So I’m a little bit of a marketing geek. It’s actually something that I am very, very, very passionate about. Can you tell yet? Anyways, I am always ok with giving people resources to help improve their brand.

So I am here to point out this resource to you. Matchstic is a Brand Identity House. They help your brand strengthen, align, and maybe for the first time identify your unique brand. I have never worked with Matchstic, but I have read their blog and seen their work on numerous occasions from afar. They are legit in the advice that they give to companies and they are an incredible resource for you and your brand as a Children’s Ministry, College Ministry, Church, or business. Not to mention the fact that some of their work looks Omazing!!

So if you don’t even get what brand means, or are looking for some guidance on some small ways to strengthen your brand. Check them out at their homepage or their blog. You won’t be disappointed.

This is in no way a sponsored post. Matchstic just rocks imo

G-joker, originally uploaded by CRISTO-.

This is a series that I began a few weeks ago. You can see my post about the Riddler here.

So again apply the general rules to this as well.

You Control the Room

Relationship is key

Know your timing

Characteristics of The Joker

Likes to roam, can’t stand still, loves attention are a few of the characteristics. The one thing that this kid does impeccably well is be a distraction to the other kids.(sounds very similar to your large group leader I would assume too :p) Understand that tension, not the problem, as Andy Stanley said this week at the Global Leadership Summit. That you must balance giving kids the freedom to engage in the conversation and teaching and also teaching the content. It’s not a one way or the other kind of thing.

So what are some ways to get this kid to stop being a distraction and become an engaged part of the teaching?

Specific strategies for The Joker

1. Get them to help

Whether they are passing out snacks, handouts, or helping with the game. Give them something to do. Allow them to become a part of the teaching rather than a receiver of the teaching.

2. Allow them to become an active illustration

I don’t remember where I saw this being done but I was completely impressed. A leader had some Jokers on his hands. He was teaching about Shad, Meese, and Abe and the furnace. So he called the Jokers up on stage to be the fiery furnace. He asked them to use their arms to be the flames and also explained how the King cranked that furnace up hotter than ever and the kids had to illustrate that as well with their hands and energy. It was a brilliant idea. Get your kids involved in what’s going on.

3. Change your style of teaching-

This is especially true if you have a lot of Jokers on your hands. It might be seating changes, it might be the schedule, it might be the amount of time, or it might be the material. If you have a ton of distractions on a consistent basis then it’s time to make a large group change. Put everything on the table and try and figure it out.

One last thing

I’ll say this again. It’s on you. Not on these kids to make large group meaningful, it’s on you.

The better question is probably why shouldn’t you start a 5th and 6th grade ministry? There are really a few reasons for this change. Here are some of the reasons that we did it.

1. Tough transition to middle school-Besides emotions and hormones. Our junior high students are in a totally separate building from our main campus and that causes an incredibly crazy transition for parents.
2. Fading in interest in #kidmin-we run an awesome Children’s Ministry at Brookwood Church. But it’s that time for every kid. They are ready to get out and move on in life. It happens in 8th grade and 12th grade too. Kids are just ready to move up.
3. They really aren’t ready for 8th graders- This part is one that parents kinda underestimate. 8th grade kids are so much different than 6th graders, it’s really nuts. There are topics that older kids need to have addressed and the same goes for the younger kids.
4. Hormones-need I say anything here.
5. Fight for their heart-One of the Orange principles. By focusing on this two year group we can really focus our efforts on reaching these kids where they are.
6. Widen the circle-Another Orange principle. Putting more adults with know how in front of Parents is always a positive.

So why did you start a Preteen Ministry? Give a yay or nay as to why people should consider this incredible opportunity!!

I know completely random, but we had dinner with a lot of our friends last night and I got back home late night last night thinking to myself how completely lucky we are.

I remember praying to God in Memphis that God would give me friends that I could really live with life in community with them. I really wanted a close guy friend and I got that for sure, but man Kristen and I got so much more since we’ve been married.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NIV

Today thank God for your friendships and let your friends know how much they mean to you!

Il est des portes sur l’amer que l’on n’ouvre qu’avec des mots, originally uploaded by Frédérique|G.

Patterning your life around other’s opinions is nothing more than slavery.
-Lawana Blackwell

Sam tweeted out something the other day that has been on my mind lately:

I am convinced in #kidmin design we always hit 3 grades lower than we aim. You want to design something for 5-6th aim for high school.

It’s so true! Sometimes I look at curriculum for kids and even junior high and think to myself…. Man they missed the target on that one. We are always aiming lower. I wonder if it’s because we don’t have a grasp on the audience or what? Maybe it’s just we catch on to design trends too late.

Anyway so as Sam was talking one thing was for sure, You always have to be looking ahead. So what design does your audience need? For me it’s being able to look at what high school students are into right now and shooting for that target.

I’ll give you one example and it’s here:

Simple logo, with a clean font but they use the international loser sign for the “L”. And if you don’t know this show called Glee you are probably living under a rock. I know the high school students in SC love this show!

So I latch on to what FOX is designing and go for it. Bold, Clean typeface, using a similar color to that of last year’s color of the year in the yellow.

Check out this promo especially the graphics.

So what are some things you can do to make sure you get the right look to communicate to preteens?

1. Look ahead-don’t watch what’s working now. Figure out what is going to work next.
2. Talk to your high school person- Ask him or her what their students are consuming and get the look.
3. Make it your own- if it comes across as something you would never do then you have two options: One-revert back to the old style that was defined by you, or two, destroy the image you had and go in a new direction

Be bold and go for a look that kids are looking forward to. It will dramatically help your communication.

What are your high school students and middle school students into these days?

Thanks to Noodles and Beef for the photo.

Respect for young leaders is something that we all desire. In fact we get upset when it’s not freely given to us. On the flip side of that, we are often very quick to take respect of honor away from our leaders if they make mistakes.

I know for me, I tend to see things in black and white for the most part. My theology and the way I view people has been challenged around this personality trait of mine, continuously. Here’s the breakdown:

People: Awesome or I’m not a fan at all

Theology: Yes or no

However, that leaves no room for middle ground. I discovered on numerous occassions that this middle ground exists whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. So if people make mistakes (fyi young leaders-people, including you, make mistakes) then they are not always going to live up to your expectations. What is our role according to scripture for those that are above us?

You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones.

-1 Peter 2:18

So number one, when people disappoint you, honor them. How easy is it to honor those that are good masters? Big Deal. Try honoring the bad ones and the ones that you feel bad about in the moment because of something you would have done differently.

And never forget young leaders. Respect is earned, not freely given. Treat people with the love of Christ and then you might earn some.

So as I’m transitioning to my new role as 5th and 6th grade pastor, I’m going through a lot of learning.

Just a few things that are coursing through my brain:

• Budgets
• Curriculum Planning
• Philosophy and Vision of Ministry
• Innovation, but not at the price of effectiveness
• Environments

Man it’s really crazy just how much is going on in my brain right now.

So I need some pointers but first I’m going to give you some helpful places that I’ve been in the past few weeks.

stufficanuse.com they have crazy hi-end graphics for student ministry. Messages/Small Group content will need work. Best part is that it’s absolutely free. Check them out if you need some graphics help.

coachshef.com great insight into student ministry. His last two posts have been crazy helpful. Budgets and Getting to a “C” on your weaknesses.

Open from Lifechurch.tv they have a ton of great FREE resources out there for student ministry. Especially their leader guide stuff. O-mazing!

Books: a few that I’ve read or am reading recently: The Pursuit of God, Purpose Driven- Youth Ministry, and Jesus Driven Ministry

All great books that are really shaping who I am. Not to mention the fact that God is really refining me in some areas in my life in particular to my leadership.

I need some help.

Who is great at student ministry environments?

Student Small Groups, Who is the best?

Any other places you would point a 5th or 6th grade person to?

So I got this interesting piece of material in the mail today with a sampler from SparkHouse. It has 2 sample video lessons with a small sample of a workbook.

This curriculum is geared towards 7th-8th grade students and is geared towards the confirmation type of service for students.

Here’s a sample of one of the video lessons:

I think the graphics and content of the 2 video lessons that I saw were pretty awesome. Especially for preteen ministry. I’m thinking my 5th and 6th graders would eat those videos up. They are humorous and are filled with great content aimed towards answering some of the questions that students have about faith.

The activities in the sample seemed to miss the mark a bit. Thumb wars and graffiti wall could be accomplished outside of the material provided and would fit better in a younger context. However, there was a cool activity that could apply to that age group called tower races. It seemed to match well with the content and I know my students would get into that.

Would this work for a Sunday morning in our context? Definitely not. But, if you do a more small group centric midweek program, then this could work effectively in that environment as well.However, if you have a class set aside for Confirmation or basics of faith class, then this is something I would definitely check out for 4th-6th graders.

I feel like the price point is right on as well. DVD with 40 sessions for $50 I think is a great deal.

You can find out more about the re:form confirmation curriculum on the SparkHouse website.

Or check out some sample vids on their youtube page.

Have you checked out re:form? What do you think of their stuff?

I need to be edited …, originally uploaded by www.gageyoung.com.

So randomly I’ve been dropping people’s names and resources as my friends.
Mainly people that I’ve met once or twice.
I interact over twitter and blogs with them.
With all this tech, relationships have begun to shift.

So my question is this:

What are the requirements to become real friends rather than just digital acquaintances?