Networking

Media, Networking, Parent Helps, Resources

September 12, 2017

3 Simple Ways to Serve Parents on Social Media

Social media can be a scary, overwhelming place at times, especially for people in ministry. Often there is so much negativity and anger rippling through our social media feeds that we wonder if there is any way to redeem these tools for kingdom good.

Well there is. Do not be discouraged.

Children’s ministers: the parents of the children in your care are on Facebook, Instagram, and other such platforms. Through social media, you have the ability to minister to them and equip them to minister to their children beyond the doors of your church building.

But you’re busy and there are so many options. I know. Here are a few ways you can get started:

1. Start a Facebook page for your children’s ministry.

Hopefully your church already has a Facebook page, but if you serve a large number of families and it is sometimes difficult to figure out the best way to keep in touch, a Facebook page (combined with a Facebook group, mentioned below) may be the best way to communicate vital information with people.

Starting a Facebook page for your children’s ministry can serve a number of important purposes like giving you a way to communicate with families in your church as well as giving you an opportunity to serve families in your broader community.

2. Start a Facebook group for your children’s ministry.

A Facebook group is different from a Facebook page in a number of ways. Because Facebook groups tend to be more private, you may not want to use a Facebook group to reach families in your community (see Facebook pages for that).

A Facebook group would be helpful for having a way to instantly communicate schedule changes or other important announcements to the families who regularly attend. This is a space where you could share prayer requests and coordinate meals for families in your church.

Facebook pages and Facebook groups are both important, but they do serve different purposes: pages are more public and groups are more private.

3. Share biblical parenting resources that may encourage and equip your parents.

Whether you decide to create a Facebook page or a Facebook group for your children’s ministry, one of the best ways to serve the families in your church is by providing biblical parenting resources that may encourage and equip your parents.

The job of church leaders is to equip the church to do ministry. Through social media outlets, like Facebook, you have the opportunity to share biblical parenting resources like blog posts, videos, or other content that may help the families in your church and your community point their kids to Jesus.

Maybe you’re overwhelmed by all of this. It’s OK. Take a deep breath. If you aren’t sure where to start or you have more questions about how social media can help children’s ministry, I can point you in the right direction.

I help Christian leaders use social media to serve people all the time. It’s my job. In October, Lifeway is launching a service called Lifeway Social to help Christian leaders like you use social media to serve the people in your churches and communities.

The Lord has given you good gifts and he has given us tools like social media to share the good news of the gospel and to equip the saints for ministry. Don’t be overwhelmed to the point of paralysis. Let Lifeway Social help. Learn more at LifewaySocial.com.

Chris Martin is Co-Creator of Lifeway Social and an Author Development Specialist at Lifeway. He loves helping Christian leaders use social media to serve the Church. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisMartin17.

Encouragement, Encouraging, Events, Fun, Kids Ministry, kids101, Leadership, Networking, Training

May 5, 2015

The Theme for KMC 2015 Is…

By Kids Ministry 101

How do you make a difference in the world around you? How do you stand for your convictions in the midst of moral turmoil? More than that, how do you influence a generation to grow up as culture shapers rather than simply conforming to the world? These are some of the questions we will explore at Lifeway’s Kids Ministry Conference (KMC) this October 19-21.

The theme for our conference this year is RADIATE. Matthew 5:13-16 says:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

In this passage, Jesus shares with His disciples the importance of influencing the world around them. One emphasis in these verses is on maintaining saltiness. Jesus says that if salt loses its taste, it is good for nothing more than being “thrown out and trampled on.” We cannot simply blend in with the rest of the world. In order to shape the culture, first and foremost we must ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to live holy lives.

In addition, Matthew 5 tells us that we should “let our light shine before men.” The idea here is that as we strive for holiness and live for Christ, people will see our good works and recognize Jesus living through us. We must allow His light to shine through us and radiate out into the world. He is the only true light and also our only hope for making a spiritual difference in the world.

We hope you’ll join us at KMC this October 19-21 at Nashville’s Music City Center! Together we will further explore this idea of making a difference, shaping the culture, and radiating the light of Christ. Visit kidsministryconference.com for more details about the conference such as a list of speakers, a complete schedule, hotel information, and even media from previous conferences.

This Fall, don’t simply shine your light in a dark world—RADIATE!

Events, Fun, Kids Ministry, Networking, Worship

November 13, 2014

#ThrowbackThursday #KMC14

By Cristy Whitlock

Eleven months until our next Kids Ministry Conference seems like way too long to wait, am I right? Today we’re taking a look back at the life-change, laughter, and lattes we shared with many of you during the month of October. If you’re feeling nostalgic like we are, let us know in the Comments section below!

The one word we want to elevate over these 3 days is the name Jesus. – JeffreyMReed

When God first called me into children’s ministry, I remember being given a budget & thinking it was missing a zero. – JeffreyMReed

We’re going to sing Scripture together, in spirit and in truth. – michaelbleecker

Discipleship is neither information nor behavior modification. It’s heart transformation. – RealEricGeiger

My 4-yr-old looked @ me the other day & said he wanted to be a doctor.”Yes!” I thought.Then he added,”Or a dinosaur.” – Michaeljrcomedy

Have you signed up yet for next year?! Register today for early bird pricing!

Cristy Whitlock serves on the Lifeway Kids marketing team. A native Texan, her heart for ministry led her to Nashville in 2013. Her passions include loving on African children, playing sports, and serving in college ministry, which she does at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN.

Kids Ministry, Networking

August 13, 2014

Kids Ministry, Networking

July 30, 2014

3 Ways to Overcome Online Social Networking Barriers

By Michael Chanley

Social networking online can sometimes lead to awkward situations, particularly in ministry, but it can still be an important tool in building a better ministry. Don’t let the awkwardness be a barrier to authentic community and lasting friendships.

Shortly after I launched CMConnect.org, the free children’s ministry network, I had the pleasure of meeting some of my friends from the online world in person for the first time. I was at a large national conference in Georgia and a group of us had scheduled a time to get together and have dinner. One of my long-time friends was with me and I got a kick out of introducing them to people and saying, “This is ‘so and so’ … we met online.” It sounded awkward but we had a lot of fun with it.

Here are a three things you can do to identify and avoid barriers to networking in person when you have only met online:

1. Be Truthful.

If you are fake online then you need to correct yourself. Once you meet people in person they will see through your false persona. Just be real and be yourself. This one step is the biggest barrier and the most important step to removing any perceived awkwardness in connecting with people.

2. Be Realistic.

People are not going to look like they do in their online profile or avatar. We all use our “besties” for our profile pic. Don’t be surprised if the person you met is two feet taller or shorter than you had imagined — or two feet wider. You are there to connect with your friend and to get to know them better. Be realistic in knowing they won’t look like they look online and focus on getting to know them as a person.

3. Be Open-minded.

Even if you have been intentional about being truthful and realistic social media can still open up certain challenges to getting to know someone in person. The online world can allow people to pause and craft their dialogues in a way which would be awkward in person. For example, someone may be more shy in person or have a stutter. Be open-minded about your first meeting and try to not have a preconceived notion about who you are going to be meeting.

Ultimately, connecting with anyone you’ve met online can lead to some fun conversations and life-long friendships. If we all connect with the purpose of building one another up in Christ’s love then we will have no problem being truthful, realistic and open-minded.

I know firsthand how social media can lead to a challenge in connecting to building an authentic network. However, it is critically important as a tool to building a better ministry. With this in mind, if you’d like to connect at the Kids Ministry Conference in Nashville this October, let’s connect online first and then plan a time to meet in person — just try not to be awkward about it.

Michael Chanley is an ordained minister with over 16 years experience serving families and children. His most recent roles have been as Executive Director of the International Network of Children’s Ministry and as the Parenting Minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. Michael’s vision to serve those called to children’s ministry led him to create CMConnect.org — the free kidmin network. Now, with over 11,400 members in over 85 countries, CMConnect is the premier children’s ministry community.

Leadership, Networking, Sunday School, Training

September 23, 2013

6 Tips for Recruiting Volunteers

By Cristy Whitlock

It’s a recurring issue: Where will we find enough volunteers to intentionally impact our kids ministry this year? Fresh out of college, I have 6 tips for recruiting those 18 to 24-year-olds full of energy, charisma, and passion for servanthood:

1. GO. Go to a college service, small group, or BCM and get to know your audience.

2. ASK. Stand up in front of this group and ask. Include a number of volunteers needed so they feel challenged. College students won’t know the need unless you explicitly ask.

3. QUOTE. Name dropping will captivate your audience. “John Piper puts it this way…” “Remember when Platt talked about radical living?” “Jon Acuff says to be awesome, and THIS is awesome.” Seriously, quote these guys. You’d be surprised how many times David Platt means Open Sesame on someone’s will to serve.

4. SHOW. Every time our preschool ministry at my college church showed pictures of the children, my friends and I would talk about “that CUTE headband” or “those precious eyes!!!” The following Sunday found us holding 3 and 4-year-olds at children’s church.

5. SEEK. College’s job is to prepare students for careers, and there’s an abundance of students pursuing degrees in early education and childhood development. Some of these students are in your church. Find them. Most need hours of service to count towards their degrees.

6. APPRECIATE. If you treat your volunteers with love, they’re going to recruit their friends. Word of mouth marketing can locate plenty of willing hearts.

These tips seem obvious enough, but they aren’t always utilized. I hope this post has given you the push to go to next week’s Paradigm, Kairos, or The Bridge (wherever your college students are worshiping Christ), and to build up your children’s ministry. After all,

“We all get our own oceans, never trade yours for a pond.” – Jon Acuff

What’s worked for you? Add your tips in the Comments section! And make training these new leaders easy with Ministry Grid!

Events, Leadership, Networking, Resources, Training

September 11, 2013

You’re Never Finished!

By Klista Storts

Enlistment can be a four letter word – H.A.R.D. It’s kind of like that bunny that just keeps going and going and going and going. It’s one of those projects that never gets finished. In fact, truth be known, it’s probably the top reason that kid ministers leave the ministry.

Sadly, I remember a time when I couldn’t even share the joy of one of my teachers who excitedly told me she was expecting. All I could think was that in about nine months, I was going need to find a new teacher! Now, that’s bad.

So what do you do? Here are a few suggestions that might help.

• Ask someone in person.
• Ask someone face-to-face.
• Ask someone eye-to-eye.
• Ask someone toe-to-toe.
• Ask…

Hmmm. See a pattern? While there are tons of different ways to bring the need to light through bulletin inserts, pleas from the pulpit, bulletin boards, flyers in the bathroom, etc., that’s just advertising. (Shout out to Kim Harris for that statement!) THE number one way to get the teachers you need is to ask personally. Otherwise, people assume that they’re not capable, not called, or not needed. They’re waiting for you to ask! Invite them to join your exciting team of leaders that get to impact a child’s life forever! Let them know that you don’t accept just anybody. You’re asking them for a reason! You know they love kids; they’d be a great example; they’re energetic; they’re ___________! (You fill in the blank!) Be picky and make sure they know it. Make them feel blessed just knowing you believe they’re worthy to teach!

And, you don’t have to do it all yourself. Put together a team and break the task into smaller chunks. The whole pyramid idea works in this case. You ask two people, then they ask two people and so on and so on and so on. A great part of sharing the blessing of enlistment is that you have a larger pool of people to ask!

Remember to think outside the box:

Senior adults (missing their grandchildren!)
Empty nesters
College students
Men
VBS leaders
And, outside your circle of friends!

So, pray about it. Ask God specifically for the people you need. Go and find those people — take them to coffee, maybe even lunch! Then…ASK!

Leadership, Networking

March 5, 2013

Greeters in KidMin?

By Jeff Land

Is your church like mine? A maze of hallways and uniquely connected buildings which wind from one end of a block to another? I’ve been in lots of churches and it seems that most fit this bill. It’s understandable. Healthy churches are growing. Growing churches need more space. New buildings are connected to older ones. I guess it all makes sense.

Last weekend, our church hosted many families who were here to connect with other adoptive families, including mine. One father asked me how to get to the sanctuary and I proceeded to explain: “Go down this hallway until you can’t go anymore, turn right and go down that hallway until you can turn left, go down that hallway until you turn right and then you should be at the church foyer.”

The very words out of my mouth caused me to think about how confusing it must be for new families to be in church on Sunday morning. Frazzled newcomers are not in the mood to read signs however good (or bad) they might be. It’s important that we have great greeters at every door ready and willing to take new visitors where they need to be.

Here is my list of what I think should be qualities of a good greeter in the kids ministry area:

– Be like Phil Robertson: happy, happy, happy. A smile goes a long way. It’s so important that you train your greeters to be happy to see every person who walks through the door visitor or member!

– Educated. I’m not talking in the collegiate sense, but the ministry sense. Your greeters need to know who meets where, and how to get visitors comfortably to their destination. Help your greeters learn that not all four-year-olds go to the four-year-old class. Teach them about how your church promotes. On Sunday nights, you will often find me in our preschool welcome center. Recently a visitor came to through our doors and told me she wanted to go to Bible study. Through a series of questions I found that she had decided to meet her adult son at church and go to a Bible study class together. I helped her find a class that would be good for both of them and then assured her that I would help her son find his way to the class. Just as I promised, I watched for her son and when he arrived took him straight to the class where his mom was attending. You see greeters in the kids ministry also need to know about the adult ministry.

– Consistent. Greeters must work at the times they have volunteer for. They are the first line of ministry most people ever see. The most consistent greeter I’ve ever met was named, Floyd Melton. He always worked in the preschool hall and was always happy to see every person who walked through the door. He knew the members and he recognized visitors. He also went out of his way to help anyone who needed assistance. We could sure use more “Mr. Floyds” in our ministries.

Being a church greeter isn’t a hard job, but it is an absolute necessity. They build the brand of your church. When you enter your ministry area, do you think that visitors feel welcomed? Not from a decor point of view, but a human one?

Encouragement, Events, Fun, Networking

November 28, 2012

Developing Christmas Traditions with Your Family

By Jerry Vogel

Unfortunately, when my first three children were in their childhood years I did not totally understand the importance to kids of family traditions. Yes, I know they complain about some of them, but, overall they love the stability of being able to predict certain things that will happen each year seasonally. They even carry those emotional life markers into their adult years. Case in point…I once had a friend whose son right in the middle of the holiday dinner declared at the top of his voice, “This isn’t Christmas! We don’t have English peas on the table for dinner!” Who would have thought that English peas could be possibly be important to a young boy?!

Well, I think you get the idea. I think we all carry over from childhood simple memories like “This is what the house should smell like at Christmas!” So, my challenge to you is to begin a few, simple to carryout and meaningful traditions with your family at this Christmas season. Here are just a few that have worked in my family:

We always try to go to church together on Christmas Eve OR have a family time of celebration with the Christmas story Bible reading, songs and prayer. (And some years…we do both!)
One of my favorites each year with my kids was “Daddy Dates” and “Mommy Dates.” Each child got one special night with Daddy and Mommy all to himself, separately. On that date, the child got an envelope with money to take Daddy to dinner on his date and Mommy to dinner on her date. The child got to choose the restaurant. And then, after eating, each child got to shop with that parent for the other parent’s gift. My wife and I would also include shopping for some of the child’s siblings.
The Christmas Straw activity was also one of my favorite. All through the month of December each family member was challenged to perform secretly random acts of kindness for other family members. Each time an act of kindness was completed, the child got to place a piece of straw in the manger. At our family Christmas celebration, Baby Jesus would be placed on the straw that had accumulated in the manger throughout the month. We all worked hard to not only love on other family members, but, prepare a very soft bed for the Baby Jesus.
Take an annual photo of the grandkids every Christmas! (Below is the 2011 photo of Vogel grandkids!

What about you and your family? What traditions have you begun with your kids that other families may want to emulate? Let us hear from you!

Merry Christmas!

The Theme for KMC 2015 Is…

#ThrowbackThursday #KMC14

3 Ways to Overcome Online Social Networking Barriers

6 Tips for Recruiting Volunteers

Top 3 Reading List for Kids Ministry Conference

You’re Never Finished!

Greeters in KidMin?

Developing Christmas Traditions with Your Family

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