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’
After 30 years of serving on staff in the local church, 17 of those at the greatest church in the world (Church On The Move) under the greatest pastor in the world (Pastor Willie George) I am going full time with Jim Wideman Ministries. That’s right, you read correctly. My pastor is in agreement with this and I have his blessing. I’ll still base out of Tulsa and my family and I will still attend COTM. I believe this is God’s plan for my life and that I have a mandate from God to help other churches go to their next level of ministry. How am I going to do this? In 3 main ways:
1. Consulting- I’ve had the privilege of being exposed to every area of ministry in a local church in addition to leading one of America’s leading children’s ministries. I’m available for on-site consulting in any area you need help. Whether you want me to come in once or once a month, I want to help you gear up for growth and excellence. Special rates are available for multiple visits. If you need another perspective put me on your staff as a part-time employee.
2. Conferences & Training- I’m available to hold a Children’s Ministry Conference at your church as well as seminars on Time Management, Volunteer Recruiting, Leadership & Parenting.
3. Speaking at churches & conferences- Need a guest to challenge people to get involved, or to teach on the importance of children & the family. I’m available.
Contact me today at brojim@jimwideman.com or give my assistant Sheila a call @ (918) 477-2268 ext. 1. I’m now booking for the rest of 2007 & 2008 and I’d love to help you and your church.
Excited about the future,
Bro. Jim
I attended a wedding the other day in a church I had never been to before. It was built in the early 80’s, it was decorated like the late 70’s but the children’s classrooms could have been a sceen from a movie where we went back in time to the 60’s. If we are ministering to today’s kid’s why do our churches look like yesterday. Paint is not expensive. Graphic artists are a dime a dozen. I know you don’t have to have to be “Chuck E. Church” to be effective but shouldn’t we at least reflect this current decade? My question for thought is if we carbon dated your ministry (not just your rooms) what decade would they reflect? In 30 years of ministring to kids at church I’ve learned something very important “Every few years you have to update what you do if you want to or not because culture and kids are constantly changing. My daughter Yancy just produced a new preschool CD. One of the songs came from Amy Grant’s “Songs From The Loft” a project made for Youth worship in the 90’s. The same song that was for teens 15 years ago was a perfect preschool praise song. What changed? Culture did we need to change with it.
And no, in this case I’m not talking about God. I’m talking about the Jimmy Dean commercials with the sunshine character in them. Very funny commercials, yes, but I digress.
Here’s the real reason why I’m mentioning him. Over the course of this blog, you’ll learn that I really like quotes from various people. Correction, I really LOVE quotes. But here’s a quote from Jimmy Dean, the man behind the sunshine (Not made in reference to ministry, but still applicable):
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”
Ministry many times may seem ineffective. A few years ago, the “culture winds” were blowing one way, and so you adjusted your sails. But have you adjusted your sails recently, or on a regular basis?
Seeing as I am the only one who hasn’t posted yet, I figured I should do that. I have been reading “What You Didn’t Learn from Your Parents About Christianity”, written by Matthew Paul Turner and published by Th1nk, a division of NavPress. There was a section at the beginning of the book that hit me hard with relation to our ministry. I’m going to post a few excerpts of it here, and comment on each section immediately after.
“I started hanging out with Jesus when I was 4. I loved Him like I loved Big Bird. Of course, I knew He was much more important than Big Bird, by my affection for Him was similar. The songs we sang in Sunday School made Jesus seem more like a novelty act than a Savior. Jesus was someone who liked to give me hugs and pull me onto his lap, and every once in a while, he would teach me a great truth about how I should be treating my little sister.
See? JUST like Big Bird. Although sometimes Big Bird was actually a little cooler than Jesus. He had his own skating show: Big Bird on Ice. Jesus never put on ice skates, and he didn’t have cool friends like Bert and Ernie.”
Is this not what happens many times with our younger kids? We make Jesus look like the always happy, smiling face who always loves us. But yet at the same time, we make Him look like a total nerd who had no friends outside of church and even those friends weren’t that great. While there’s nothing wrong with singing “Jesus Loves Me” and “The B-I-B-L-E”, we have to tell kids that there is more than that to Jesus! He is deep. Many times we attempt to “dumb down” Jesus for younger kids, but it may be surprising to learn that many times they are not accepting Jesus younger because they are not learning Jesus younger. I accepted Christ at the age of 3, and I feel confident that I knew what I was doing. I don’t expect every kid to be ready then, but recognize that while you may be teaching them more, you can’t always guarantee that your volunteers are promoting the same ideology. Be consistent!
Continue reading ‘Can the kids in your ministry stand up in culture?’