Archive for 'Philosophy'
My problem with Christian media
Posted on 24. Mar, 2012 by Kenny.
I really enjoy reading, especially fiction. I have so many books on my “to read” list and sometimes I can get into a rut. The cure is to pick up a work of fiction to keep me going. While in Middle School, I was first exposed to Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness. For years it held the “my favorite book” award in my heart. Unfortunately, it’s been 20+ years since I’ve read it and it’s become more of a distant memory. Then something changed.
In the past 5-10 years, I’ve become increasingly tired of most Christian media, primarily novels and movies.
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The dropout myth?
Posted on 04. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.
There’s a very interesting article worth reading over at childrensministry.com about the infamous “dropout” rate that is causing many churches to question the effectiveness of their ministries and causing many churches to swing to a family model. I’ve actually sited the significant dropout statistics as a reason for our church to move to a more family centered model.
I’m very glad that this article was written as it draws attention to the issue. However, I have to say that I’m not in agreement with several parts of the article, but some excellent points are made.
First of all, I’ve not heard of this 9 out of 10 dropout. For the last 3-5 years, I’ve been more familiar with the studies conducted by Lifeway, the Assemblies of God (I think) and the research the Barna group has done and none of those posted a dropout rate as high as 90%.… Read the rest
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I am already thinking about promotion Sunday
Posted on 15. Nov, 2010 by Kenny.
A few days I got an email from a friend in TN asking me some questions about how and when we promote. I’m really glad he asked because it reminded me of some questions I wanted to revisit and some frustrations I’ve run into for the past two years. He wanted to know what other churches do, so I figured I’d ask all of you. First, let me explain what we do here at Gateway, why we do it this way and what I’ve been frustrated about.
For the past two summers, we promoted in August, the week kids start their new classes in school. Actually, I’ve promoted the week school started every year I’ve been in ministry except for one I think.… Read the rest
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How I’m dealing with Halloween
Posted on 26. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
So, three years ago I wrote a post about Halloween titled, “Halloween = Satan?”
I had almost forgotten that I wrote it. Since Halloween is coming in a few days, I figured I’d address it.
Like I said before, I didn’t celebrate Halloween as kid. We always went to the church to hide. It was a fun family night of games, bon fires and candy. If we did stay home that year, we turned the lights out and locked the doors. We were not going to celebrate this evil holiday. I’m not saying that this behavior was wrong or that I have any regrets, but my wife and I have decided to make different decisions about this holiday.
Three years ago we decided that Halloween is a huge night for our culture.… Read the rest
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Our new organizational strategy
Posted on 21. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
So, I’ve written about the problems I’ve experienced with departmental organization, the need for a different approach, as well as theories I’ve come across and thought about. Now it’s time to share with you what we’re going to do.
Probably our biggest source of inspiration was the counsel we got from ministry friends who used to be on staff at Bent Tree Fellowship in Dallas. They organized a ministry under three “departments,” for lack of a better word: Programs, Community and Operations. Under a director in each area, they had a full time assistant (actually, I think in one area they had two part time assistants for preference reasons). The Program director oversaw all things curriculum, production, music and video. The Community director oversaw all things small groups which was the bulk of the volunteer force.… Read the rest
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Creatively organizing ministry
Posted on 20. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
Lately I’ve been talking about organization in Kidmin and how far too often we just default to the departmental model even though it might not be the most efficient in the long run.
So, I’m going to throw out a little theory here. It’s what helped us get to where we are now… or at least where we are heading. I throw out these ideals today and tomorrow I’ll wrap up this post with what this actually is going to look like for my team.
When I look at Kidmin in my church, I see three main functions.
Program: The look and feel of what happens on Sunday. The implementation of teaching, curriculum and what kids actually experience.
Volunteers: This is the heart and soul of the ministry (it should be).… Read the rest
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The new face of American Evangelicalism
Posted on 20. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
I recently came across this video clip from ABC News that aired last Spring. Sorry if you’ve already seen it. What do you think?
So much of what is said here rails against the how I was raised within the church. The world needs the Gospel. Period. Almost as if this statement gave us license to overlook the loving and caring of the world around us. Interesting.
I’m not going to lie. The words these people say sound more like the words I’d imagine Jesus would say if he was sitting on that stage. What they’re talking about is a living and active Gospel that is shared as it is lived out. What do you think?… Read the rest
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Inefficiency in kidmin organization
Posted on 19. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
Yesterday I wrote about Org Charts and ministry, specifically how most children’s ministries use a standard departmental model by default. I’m convinced that although departmental models might be natural they tend to not be very efficient.
Here’s what I found. This summer I read the book Lead the Way God Made You. It really spoke to my pain. You can read my review of the book right here. Essentially the book talks about your leadership gifting and strengths and how to make sure you’re developing your weaknesses and really leading out of your strengths. The big wake-up call for me and my team after reading this book is how most of us weren’t leading through our natural strengths often enough.… Read the rest
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Ministry and Org Charts
Posted on 18. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
This week I plan to write a little about how Kidmin is organized. Ultimately, I’ll speak from my own personal experience as well as my thoughts and opinions. However, during this week, I would love to see and hear how you organize your ministry. I’ve found that sometimes looking at another ministry’s organizational chart gives me ideas for they way I see my team.
I think I’ll start by describing the standard organization which I call the departmental organization. It seems to be the default organization for most Children’s Ministries and if you have more than 1-2 staff on your team, you are probably organized this way. What am I talking about? Let me explain.
If there are two to three people on a Kidmin staff, usually one of them is the Pastor/Director and the other one is Early Childhood Director.… Read the rest
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Freakonomics: Incentives (part 2)
Posted on 13. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
So, yesterday I wrote about my Freakonomics movie experience and how it reminded me why I don’t like incentive based programs. Kids get left out because the same incentive doesn’t work for all kids. I was having lunch with my boss on Monday and he asked me a question about what I got out of it and it caused me to think about a different side of incentives. His questions caused me to think about incentives in my life. I recognized that even I don’t respond to the same incentives in every area of my life.
For instance, last year I lost over 30 pounds in 3 months. I’ve been a lazy bum and have gained some of it back, but it’s time for me to pick up the running and healthy eating routine again and I just haven’t been motivated.… Read the rest
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