Archive for October, 2009
Syncing Google Calendar and Contacts with your iPhone
Posted on 14. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
So yesterday I officially switched my work mail to Gmail. I was tired of putting up with Entourage and even more frustrated with my inability to share my work calendar with my wife who manages her/our calendar with Google Calendar. Using Gmail as a catch all account is taking a little bit of an adjustment, but I really like it so far. I need to develop a system with labels and filters, otherwise I think I might drown.
Now that I’m using Gmail, my only calendar is my Google Calendar. However, I wanted to make sure that the calendar on my iPhone syncs with Google. I learned how to do this when I gave my wife my iPod touch.
Go to NuevaSync and create a free account. NuevaSync is an online service that will connect your Google accounts with your iPhone (or other phones as well) by pretending to be an exchange server. It’s really easy to set up and it’s completely free. Within a few minutes, my calendar and contacts were synced. Push email (through Gmail) and the ability to sync up to 50 calendars is available at a very low price as well. I already bring in my Gmail into my iPhone, so I didn’t see the need to pay for anything.
So, if you use Google Calendar and would prefer to sync your iPhone (or several other smart phones for that matter) to this calendar, check out NuevaSync.
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The day I quit Entourage
Posted on 13. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
Yesterday I stopped using Entourage. Done. For good.
I switched to a Mac over a year ago. There was a lot of things to get used to. Some of them good, some of them bad. Email was one of the bad.
I’ve been an Outlook user for years and for the most part, it was a great product. It did most things I needed pretty well. The problem has always been syncing. Getting my calendar to sync with my wife’s calendar is MONUMENTAL. Almost two years ago, Google created a program that would sync my outlook calendar with my google calendar. It was an answer to prayer and all was happy in the Conley household. Then I switched to a Mac.
Entourage is just stupid. It’s a watered down version of Outlook that doesn’t have all the functionality. There are plenty of things that I hate about Entourage, but the one that hurt the most is that it won’t sync with my Google calendar. There are several other 3rd party apps that do (or claim to do this). Most of them involve you syncing your Entourage with your iCal account and then syncing your iCal with Google Calendar. I’ve been unsuccessful at doing this. The last time I attempted this, it broke Entourage completely.
So, I finally said “no more.” I emailed the IT department and asked them to forward my email to my Gmail account. I love Gmail. Now I can have the same experience with my work mail that I do with my personal mail. Best of all, my personal calendar and work calendar are now one. Now my wife can see what I’m up to at any time or add things to my calendar. No more calendar meetings. The only downside is that most of my co-workers are on Outlook/Entourage, so I can’t really see their availability unless I open up Entourage.
Gateway is talking about moving to Google Apps. I hope we do. If that happens, then calendar sharing and seeing co-worker availability will be so easy! So, if you hate your email, you might want to consider switching to Gmail too.
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Big postcard sale
Posted on 13. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
My favorite printer for postcards is having a huge sale right now. Right now you can get 50% off of all postcards. Just use the promotional code: PCSOCT.
I’ve been using Overnight Prints for almost 6-7 years. You’ll be hard pressed to beat their quality. They’re also one of the cheapest printers around as well. They’ve gotten so big in recent years that they print different products on specific days. If you know what days these things print, you can submit your order by 5:00 PM PST and they’ll be in the mail the next day. They also opened a print shop on the East Coast so easterners don’t have to wait to get stuff shipped from California.
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Registration card resource page
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
A little while earlier today I posted the new family registration card we’re using at Gateway. When I was having this designed, I asked kid’s pastors from all over to send in what they were using so I could gather ideas. I remember literally sitting down at a conference table looking at everyone. I’d circle what I liked on every card. Then I gave it all to a designer and said “good luck getting it all on one page.”
I recently updated my resource page for registration cards. Click here to see registration cards from 13 different churches. Want to add your card to the gallery? Send it my way at kenny@childrensministryonline.com.
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New family registration form
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
Back in February I wrote about family registration cards. Our card was old, out-dated and way to vague. We had the card redesigned and have been using it for several months now. Actually, the new card has even undergone a few revisions. With forms like these, I tend to print them in house and use them until we discover all the mistakes or things that need to be adjusted. You won’t really know until you use them. Once we’re happy, we have them professionally printed.
So, here’s the card we ended up with.
What do you think? Any changes that you would suggest?
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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-11
Posted on 11. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
- CMO: #kidmin Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-04 http://bit.ly/2mB79n #
- @samluce is razzing me about enjoying sciFi. Why's he always busting my chops? #kidmin #
- CMO: #kidmin Where the heck have I been? http://bit.ly/16ZQKi #
- @samluce huh? in reply to samluce #
- CMO: #kidmin What have I been doing recently? http://bit.ly/4u4FXu #
- CMO: #kidmin I lost a good friend last night http://bit.ly/4wIDAD #
- CMO: #kidmin Question of the day: Does God trust us? http://bit.ly/1wHl8u #
- @mattmckee http://bit.ly/JyR7x You should be able to convert the dwg to pdf. I love that site. BTW, what the heck is a dwg? #
- @jill_nelson Glad my stuff helped. @jonathancliff has been doing some new stuff too… hopefully he'll blog about it soon too! #kidmin in reply to jill_nelson #
- @mattmckee How did the zamzar conversion work for ya? in reply to mattmckee #
- Going to the gym. Timing it so I can watch the office on the treadmill. Woo hoo! #
- Anyone have any extra invites to Google Wave? I'd love to check it out! #
- Just filled Titus' bed full of toys for him to play with when he wakes up. Makes me feel like Santa every night. #
- RT @googwaveinvites: we only have 200 google wave invites, retweet this and follow us for an invite #
- Anyone out there with a Google Wave invite? I'd love one if you've got extra.
# - http://twitpic.com/kwub6 eating dinner on couch with dad. T-man took a 7 hour nap. Still recovering. #
- http://twitpic.com/kx85x ha! Titus and his cars crack me up. #
- So, Titus took a 6 hour nap 2day. I got him up at 8:30 PM & we hung out until 11:00. nevr have done that before. cnt wait till he's better. #
- It's downright cool this morning. It's showing 73 in my house. It hasn't been that cool in th house since last March/April. #
- @jonros mmmmmm. When do I get to come to one of your parties? in reply to jonros #
- Kind of a lazy day around the house. Titus and I have watched singin in the rain and high scool musical. Hopefully all will b healthy soon! #
- @samluce I'm eating shrimp and grits tonight. My wife's cookin' it up. Just though you'd want to know. in reply to samluce #
- Tired. Loooooooooooooooooooong day today. All is good and I'm a happy man. What more could I ask for? #
- Titus thought cave man should drive the tractor. http://twitpic.com/l7drc #
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Question of the day: Does God trust us?
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
At Gateway Church our mission is tied into what we call the “Way of Christ.” The “Way of Christ” encompasses loving God, loving people, building character and being the body (Christ’s body to the world). Next week we’re beginning a series on “Love God.” So today in our all staff meeting we sat in groups and discussed the concept of loving God, what it looks like and how we live it out. It’s very interesting how a simple little concept can be so complex in reality. After reading through the following passages (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28, Deuteronomy4:6-9, 10:12, 11:13, 13:3, 30:6 and 1 John 4:7-21) , we had a list of 15-20 questions to discuss. We never got past the first one.
“Why is loving God the most important thing?”
We talked about love, what love looks like, what it isn’t and how all of this relates to loving God. In the discussion someone brought up trust as a meaningful component to a loving relationship. My Early Childhood Director quickly spit out the question, “Do you think that God trusts us?”
What do you think? I don’t have an agenda. I don’t even know that it makes any difference, but at least it’s something to think about.
Does God trust you?
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I lost a good friend last night
Posted on 06. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
Last night I got a call from an old friend in Indiana letting me know that my friend Jan Whittenberg had passed away. When the phone rang at 11:00 last night, and the caller ID said Duane, I already knew what had happened. Jan’s health had greatly deteriorated last week as she’s been fighting cancer since early spring. My wife and I are saddened by our loss. Sara has had some wonderful phone conversations with her over the past few weeks and months and I’m so blessed that I was able to spend several hours with her back in July. We’re so grateful.
Jan is an amazing woman. Sara and I moved to southern Indiana back in 2000 where I got my first full time Children’s Ministry job at Graceland Baptist Church. I met Jan while interviewing for the job. She was beginning to volunteer for the Children’s Ministry, a grandmother raising her two grandsons. After moving to Indiana, she quickly became family to Sara and I. When we were sick, we’d call “Nene” and she’d bring us medicine, food or whatever else we needed. She’d take us to the airport, give us rides when the car broke down or have us over for dinner when we were missing our families.
Jan had the true gift of hospitality. Anytime there was a wedding or funeral, she would coordinate. The bigger the party the better it was for Jan to be involved. As a part of my leadership team, she completely oversaw our Halloween Family Fun Fest that continually brought in between 6,000 to 9,000 people. She would put together a team of 40-50 coordinators, plan this $60-80,000 event and raise most of the money herself to pay for it. She did all of this to be a blessing to her community. I’ve never met anyone who loved her community more than Jan Whittenberg. I’d often joke with her about bringing her to Texas to be a community outreach director at the churches I was at and she’d always reply that she just couldn’t leave southern Indiana. It was her home as well as her mission field.
What’s hardest about loosing Jan is that in her I just lost one of my biggest fans. She’s one of those people who loves you, believes in you and regularly lets you know it. I’m not one of those people who needs frequent pats on the back, but it’s always nice to know who your fans are. Other than my wife and my mom, Jan was my biggest fan. She always knew I wouldn’t be at Graceland forever. The day I visited her to tell her I’d taken a job in Texas, she knew it before I had the chance to tell her. She believed in me when I was struggling with myself and she was such an encourager when I was going through difficult situations.
Probably even more than Sara and I, Jan LOVED Titus. Although she only met him once, she’d constantly harass me about putting pictures and videos up on my blog or facebook account. She was so proud of us and loved us so much. It’s always sad losing someone you love, but even more sad when you lose someone that loves you so much.
Jan, we love you! We’re so glad you’re at rest with your savior, but we’re going to miss you terribly. As so few people do, you’ve made an impact on the lives of so many, especially me and my little family. Now get to work, I’m sure you have some parties and receptions to plan and carry out there in heaven!
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What have I been doing recently?
Posted on 05. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
This is me, except I don’t wear ties.
As I stated earlier, I’ve been M.I.A. recently. I haven’t really been too busy to blog, it just felt like it was time to take a bit of a break. There were a lot of things at work where I had fallen behind and I need to get caught up. So, here are some of the things I’ve been working on:
Policy Manual/Volunteer Training: We’ve been working on our Policy Manual for an ungodly amount of time. Well, we’re pretty much finished. We’ve got a few pieces to wrap up, but for the most part it is a done deal. It feels so good to have it done. As a result, we’ve held two training sessions where over 100 of our volunteers have come for training. We were thrilled with the participation and look forward to connecting to the rest for official training. For the first time in years, this Policy Manual and the training is getting our volunteer teams on the same page concerning policies and moving in the same direction with our mission, values and strategy.
Defining Vision and Critical Path Steps: For the past few months the directional team has been meeting to re-tool Gateway’s vision statement and determine our critical path steps for the next year. Our directional team has really been coming together over the past several weeks and it is exciting to connect better as a team, but it hasn’t come without a cost. We’ve been every Tuesday from 8:00 AM until 12:00 PM to continue to work through this stuff. It’s a lot to sort through and decide, but we really are shaping where this church will go for the next 10-15 years.
ELI (Emerging Leadership Initiative): Gateway has a ministry that helps equip church planters and over the years Gateway has help plant several like-minded churches around the country. The director of ELI has a year-long development track for these church planters. As we’ve been looking at launching new campuses, we decided not to re-invent the wheel when it comes up to preparing future ministry leaders. So, last month we launched four cohorts who are going through this year long residency together. My elementary director and I are leading a children’s ministry cohort. This experience is stretching me as well as the three guys involved.
Well, those are the big things. All this has been on top of all the other projects I’m currently involved in. Hopefully some of this stuff will spill over to this blog and I can share some of what I’m experiencing/learning and open up the conversation to others as well!
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Where the heck have I been?
Posted on 05. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.
Missed me? A few weeks ago I took a week of vacation to go to Colorado to rest, relax and to climb a mountain, which you can read about here. I didn’t blog any while on vacation. After getting back I decided to take a another week off of blogging which turned into another week as well. So, here I am, three weeks go by and I haven’t posted a word.
Well, I’m looking forward to being back this week. Hopefully we can engage in some conversation and challenge each other forward.
* Bonus point to those of you who “get” the picture here.
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