JCISONLINE – Resources for Tween and Preteen Ministry

With some transition going on with our team, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I use my time. So I’m rethinking my schedule. I want to have some time to study outside of the office. But I’m trying to fit it into the schedule and focus on the important things.

So I’m wondering how you figure out your schedule as a ministry leader.

I’ve seen people use different days for different tasks: communication, study, volunteers, dream.

I’ve heard of people segmenting times: brainstorming, writing time, email and social media, lunch, etc.

I’ve also heard of tackling a particular project at a time rather than more general tasks.

All very interesting, but what about you… How do you break down your schedule?

Ever take a minute and celebrate the growth in your life? I wonder if I’d invested in stocks and hit a homerun in their growth and development, if I would take a minute to celebrate the victory?

Honestly our ministry has seen some great growth over the year and a half that it’s been in existence. But this wall has been weird fighting through. Honestly we are in need of more volunteers and I’ve figured out some things about myself over the past few months.

1. I’m in the camp of not becoming desperate for volunteers….but we do need volunteers. We’ve been growing and we need more adults, I’ve been struggling with asking for help because of that reason. I don’t want to seem desperate.
2. This growth has caused some interesting anxiety in me. I’ve never done ministry at this level before. I grew up in a small town, sometimes I don’t think I have what it takes, in fact a lot. I quickly remind myself that I’m right and that real ministry is done through me, not because of me. But the fear and anxiety are real.
3. Ultimately I’m looking at my ministry in a new lens now that Baby Cannon is on his way. It’s interesting looking at my ministry through the lens of expectant father.

Because of these three things, I’ve been reluctant and honestly just not celebrating the growth in our ministry. It’s interesting how growth and development causes you to change what you’ve always done and lose focus.

I hope the growth continues, but honestly I’m understanding more and more it’s about our trust and faith in God. All the time God is pushing our faith forward. I’m thankful and challenged as God brings more opportunity to enjoy Him in new ways.

I’ll leave you with what someone who has been doing ministry for many years told me as I asked them what do I do to get more help without them knowing that I need that much help.

He said well do you need help with your ministry? Yup.

Will adults help you do ministry? Yup.

Well them tell them that you need their help to do ministry because you’ve grown. Duh, I thought.

I have been telling that to some adults and they say, sure we will help. That’s awesome that you’ve been growing. What can we do to help?

So how do you balance the celebration and the move forward? How do you balance asking for volunteers that you desperately need but not communicating that you are desperate?

So lately there has been a large wall in front of me and it’s been throwing me for a loop. The wall got a bit more complex and more intimidating this past week with one of our staff members leaving our team to start their own business. But the interesting thing is I can’t wrap my mind around why it is so complex for me.

The wall is a ministry goal. It seems as if I’m struggling to breakthrough a number barrier. It’s been much tougher to think about lately. It’s a common barrier and I’m having a hard time dealing with it, because I don’t know the Why? For more on this concept, check out this great post by Sam Luce: Why do you do what you do? It’s been challenging for me. In our Preteen Ministry I need to start with Why and end with what and how, but I must start with Why.

I can’t figure out the why to bust past it and I just don’t get it. It’s weird. I should know the why but I don’t. Because of that the what and the how didn’t make sense.

Today it changed. Our MS Pastor completely gave me the reason Why and he didn’t even know I was searching.

I’m in the midst of a change in audience for a particular venue. I’m praying that I can figure out the what and how now that the why is seeming to come together.

I’m wondering though, have you ever hit a wall with your attendance? A number that you couldn’t get past? What did you do differently?

Any suggestions on what to do?

We started our Bullying series last week in Switch. I am amazed at how much of an issue Bullies are with Tweens, but it’s an evident thing in our services that this topic is hitting the mark.

I want to take a minute to thank Preteenministry.net for their wonderful curriculum. I am amazed by it. It’s simply killer and recommend that you use it in your setting if you have a Preteen Ministry.

I would let you know so much about what you are teaching but the curriculum isn’t expensive and is worth your investment. Go get it.

I’ll tell you some extras that we have planned:

• Wristbands being given away this weekend that say DONT PLAY THAT
• How Not to be a Bully guide
• Trying to get a student to share a bullying experience. (this one is tough and requires a ton of bravery)

[tentblogger-youtube kWq60oyrHVQ]

…then there was a party.

We used this video to help us tell the Christmas story to our Preteens. It was a huge hit. Great way to start some conversations about what it would have been like to have been there.

What are some things that you did to make Christmas special for your preteen ministry?

[tentblogger-youtube X2rGSfW6pL0]

Here’s a fun video we did for Christmas. Our Preteen Ministry is gonna love this. Fun take on more fictional characters. Use this in your environment for a fun video.

You got any videos that you are using for Christmas?

If you have a tween, then you know that they love to ask questions and respond to questions. Here are some musts for the questions that I ask to all of our 10-12 year old students. I try to make sure that we ask these three types of questions every single week in our preteen ministry.

Here we go:  Continue Reading…

[tentblogger-youtube e6xg9b94Ubs]

This is a hilarious video that our very own Chris Brank shot and Taylor Wooten who is a volunteer that leads worship with Switch is the star. Incredible talent in both of these two. I’m happy that our paths have crossed for sure!!

I might think about using this video when talking about relationships or even an illustration on getting to know people.

How great is this?

SwitchOver was an event that we held this weekend for our preteens. It was an absolute blast!! I have been dreaming of an event like this for some time now and we finally were able to pull it off.

Here is the summary of the event. Continue Reading…