe it’s important to get real and decide what you really want to take your ministry where it needs to go…instead of just getting by on what you have.
2. PHONE CALLS OVER EMAIL. Let’s be honest. It’s really easy to send out an email, and on the reverse end, it’s really easy to ignore an email. It’s so tempting, but I firmly believe that personal things like face to face interactions, meals, phone calls, and cards are the best way to go.
3. SPAN OF CARE. I think this is the most important one. Let’s be honest one more time. One person CAN’T have a meaningful relationship with 85 volunteers, Continue reading ‘Getting (and keeping) 183 new volunteers.’
3….2….1…touchdown. The EAGLE has landed. THE WAY WE SEE IT is live!
I recently went to a family get-together with my big brother and his new wife and all the family. It really amazed me about how different we all were…we really put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional. But, we all came together for one reason though. We shared a common bond of love with my bro and his wife. This blog is kind of similar…4 guys from different parts of the country with totally different backgrounds and personalities teaming up. The cool thing is that we all share one common bond: our desire to connect Kids to Christ. Jim, Ryan, and Evan are wise, fun, creative, and passionate about kids ministry and this is going to make for some great get-togethers.
Besides being a professional taste-tester for KFC, I’m one of 8 Elementary Ministers at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky and I’m extremely humbled to get to be a part of THE WAY WE SEE IT.
Here’s a little of what’s going on this month in the ministry I work with:
1. Just got back from the NAB video technology conference in Las Vegas.
2. Gearing up for camp this summer…our theme: Camp Like An Egyptian
3. Working on new summer curriculum on video that we’re shooting ourselves themed around camping.
4. Volunteer Recruitment…we still need 183 more small group leaders. Yikes!
5. Hiring and training a new intern for the coming year…scary stuff.
Well, thanks for being a part of this ‘get-together.’ Hope to see you again real soon.
