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Kids Ministry

Dedicated to helping Kids Ministry leaders in their mission of making disciples

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Podcasts, Training

Helping Families In Crisis

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Dr. Shelly Melia joins the LifeWay Kids Podcast this week to help us think through helping families dealing with grief & crisis situations.

  • What are some of the crisis situations that families find themselves in?
  • How well equipped are Children’s Ministers in addressing these types of situations?
  • Why is it important for Children’s Ministers to move closer & lean in to these crisis situations?
  • When is it appropriate to lean in to a crisis situation versus when it’s appropriate to take a step back?
  • How do we help a child or family work through their grief in a crisis situation?
Leadership, Podcasts, Resources, Training

Reaching Kids Outside the Walls of Your Church

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Linda Ranson Jacobs, of DC4K joins us again on the LifeWay Kids Podcast to discuss how to reach kids outside the walls of your church. This more than likely will mean addressing tough issues that are prevalent in our culture. Linda & Chuck Peters address some of the following questions and issues:

  • How are families different today than they were in biblical times?
  • How do we address these new issues & pressures from our society that are becoming prevalent in our culture?
  • Most kids pastors are not well prepared for tough conversations and because things move so fast, it’s hard to keep up with how to appropriately respond to specific issues.
  • Leaders and teachers in the church should provide a safe place for a child to come, but leaders should also be aware of how to face tough issues.
  • As a children’s minister, if a child comes into my ministry from a family of a homosexual couple or transgender parents, how do you serve that child well?
  • You should not necessarily change what you do in your ministry, but be aware of the approach you take, and what that means for kids that might not be regular attenders at your church.
  • What are some specific pitfalls you should avoid in handling tough situations?
Leadership, Podcasts, Training

Ministering to Children of Divorce

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This week’s episode of the LifeWay Kids Podcast features Linda Ranson Jacobs, of DC4K, to discuss how we can better minister to children of divorce in our churches.

  • Why is ministering to children of divorce somewhat of a culture shock?
  • How does our limited view of a child’s life affect how a child receives the ministry we offer to them?
  • When a child’s behavior gets out of control, what are some practices we should avoid?
  • How do we make sure these children feel like they belong to your ministry?
  • What are some proactive steps we can take to minister to children of divorce?
Leadership, Podcasts, Resources, Training

Security for Your Kids Ministry

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John Murchison, Director of Children’s Ministry at the Austin Stone Community Church, provides several tips & procedures for keeping your kids safe in your ministry.

  • As a children’s minister, you must get educated & trained.
  • Have policies in your church that are known and followed.
  • Background checks are very important, but they are not enough.
  • Complete reference checks on your volunteers.
  • Train as many volunteers as you can on the risk of sexual abuse to kids in your church.
Evangelism, Leadership, Podcasts, Resources, Training, Uncategorized

The Gospel Is For Volunteers Too

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This week’s episode of the LifeWay Kids Podcast features a conversation with John Murchison, the Director of Children’s Ministry at The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX. In our desire to share the gospel with kids, have we neglected to share that same gospel with the volunteers serving with us? The gospel is not just the way to become a Christian, it also sustains and motivates the work of ministry. In this episode John & Jeffrey discuss ways to recruit, train, sustain, and send volunteers with the basis of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Podcasts, Resources, Training

Growing as a Leader to Grow Your Ministry

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In this week’s episode, we gathered a few kids ministry leaders together to answer an important question: “What can a leader do, in their own life, to grow with their church or to grow their ministry?” The reality is that as a leader, two of your main responsibilities are to develop others and develop a vision for your ministry for the future. Regardless if you are at a small to mid-size church or a larger church, these principles remain the same. We invited Brent Moxey – Children’s Pastor at Westridge Church in Dallas GA, Danielle Bell – Minister to Children at Dawson Memorial in Birmingham AL, and Chad Owens –  Kids Associate Director at Grace Church in Overland Park KS to help us think about this question. These ministry leaders provide some lessons learned from their own journey of leading teams in their various ministries.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Podcasts, Resources, Training, Uncategorized

The Art of Delegation

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In children’s ministry, it is very easy drift into the mindset that you must do everything yourself. This is why the art of delegation is, for many of us, an area of growth in our leadership. Does delegation mean you are working yourself out of a job? How do you know when you need to delegate something? In the newest episode of the LifeWay Kids Podcast, Chuck Peters, LifeWay Kids Director of Operations, sits down with Heidi Hensley, Children’s Pastor at Bayside Church to discuss answers to these questions. Heidi also shares some of her insights and delegation techniques as she leads her team of staff and volunteers at Bayside Church.

Devotional, Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Training

Teaching From the Overflow!

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emeott-150x150God wants to teach the boys and girls in your ministry from the overflow of what He’s already taught you in your heart. Here’s the problem, many of us find ourselves too busy to seek the flow from God’s Word and end up with a “trickle” (at best) instead of the fresh flow that comes from regular personal Bible study.                                       

So, how do you find time in your very busy schedule for this important discipline?

I love teaching Sunday School and I want to be a good teacher to the kids I’m blessed to teach so I’ve decided to make this a priority. Each week I use the Bible content that I’ll be teaching that next Sunday as a guide for my personal Bible study. Each week (when I’m being a really good Bible study teacher) I start early in the week and spend 5-10 minutes a day reading, studying, and considering what God is wanting to teach me through the Bible content I’ll be teaching the kids.

Here’s my plan:

Day 1:  Read the text from your Bible. Take out your favorite Bible and read the text … even if you know the account, read it again. God wants to speak to you fresh and new every time you read His Word.

Day 2:  Read the “Leader Bible Study” in the leader guide.  Take a few minutes on Day 2 to consider what the curriculum provider thinks about the text. In LifeWay’s on-going resources we provide a one-page deeper dive for leaders for each of our sessions.

Day 3:  Re-read the text in a different translation. If you always read from the KJV then consider on Day 3 reading from the HCSB (or the other way around). For me, this is where I get out my paraphrased version of the Bible.  A paraphrase helps me to hear the text differently and react to the translator’s interpretation.

Day 4:  Choose a favorite commentary to read and consider. God has gifted many men and women with a deep understanding of Scripture and many have pinned their thoughts into commentaries. I’m simple, so I like a simple commentary, J Vernon McGee’s “Thru the Bible.” Find one you like (and understand) and enjoy the deeper dive of their thoughts.

Day 5:  Read and review the Bible account, as it will be presented in the session. Go back to your curriculum and read, review, even practice how you will present the Bible account to your kids.

Teach kids from the overflow. You’ll enjoy it so much more!

Bill Emeott serves as Lead Ministry Specialist for LifeWay Kids. A graduate of Mercer University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Bill has served as a Kid’s Minister and currently teaches 2nd Grade Bible study and Kindergarten Choir.

Kids Ministry, kids101, Leadership, Levels of Biblical Learning, Podcasts, Resources, Training

Developing A Philosophy in Children’s Ministry

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In this week’s episode of the LifeWay Kids Podcast, Chuck Peters, LifeWay Kids Director of Operations, sits down with Dr. Shelly Melia at last year’s Kids Ministry Conference (now called ETCH Family Ministry Conference) to discuss how important is it that we have a distinct philosophy behind what we do in children’s ministry. Having a philosophy helps provide clarity and focus in our ministry and that focus helps us to know what to say yes to and what to say no to. In other words, it’s a critical aspect as a children’s ministry leader, to help build and develop a philosophy for how you do what you do.

Many start out in children’s ministry in reactive mode. To develop a philosophy, you are getting to the 30,000 foot level where you can think about the big picture and become more proactive to your approach. Dr. Melia helps us think about practical steps for how we can start to develop a philosophy of ministry.

Dr. Melia has been in children’s ministry for over 20 years and currently serves as the Director of the Master of Arts in Children’s Ministry program at Dallas Baptist University.

Encouragement, Evangelism, Kids Ministry, Leadership, Missions, Podcasts, Resources, Training

Reaching the Inner-City with the Gospel

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In this week’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Eric Mason (@pastoremase) at our Kids Ministry Conference in 2015. Dr. Mason is the lead pastor at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA. He is also the founder and president of Thriving, which is an urban ministry organization committed to training leaders for ministry in cities locally, nationally, and internationally.

In this conversation, we talk about the greatest challenges in our culture to reaching kids and families, especially in the inner-city. Dr. Mason shares his insights on what churches can do to reach across ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural and other boundaries to win kids and families to Christ. Dr. Mason also expounds upon how his church has engaged their culture and some practical things they do to reach families and their community.

 

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