Posted on March 16th, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode respond to listener questions, pass along resources shared by Philip Hahn, discuss characteristics of a successful children’s pastor, and address issues of safety in the church.
The following resources were mentioned:
Philip Hahn shared the following resources that we are gladly passing along!
12 Characteristics of a Successful Children’s Pastor
by: Philip Hahn
- Prayer, prayer, and prayer.
- Getting connected with other children’s pastors, other children’s workers are usually the best answers your questions and give you the best ideas. We’re in it together, you’re not alone.
- Your relationship with your senior pastor. Support him and get him to support you. (Or to put it another way) Loyalty to the senior pastor and his direction.
- Keeping current with the methods and illustrations that are relevant to the culture under your Ministry.
- Love and appreciate your volunteers as often as you can, verbally, tangibly, publicly, privately, sincerely.
- Stay creative. Change something, do something different or new every year.
- Involve kids in leadership and hands on ministry. In 4 to 6 years they become your volunteers and teachers, you not only invest in their future, but yours as well.
- Train kids to read their Bible and pray every day. You only have an hour or two of their week, let them feed themselves from the Word. (Or) Don’t just give them a fish, teach them how to fish.
- Don’t have song time in any service. Have worship time. Don’t focus too much on the guitars, actions, or contests. Make it about connecting with God.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of all your ministries frequently. Change or restructure sick programs, pump massive creativity into dying programs, and bury dead programs.
- Delegate. Don’t do it all, it’s your job to train the saints for the works of the ministry. If you leave, the ministries should be able to survive without you.
- Cooperate with other staff members in your church. You’re on the same team working toward the same goal.
10 Common Mistakes That Stifle Children’s Pastors
By: Roger Fields
- Acting immature to impress kids. Some of the kids might think you’re funny but you will lose the respect of the adults. Don’t expect to be taken seriously by parents, workers or your senior pastor if you dress and act like a goof ball. The way you carry yourself is vital. Women know this instinctively. However, male children’s pastors frequently conduct themselves in ways that stifle respect.
- Doing everything yourself. Train others on the job to do what you do. Let others make a few mistakes. Give them the chance to grow in their abilities to reach and teach kids. Being a one man show will stifle how much your ministry is able to accomplish.
- Being afraid of asking for what you think will produce results. There are times when you need to ask for money, space, or even finances to attend a conference, such as Mega Connect. (I just had to throw that in!) Normally, if you don’t ask you will not receive. When you get turned down–and sometimes you will–handle it with maturity. Learn to act like you believe in what you are doing and be prepared to make the case for why you want something. Remember, timidity will stifle your ability to get what you need.
- Trying to do too many programs. You cannot do everything and be everything. Decide what is most important. Less is more. Doing a lot of stuff halfway will stifle your effectiveness.
- Talking about your needs instead of your vision. Your needs will not inspire anyone. Getting people excited about your vision works better than trying to make them feel sorry about your needs. For instance, recruiting new workers is easier if you get people to believe in where you are going instead of begging for volunteers based on a worker shortage. Appearing needy will stifle your ability to motivate others.
- Complaining about the church. Support your pastor and church. If you can’t you should find another church or at least step down. It is really that simple. Resentment will stifle your creativity and energy for the ministry.
- Neglecting your own faith. Service is a great thing but it does not replace your time with God and your faith in Him. An empty spiritual life will stifle your ability to lead kids and workers into a vibrant faith in God.
- Teaching stuff other than the word of God. Teach kids what God has done and who He is. Teach principles from the Bible. If you major on Bible trivia and only teach familiar stories don’t be surprised if the adults in your church treat you like a child care director. Weak Biblical content will stifle your ability to convince others of the validity of children’s ministry.
- Excusing disorganization. People are not attracted to slackness. When an organization looks sloppy people assume it is not important enough to invest their time, energy and money. Disorganization stifles your capacity to build an inspiring ministry.
- Repeating the same things and expecting different results. Change something just for the thrill of it. Get people used to change. Don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of sliding into irrelevance. Repeating the same old stuff over and over will stifle your forward movement like nothing else.
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on March 3rd, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and interviews children’s pastors Caleb Fletcher and Steve Ekholm as well as Special Touch Ministry Executive Director Charlie Chivers at the 2010 North American Children’s Ministry Conference in St. Louis, MO. Caleb shares tips for new children’s pastors, while Steve & Charlie share with Dick helpful tips and resources for ministry to children with disabilities.
The following resources were mentioned:
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss kids under attack and share some recommendations for protecting children from attack, whether it be physical, verbal, or even online dangers.
They mentioned the following links during the show:
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on February 16th, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber shares signs of a healthy children’s ministry compiled by veteran children’s pastor Bob Hahn.
Below is the complete email from Bob that Dick referenced:
I had a meeting with a District guy last week who told me, “The Children’s Pastor is the most difficult portfolio in the church next to the Senior Pastor.” While I was impressed with his insight, it made me question, “Why?”
I remember how hard it was, years ago, to justify this position when it seemed many were questioning the need. In my ministry I had to be a little defensive for the sake of the kids and for my own job security too, or so I thought. Unfortunately, some Senior Pastors don’t seem to know what Children’s Pastors do because they have so much on their own plate.
It is fair to take the time, once in a while, to let the Senior Pastor know how good his Children’s Department is and why. I jotted down a few notes to myself and want to pass them along, for what it’s worth.
A HEALTHY CHILDREN’S DEPARTMENT
- In a church of 500 there will be, on-average, at least 100 children (with at least 200 on the roster) and at least 50 trained and screened volunteers.
- The nursery is usually open for all services 3 or 4 times a week or 12 to 16 times a month.
- With rotating mom’s cooperating with the regular staff it can involve at least 20 caregivers.
- A clean well-staffed nursery will attract families who usually have very high standards for their infant children.
- Many congregations add to the demand for infant care with church events expecting high-quality babysitter services as well.
- A well-managed Preschool Ministry during church services can usually draw numbers that will almost rival any other department outside the Sanctuary.
- Security systems require vigilant administration to communicate to the parents how very safe their children are in their church environment.
- Safe student-worker ratios, age-appropriate rooms and background checks for all volunteers are all very high maintenance necessities.
- Assuming two rooms per-service, three services per-week, a good ration of rotating volunteers and greeters; there should be 30 volunteers in this area.
- The flagship of the fleet for the Children’s Department is often the “Junior Church” for the school-age and pre-teen kids of your church.
- Here, the Children’s Pastor must be able to present discipleship like Paul, worship like David and be as captivating as Disney World.
- The Children’s Pastor also has to draw church people (especially parents) to him/herself to duplicate his/her ministry into other adults.
- Assuming a church of 500, there would easily be the need for at least 20 volunteers to minister to all the children in all the services.
- The icing on the departmental cake, and an indispensable component, is the extracurricular events and activities that draw new people and energize families.
- Outreach rallies and in-house “Crusades” pump spiritual excitement into the congregation and draw new volunteers to the cause.
- Camps, trips and outings not only make indelible memories for the children; they are evidence of quality ministry to both parents and pastors.
- Public performances and pageants give children both a sense of mission and belonging as well as giving the parents another reason to be proud of their kids.
While we don’t want to get too defensive, it does help the Senior Pastor if we present our ministry to him in a good light so he can clearly see what is happening in our area under his leadership; for there will be times when he will be called upon to represent our ministry to others.
- Bob
Dick also mentioned the following links:
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber has an open discussion about children’s ministry with Josh & Christina Torres and Jimmy & Lori Lewis. They share advice for those getting started in children’s ministry.
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on January 20th, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode answer questions about video resumes and discuss tips for leading a child to Christ. Dick shared the following tips:
- Start at a point of mutual understanding
- Use kid language & concepts
- Avoid abstract ideas and phrases, like "washed in the blood" and "invite Jesus into your heart"
- Involve other kids whenever possible
They mentioned the following links during the show:
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on January 12th, 2010 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss tips for getting things done as well as answer a question about teaching kids about fasting. Jason shared the following 5 Tips for Mastering Workflow from David Allen’s book, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity"
- Collect things that command our attention
- Process what they mean & what to do about them
- Organize the results
- Review as options for what we choose to
- Do
They mentioned the following links during the show:
Dick also is giving away 13 weeks of kids church lessons on the book of Hebrews! Head over to childrensministrytalk.com/christmas2009.html and download your free copy!
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on December 20th, 2009 by Dick Gruber
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Greetings Friends!
Christmas is a busy time with church programs and family gatherings. Remember this year to take some time to relax with your loved ones. The elves here at our workshop have been busy this Christmas season creating more helps for you in your ministry to children. You will find at cmuo.com/resources a series of lessons we’ve prepared for use in children’s church. If you’ve not already done so, subscribe to our podcast in iTunes and have a great holiday. I found a fabulous item at onewaystreet.com called the Bible Story Bag. They have about a dozen to choose from including the Christmas Story and the Wordless Bag. I have used these both and always get good response form children and adult workers.
January is just around the bend. I hope that some of you will find me at CPC in Nashville. I’ll be the tall guy wearing red Chuck Taylors. (Those are shoes). I am also participating in the Assemblies of God Potomac and Penn-Del Districts children’s ministries retreats as well as the North American Children’s Ministries Conference. I look forward to meeting you in my travels.
God bless and quit putting off that continuing education. The cost has never been cheaper nor the information delivered more practical than what we offer at CMUO.com. Take a look and sign up for classes this new year.
Now to close in the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us, everyone.”
His servant, your servant,
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on December 15th, 2009 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode continue a discussion of special event outreaches by discussing special event childcare. They also respond to a listener question regarding how to get started pursuing a call to children’s ministry.
Dick mentioned developing a philosophy of ministry to children as well as a resume. He’s posted samples of his here.
We’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off for the holidays, but will be back again in January!
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
Posted on December 8th, 2009 by Children's Ministry Talk
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode discuss volunteer appreciation ideas. They mention the following links during the show:
What ideas volunteer appreciation ideas do you have? Leave a comment here with your idea!
Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.
Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. You can now give us a call! Leave us your question or comment by calling (484) 442-0322. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.
