kidmin training

November 4, 2013

Train Your Leaders … Easily

The church was growing. God had just called me into children’s ministry. We actually had dozens of volunteers coming forward to serve in the children’s area. (That’s another blog, altogether.) I scheduled my regular quarterly training session to prep these awesome volunteers to work with our kids. Out of the 20 or so volunteers that had signed up, only nine came to the training. I was discouraged, but rescheduled the absentees for another night. Six showed up. Two coffee shop visits, one breakfast appointment and one last-minute-after-church meeting later and I had finally trained all of the volunteers…at least in the basics. That was only round one.

We still had not delved into the specifics of what it means to be a great kids small group leader. By the end of the year, I had spent over 30 hours at 12 different meetings training 20 volunteers. I had a dozen new folks sign up before I was even done with the first group. Would it ever end?

The importance of the time that a kids director or pastor spends with their leaders and volunteers is critical. It’s a challenge to keep up with the process of training your leaders. I would have given almost anything to have a tool that would take a bulk of that leader-training load off of my shoulders. Now a solution is coming to address the important issue of ongoing training.

I don’t usually tout specific ministry tools, but I feel that this one is a no-brainer. Ministry Grid – launching on Tuesday, November 12 – is an online tool to help you with your training needs. It’s one of the coolest things to come along the leadership pike in years. You can take the load off of your shoulders and let Ministry Grid train your leaders for you. You’ll be able to track each person’s progress and ensure that they are getting the best training possible.

It’s not designed to replace discipleship. That one-on-one time with the people that you lead is essential. Ministry Grid can be a great tool for passing on information and training that your volunteers, servants, and leaders can take in at their own pace and at their own place.

You can customize it for your own ministry. You’ve got to check out this online resource.

Lead well.

Jeffrey Reed serves as the Director of Kids Ministry for Lifeway. He came to Lifeway with a wide variety of ministry experiences including worship leader, director of children’s ministry, and executive leadership in several growing congregations. Jeffrey’s posts will give your heart and brain a workout, just like the fitness Boot Camp he leads in the mornings for Lifeway employees. Jeffrey and his wife Katherine have 4 kids.

Events, Leadership, Training

October 8, 2013

KMC – Night One

By Cristy Whitlock

Not much beats the sound of five hundred voices singing a capella to end the song It Is Well.

I think any kids director, teacher, or volunteer would tell you that last night’s general session both refreshed and re-prioritized our goals in kids ministry. J.D. Greear, author of Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, brought the message on how to drive the Gospel down deep so that it sticks with kids.

Focusing on Romans 12:1-2, a few things stuck out to me, and I hope they encourage and challenge you just as they did me.

When we are transformed by the renewing of our minds in the mercies of The Lord, obedience ceases to be drudgery and becomes our desire, and righteousness becomes our delight.

If we worship our way into sin, we have to worship our way out of sin.

When we behold glory, we desire glory, and we behave in glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

JD also gave us four practicalities for driving the Gospel deep in kids ministry:

A. We must help them know their place in the bigger story.

B. Our goal in every lesson should be worship.

C. We must constantly pound home to them the revolutionary nature of the Gospel.

D. We have to burrow Gospel truths deep into their hearts through memorization.

I wish I could write out the whole sermon for you, but you’ll just have to come to next year’s KMC to get the full experience! We’ve got three days to go, so I’ll keep you updated. Here’s a couple pics of Anthony Evans (our worship leader) and J.D. from last night:

For more on KMC, try these links:

KMC – Day Two KMC at The Ryman KMC – Day Three KMC – Night Three KMC – Day Four

Encouragement, Media, Training

March 25, 2013

A New Way to Train Your Volunteers!

By Katie DeCillo

Are you looking for a brand new way to train your ministry leaders and volunteers? Be sure to check out Lifeway’s latest resource, Ministry Grid.

Ministry Grid exists because training matters. In fact, training church leaders is a concept that is as old as the church itself. From Moses to Paul, biblical examples abound of individuals who led and served God’s people while raising new leaders to continue the work. The need for church training hasn’t changed, but training approaches have changed over time. Ministry Grid knows that a cookie cutter mold of training and leadership development doesn’t best serve all churches today. For instance, the needs and culture of a small, rural church is likely not the same as a multisite church in an urban setting.

That’s why Ministry Grid is customizable. Some churches will have specific desires and needs for Ministry Grid. One customization feature is the ability to skin the site as your own. You can even upload your church’s logo, choose color schemes, personalize your user profile, and link to your church’s website. In short, Ministry Grid becomes unique to your church, but don’t worry if this sounds like an overwhelming task—Ministry Grid is intuitive and user-friendly. And if you’d rather not add your church’s logo and colors, you may use Ministry Grid’s default settings. The choices and possibilities are numerous and up to you.

When you visit ministrygrid.com, you can sign up to view free advanced content. Ministry Grid officially launches in May.

Train Your Leaders … Easily

KMC – Night One

A New Way to Train Your Volunteers!

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