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Preteens and Summer

May 22, 2012 in Life, Preteen Ministry, Programming 0

This probably might be your preteen. Anxious and ready for summer to come. I have so many fond memories of summer break. Sports, water, the beach, vacation, camps, etc. But if there is one word that comes to mind about preteens and summer, it’s the word “bored”.

At some point with the excitement of summer coming and the tests that school gives to put a nice bow on the school year, we forget to make plans for what to actually do during the summer.

This year we are going to help this for our preteens! We are compiling a checklist of activities for them to take place in. Basically a ton of activities for them to accomplish during the summer. There isn’t a plan for a prize or a contest being made out of the checklist. We just want our students to dream big of the things that they can accomplish during the summer months.

So here are some things to think about as you are planning your summer for your preteen ministry or your own preteen. Continue Reading…

10 things on my mind

May 17, 2012 in Leadership, Life 2

photo by Leo Reynolds

Sometimes you have things that just get stuck on your mind. Lately there have been a few ideas, thoughts and things that I just can get off my mind. Here they are: Continue Reading…

Analyzing your Ministry Structure

May 15, 2012 in Family Ministry, Leadership, Preteen Ministry 0

How your preteen ministry is structured is one of the key elements in making things smooth and consistent across the board for families. I pointed this very thing out in my breakout at the Orange Conference. I think this is one of the key things that allowed Switch, our preteen ministry, to start off so well.

Structuring Issues

When Mike Hepola, our family pastor, started to consider beginning a 5th and 6th grade ministry, one of the things that Mike and myself really took a lot of time to analyze was our current family ministry structure. We looked at everything about children’s and student ministry to get a good picture of where we were at the time and where we wanted to end up. Continue Reading…

Preteens and Facebook

May 11, 2012 in Preteen Ministry 2

Facebook and social media in general are where students spend a majority of their time. In fact, here is an infographic via Online Schools that should tell you a bit about where our teens spend a lot of their time:

Courtesy of: Online Schools

So with technology and specifically, social media, being something that preteens are interested in, what stance should we take?

3 Crucial Conversations to have with your preteen

May 4, 2012 in Preteen Ministry 0

As a pastor to preteens, I often see parents worried and anxious about having certain conversations with their child. It’s so important to make the most of these moments. These are conversations that every parent needs to have and every child wants to have with their parents. No matter how much these kids whine, complain, and try to run (in some cases) you must push thru to have those conversations.

So here are 3 talks that you should be thinking about having with your children very, very soon. Continue Reading…

Orange Conference 2012 Day 3 Musings

April 27, 2012 in Family Ministry 0

Andy Stanley brought the word this morning on what it takes to build a great organization. He should know since NorthPoint Ministries, Inc. was voted the 3rd best place to work in Atlanta. Not for churches, all businesses!!

He laid out the key for us this morning: Mutual Submission. Continue Reading…

Orange Conference 2012 Musings… Day 2

April 26, 2012 in Family Ministry 6

Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv, absolutely killed the Session this morning. I was challenged about how I’m leading our students and the ideas that I have about parenting my son Cannon. Here are my written notes (excuse my handwriting):

Yes I can read that!! Rude. JK. Anyway great session, lots of challenges today.

Also went to 2 breakouts, one on leading change by Carey Nieuwhof and Values of a Small Group Leader by Chef. Here are my summaries for both:

Carey Nieuwhof – Leading thru Opposition

Do the math. (How many people are really opposed to the change?)
Deal gracefully with the opponents of change
Look for truth from those that you will build your church on.

Tom Shefchunas- Lead Small

Buy the book Lead Small from the Orange Store (when it goes on sale)
How can we give a job description to a relational role?
Think of giving your wife a checklist or buying flowers for her every Tuesday, how does that work?
Make values for small group leaders.
Had to get out to be interviewed, but luckily the book is already available if you are at Orange!! :p

Orange Conference Musings… Main Session 1

April 26, 2012 in Family Ministry 2

Reggie Joiner led off day 1. Reggie is really the reason why I believe so much in Orange. I haven’t met him in person, but when he speaks, he just resonates with my heart. His talk and game changer was about the gospel being messy. It was a challenging talk. I tweeted a lot about this session, so I won’t repeat (follow me on twitter) what I said there, but here are a few things that stuck out to me a day after hearing the talk:

The Gospel is messy. The cross is messy. Jesus is the King of messy.
Are we challenging our preteens to fall in love with the messy story of the gospel or our church?
Are we more concerned with how we do ministry rather than the hearts of the people that we minister to?
How can our kids get messy?

They also talked about the zip code 98118. 40,000 people 59 languages!! Are you kidding me?

The idea of diversity and tolerance was pushed from stage and that made me happy. I grew up in Memphis, TN in the pit of racism and nastiness towards people. I’m praying that the life that I live in front of my kids represents Jesus more. There are few things that resonate more with me than diversity, what’s hard is that it even feels weird as a white guy to talk about diversity. Jesus talked with, dined with, and made connections with everyone. Please don’t minimize the word everyone.

Jesus was in the midst of Romans, Jews, Pharisees, tax collectors, rich people, lepers, women, cripples, untouchables and loved them. Is that the gospel that we are teaching our students?

The same story that I am involved in because of Jesus, is the same story that is weaved throughout the Bible. How cool is that to bring your kids into?

Challenged by Reggie’s talk, like always, especially for a dad to be.

My 2012 Orange Conference Breakout

April 25, 2012 in Preteen Ministry 2

I was given an opportunity to talk about Preteen Ministry this year at the Orange Conference. I was so thankful to connect with over 300 leaders who desired to talk about the challenges and opportunities that this age group presents. If you were at my session please give me a comment below so I can say hi and thank you!!

My breakout was really sort of an overview of why the conversation needs to be bigger than just Children’s Ministry or bigger than just Youth ministry. How can you look at the students and the context that God has placed you in at your church and make the most of this unique age group.

Here are some things that might help you out:

The Eric Trap Book Review

April 13, 2012 in Family Ministry, Leadership, Resources 7

The Eric Trap Book Review

So I was offered the opportunity to read a book and review it written by some wonderful people in Children’s Ministry. The book is called The Eric Trap: 5 things every leader has to get right.

It’s a great read and a book that I am blessed to have. The book takes you thru the story of a fake #kidmin pastor named Eric Newman. Eric has all kinds of issues that he has gotten himself into, from fighting with volunteers, misaligned priorities, and lack of self awareness. It’s a challenging read for a young person in ministry. Continue Reading…

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