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Author Archive for Ryan Frank
I’m real excited about the new cmconnect.org. Today I talked to Michael Chanley on the phone for about 30 minutes. He’s the guy who got the idea to start the site. Bravo. He’s an elementary children’s pastor at SouthEast Christian Church. The social networking available on this site is great.
Join Jim Wideman, Roger Fields, and a bunch of other great people on cmconnect.org. Once you’ve joined, be sure to join the K! Magazine and the KidzMatter groups.
Thanks to everyone who answered my question last week. I asked, “What comes to mind when you hear the question: Do you drink pop?”
If you ask me that question, I think of Pepsi. You might think of Sprite or Diet Coke. If I ask you, “Would you like a pop to drink?” and you say yes, I would be grossly wrong to assume that you must want a Pepsi. Why? Pop comes in many flavors.
One of my pet peeves about the family ministry buzz is that too many pastors have narrowed the definition. They assume that pop means Pepsi. I had a guy email me a few weeks ago and ask me if my church has a family ministry. I asked him what he meant. His response? “Do you have a service for the children and their parents on Sunday morning?” Why have some narrowed the definition of family ministry to an hour on Sunday morning?
In the next issue of K! Magazine, I asked Reggie Joiner (creator of reThink / Orange) to write an article on this very issue. I asked him to clear up the family ministry confusion. He agreed. You will find this article helpful as you try to help the families in your church and community.
Family ministry is so much more than a big building, a new worship service or a pastor with a door plate that says, “Family Pastor”. While family ministry can (and often does) include these, they do not define it.
Soda comes in a zillion flavors - ministering to families can too. That’s the way I see it.
What image comes to mind when I ask, “Do you drink pop?” Let me know by leaving a quick comment.
There is a point to this question, but I’m not going wait a few days to tell you what it is.
Check out this video on SermonSpice. It’s a fun reminder of what it takes to be a real man of genius in children’s ministry.
Have you read the parable of the talents lately? It’s found in Matthew 25:14-30. My pastor preached on this parable Sunday night. Verse 14 says “it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.”
Did you know that everything you have belongs to the master? It has been “entrusted” to you for a short while. Your family, your house, your car, even your ministry. It all belongs to Him.
Why don’t you pause right now and think about your ministry. Who’s running the show? Who’s calling the shots? Who do you work for? The answer to these questions is JESUS!
If you read the parable of the talents, you will discover that the master was pleased with the servants who were good stewards with this possessions. Remember today that your ministry is not your own, it is the Lord’s. He has simply asked you to manage it and grow it for Him. I don’t know about you, but that sure takes a load off my back!
Last Saturday I took my car for a scheduled service and tune-up. I was reminded by the service manager at the dealership that it was time to come and bring the car. When I arrived, he pulled the service history up on his computer. He was immediately brought to speed on the history of the car and what needed work.
A few days later I had lunch with a children’s pastor in my area. He asked me if I kept spiritual history files on the kids in my ministry. It’s something he’d be thinking about doing. Gulp. I answered with a no.
A spiritual history file - what a great idea! If the service manager at the car dealership knows the history of my car shouldn’t I know the SPIRITUAL history of the kids in my church?
How well do you know the kids in your ministry? I’m not talking about their names or their favorite candy. I’m talking about their walk with the Lord. Have they been saved? What about baptized? Are they involved in Sunday School or small groups? Are they making progress in their faith?
If you keep spiritual history files on the kids in your church, I’d love to hear how you do it. Post a comment and tell us your system and how it is helping your ministry.
In First Timothy, Paul helped young Timothy reach his potential and fulfill all that God planned for his life and ministry. In chapter four, he gave some specific instructions on how to be a faithful minister and how to fulfill his call. In verse 15, Paul admonished Timothy to “meditate on these things”. Paul wanted Timothy to stop and think about his call.
When’s the last time you paused to meditate on your call? I’m talking about thinking intently about what God has placed before you.
Let’s take time to think together. If God has called you to children’s ministry, the following is true:
1. You have been given the opportunity to minister to the most fertile of hearts - boys and girls. Statistics estimate that 85% of salvation decisions are made as a child.
2. You have the opportunity to lead the largest volunteer force in your church. Children’s ministry requires more volunteers than any other ministry in the church.
3. You have the opportunity to help mom and dad raise champions for Jesus Christ. Remember, mom and dad have a lot more influence in the life of a kid than you ever will. (Click here to see a great book on the subject.)
4. You are going to be on Satan’s radar. If 85% of Christians get saved before their 14th birthday, don’t be surprised if Satan tries to get you to quit. If a person’s world view is established by the preteen years, don’t be dumfounded when the enemy makes you feel lonely and discouraged.
5. You have the opportunity to do today what many wish they could have done in the past. D.L. Moody was responsible for leading thousands of people to Christ, starting a Bible Institute that has sent thousands of missionaries around the world, and on I could go. Yet, at the end of his life he said that if he could relive his life, he would “devote it entirely to reaching children for God.”
Take some time to do what Timothy did. Stop and think about your call.
It’s scary what some idle time in the car will do to the mind of a children’s pastor. Here’s an example. I came up with 15 ways for a senior pastor to lose his children’s pastor in 10 days.
1. Tell him that if he keeps up the good work you’ll promote him to youth pastor.
2. Base her pay on a commission from the weekly kids church offering.
3. Call on Friday night and tell her that the ladies need a babysitter at the church on Saturday morning.
4. Tell him the board voted that goldfish crackers are banned from the building.
5. Make him to spend twelve weeks in kids church teaching through the book of Leviticus.
6. Blame him for every new carpet stain in the fellowship hall.
7. Encourage the parents to peak their heads in the door at least twice each service to check on their kids.
8. Announce to the church that VBS will be outside this year.
9. Ask him to babysit your kids while you go on vacation this summer.
10. When he says he needs more nursery workers, tell him that running an announcement in the bulletin should be good enough.
11. Tell him that if the old metal chairs were good enough for him when he was a kid, then they’re good enough today.
12. Encourage the kids church leaders to join the choir.
13. Give her a gift card to Sam’s Club as a Christmas bonus.
14. Tell the ladies ministry that they can start using the resource room for storage too.
15. Decide to start a new weekend service without talking to him.
Last week I took my wife on an anniversary getaway to Clifty Falls State Park in southern Indiana. There is really nice Inn at the park where we had a beautiful view of the Ohio River. We enjoyed hiking (though neither of us are anything near avid hikers) and spending time in historic Madison. We were able to spend some good quality time together.
Before the trip, I decided to leave some things behind. This included my laptop. How could I survive three days with no email, no blog surfing, and none of my regular updates to the KidzMatter website? The answer is: just fine! Amazingly the world went on. Our website didn’t crash. My email was waiting on me when I got home. All was well.
May this short blog post be a reminder that life can move on just fine when you decide to spend time on the most important things in life - I’m thinking about your spouse and kids. A friend of mine says that you can always get another ministry but you can’t get another family. Those are some wise words, huh?
Imagine a world without computers. Maybe it’s time to stop imagining and make it happen for a few days. I’m glad I did.