Archive for May, 2009
Early Childhood small groups
Posted on 21. May, 2009 by Kenny.
Say what? Early Childhood small groups? Aren’t you supposed to start this once kids get into elementary? That’s been the given assumption. Some churches are starting to break this mold and give this a try. We’re going to start this really soon and we are very excited. So, please keep in mind that everything I write below this paragraph is theory and a vision of what could be.
My staff came back from Orange with all kinds of ideas. On of the ideas my Early Childhood director had concerned alignment of terminology. Basically this is where churches use the same vernacular for positions and programs throughout every ministry. It makes perfect sense. In the Early Childhood area we have three main positions.… Read the rest
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The problem with Sunday small groups
Posted on 20. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I’m not being a Negative Nelly. I’m sharing the difficulties that come with these models. Yesterday I shared the difficulty with the Sunday School model. It has big enough difficulties that I’d prefer not to be at a church with Sunday School. However, the small group difficulties I’ve faced can be overcome with a little creativity.
I’ve had great success with small groups on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights. They were discipleship/growth focused. The kids were pretty consistent and all my groups had 8-12 kids. However, once I decided to launch small groups during Sunday services at Gateway, I knew I would have a problem. Kid’s attendance on Sunday is not consistent. I would be creating a small group model around irregular attendance.… Read the rest
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Elementary small groups
Posted on 20. May, 2009 by Kenny.
Yesterday I wrote about how small groups are where it is at in Children’s Ministry. I also wrote a somewhat controversial post about how Sunday School doesn’t work. So, how do you do small group?
It depends on your purpose.
Are you small groups relational based or discipleship based? Or are they both? Is the point that kids connect with a leader who can speak into their lives or is the point that the kids dive deeper into God’s word and a more personal atmosphere?
When I first started small groups, I was following Craig Jutila’s model. Although my small groups were relational (kinda unavoidable) I wanted the focus to be discipleship. I wanted the kids to go deeper. So, I created my small group program on Wednesday nights.… Read the rest
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Family small group vidoes?
Posted on 20. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I had a great conversation with my friend Ally yesterday. We were talking about family small groups. She asked me if I knew of any video based curriculum for family small groups. Essentially the teaching is geared to all ages. I’ve heard of some curriculum for these types of groups, but nothing video related. I thought I’d throw it out to my community here.
Do you know of any family small group curriculum? Any of it video based?… Read the rest
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Have you published your blog at Amazon yet?
Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Kenny.
Do you have a blog? Have you published your blog for Amazon’s Kindle yet? What are you waiting for? Do it right now, it only takes a second. Okay, maybe 3-5 minutes. Click here!
Do you think people are going to pay $2 a month to read your blog? Why not? 
I personally don’t see people paying for blog subscriptions when they can get them for free everywhere else, but if and when they drop the fee, I want my feed available… and if someone want’s to pay for my feed in the meantime, I’m perfectly fine with that.… Read the rest
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The problem with Sunday School
Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I’ve got a bone to pick with Sunday School. I don’t like it and I wont do it. Sunday School was a big reason why I left one of the churches I was at. Before you get mad at me, please hear me out.
It’s not that I think small groups is better than Sunday School, it’s bigger than that. It’s not about what you call it. It’s about what it is. I believe that you have the greatest impact when you have an adult leader who is responsible for no more than 10-12 kids. That’s a small group. From my experience at more than one church, Sunday School looks a lot more like a school setting with 15-25 kids per teacher.… Read the rest
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Small Groups in childrens ministry
Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I’ve been doing small group ministry with kids for the last three and a half years. Before that I was in churches that did Sunday School, but it wasn’t working (I’m going to write a post later about Sunday School). I must say that small groups have changed everything. Too often the Children’s Pastor wears the mantle of spiritual shepherd over the congregation under 11 years of age, but the only way they can do this effectively is through small groups… unless you only have 12 kids in your church. Then the Children’s Pastor can do it.
I’ve got a few thoughts on small groups that I want to share this week. I’m going to throw out a little philosophy, a little practical application and perhaps some of you will comment with your thoughts and ideas that will benifit everyone (including me and what we’re doing here at Gateway).… Read the rest
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Churches who give it back
Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I follow several people I used to work with at Cross Timbers in DFW and it seems my previous church is getting some media attention. Don’t worry, its a good thing. They’ve been giving money back to the community both inside the church and out. This action has caught the eye of the media and they’re getting some national news coverage. Check out the article on CNN.
I know some good things are happening at Cross Timbers. A good friend described it as revival. Last fall they held a baptism service at all their services and a gajillion people were baptized. Looks like they did another baptism service recently and another gajillion were baptized as well. Yes, there are enough people in DFW to sustain these types of baptisms.… Read the rest
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Brainstorming vs. Improv
Posted on 18. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I was at a birthday party last night and met a guy. He’s a very successful business man responsible for many start-ups. He was recently at a conference where an executive from Google was being interviewed or spoke (I don’t remember the details). Supposedly, Google decision makers take part in improv classes.
Why?
The brainstorming process says, “that’s a good idea, but…”
Improvisation says, “that’s a good idea, and…”
So, I don’t know exactly what that means yet, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Here’s what I’m thinking. Many ideas in the brainstorming process only make it to the white board. Although it’s an incredibly collaborative process where ideas birth new ideas, usually only a few make it into reality.… Read the rest
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Let me re-feed you
Posted on 18. May, 2009 by Kenny.
Okay, in my transformation from www.childrensministryonline.com/blog to www.childrensministryonline.com, I lost some of my reader. Not too many, but some. I think I know what happened. I started blogging in April of 2007, but I didn’t start using feedburner to manage my feed until two or three months later. Some of my friends who said they haven’t been getting my feed since I made the move this weekend had my original feed address (pre-feedburner). So, if you haven’t gotten any of my posts since last week, let me re-feed you. Click on the RSS button to subscribe.
There are some of you who are wondering what the heck I’m talking about. RSS, feeds and burning stuff, huh? You may have thought that this post was an invite to my place for dinner.… Read the rest
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