Tag Archives: Creativity
Question to you: When do you recruit?
Posted on 22. Jul, 2010 by Kenny.
I’ve been talking to my team about a big volunteer push. More than likely we’re going to do a 2-3 week push in October which I expect will be pretty good. A few years ago we did a really big push in January which was very well received. However, when have you found to be the most effective time to recruit volunteers? I know a lot of people like to do April and May volunteer drives so they’re all screened, trained and ready for the fall. What has worked best for you?
Tell me your story. What’s the most creative or effective thing you’ve done to recruit a boatload of new volunteers? What made it so successful? I’d love to hear some new and creative ideas and strategies that we can implement as we recruit. I’ve found that strong exposure/communication as well as creativity tend to yield great success.
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The Kidmin Revolution
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Kenny.
On Monday I started this series on starting or changing your career in Children’s Ministry; however, the conversation hasn’t gone in the direction I intended. That’s a good thing though, I feel like a good foundation was put in place here and some important things have been processed… for me at least. Next week I’ll get into the highly practical stuff of resumes and searching for an open ministry position. The following week I hope to talk about the interview process. I really do hope that this little series will be a great resource for those preparing to enter the ministry or make a jump to a different stage of ministry.
This post; however, I want to wrap up a theme that’s emerged this week. I’ve been in Kidmin long enough to see that a real change has taken place. When I started 1997, there were not a lot of resources. Sunday School was king and no one was talking about small groups. Kids music consisted of Arky Arky and Father Abraham, the same songs I sang as a kid 10-12 years earlier (wow, I was a young CP). A decade later, we have a flood of resources and there’s never been a better time to be a children’s pastor. However, I still see two flavors of Kidmin. One tends to still be hanging on to some of the older ways of doing things. They may not be doing Arky Arky anymore, but there are systems and processes that haven’t changed in ten years. Then there is another side that is reinventing what Kidmin looks like. It’s not just the style of music or technology used or way of presenting the message (although that is part of it), but it is the philosophy underneath. It is leadership driven. It’s using creative and innovative ways of leveraging influence in the lives of the kids through schools, teachers and parents to make a lasting impact.
This second flavor of Kidmin is still the minority. Although some of the biggest and loudest ministries in the world are home to these types of ministries, the average church in the average town hasn’t made this transition yet. That’s where this revolution needs to begin. That’s where the change needs to happen. So if you’re a current Children’s Pastor, it would do you well to evaluate where your ministry stands. Does it need a revolution? Is your ministry creatively using innovative strategies to make an impact, or does it use what it’s always been using? Are you getting ready to go into Children’s Ministry? Decide now what kind of Children’s Pastor you want to be. Don’t let the church you go to or the church you think you want to work at dictate what kind of Children’s Pastor you’re going to be. You always have a choice.
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Bad cookies and the Smartie Principle
Posted on 14. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.
Yesterday my wonderful wife made a batch of very bad cookies. Please don’t think I’m picking on my wife. She’s the first one to tell me they were bad. She’s an incredible baker and cook. It must have been a bad recipe. They were valentines day cookies and guess what? Titus LOVED them! They were the first thing he saw when he got up from his nap and he was so excited to eat “red hearts.” He had two.
That’s something I’ve noticed and have always been amused about children’s ministry. When it comes to certain things, kids just don’t care. I could have a bad cookie that I paid 15 cents for or a delicious gourmet cookie that cost three dollars and the kids would be equally excited about both. When taking off for summer camp or a retreat, I’d often load up on Dr. Thunder and Sam’s Cola brand soft drinks. Guess what? No complaints… just happy kids. The youth pastor would often laugh saying that he could never get away with that.
This goes back to a principle I learned a long time ago. As a 20 years old working at a summer camp, I learned something called the “smartie principle” during training. You know smarties, right? The small chalky candy that come 15-20 in a small roll wrapped in clear plastic. It’s a Halloween staple. The principle stated that kids would get just as excited about a single smartie as they would about the whole roll. It just depends on how you present it. At this camp we spent a lot of time on the bus traveling to state parks and pools. On the long bus rides, the counselors would quiz the kids with random questions. The prize for getting a question right? A single smartie. We’d do this all summer long and the kids were always crazy excited to play our little games for smarties. I learned that with kids, bigger isn’t always better. In fact, better isn’t always better. Why give away a king size Kit Kat when a smartie will do?
Don’t read too much into this post. I’m not talking about a free license to be less than excellent. I’m talking about leveraging a child’s ability to get excited about almost anything and and taking kids on a experiential roller coaster that doesn’t have to break the bank. Save your big guns for when you really need them. In all other times, don’t forget to just be creative about the small stuff. Kids love the small stuff too and have the capacity to get just as excited about it as the big stuff… even bad cookies.
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Help with a name!
Posted on 13. Jul, 2009 by Kenny.
Hey, I need a name for a two day event. I could use some of your ideas.
We’re doing a leadership event at our church called Advance. It’s a two day retreat over a Friday and Saturday. In the past we’ve offered childcare, but it’s been kinda lame. This year we’re making it an event geared to events. The strategy is that if the kids want to go, the paretns will be more likely to want to attend. We’ll do movies, pizza, crafts, games, water events, inflatable slides and such.
What can I call it that the name alone is energetic and fun sounding… but doesn’t sound dorky or too little kiddy. This will be geared to 4 year old through 5th graders. We’ll have a “Jr.” version for 3 and 4 year olds and we provide childcare for babies.
So, what do you think?
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June Desktop
Posted on 09. Jun, 2009 by Kenny.
Last month I cleaned up my messy desktop and posted my new creative screen. I actually did post a new desktop once we hit June, but my screen has gotten kinda messy.
Henry Zonio, my Canadian friend who wants to be like me (: posted his new desktop. It was a good reminder and good accountability to clean up and stay creative.
So, here is what my desktop looks like right now.
It’s fun and creative. However, I decided to change to an actual June desktop and I can pull this on out again later. So, what do you think?
Yeah, it’s got some global warming (green) message behind it. I just thought it was funny. So, here’s my desktop. Yeah, I’ve got a little more on the desktop than I should, I’m working on it. Get a June desktop here.
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Desktop creativity
Posted on 06. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I read John’s post here on desktop inspiration and I was convicted.
I’ve had the same desktop for the last 9-10 months, and it wasn’t even that creative. Probably the true reason I didn’t update my desktop was because I couldn’t even see it. Yes, I had become a desktop clutter bug. Check out the screen shot I took a few months ago.
Yowch! That’s embarrassing.
It was actually really embarrassing as someone would come to look at something on my computer and make some remark about my desktop. My clutter certainly didn’t do anything for my creativity.
So, I’ve uploaded a new desktop. It’s also a built in calendar, so when June comes around, I have to change it. Well, I don’t have to, but I’ll look extra stupid with a May desktop. Kinda like that person with a desk calendar that’s been on Ocober of 2006 since… well… October of 2006.
So, my accountability here is to keep my desktop clean and uncluttered so that my creative workspace has a place to breath.
Click here for your own May desktops.
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Burger King: A win for creativity and details
Posted on 06. May, 2009 by Kenny.
I had two Burger King experiences in one day, each one impacting me enough that I’d write about it. So here’s my first experience.
Honestly, I’m not a big fan of Burger King. I think I’ve eaten at a Burger King less than ten times in my life. However, there is one right near our house and my wife has fallen in love with the Jr. Whopper, so when we get a coupon we stop in and the BK Lounge. On my first visit inside this Burger King, I was impressed by two things.
I love the Drink Recipes on the soda fountain. Kids love making suicides. How cool is it when a restaurant gives you recipes and even has names for specific mixes. This is a big win for the kids. Good job BK for paying attention.
We ordered chicken nuggets for Titus. They came in the shape of BK crowns. Another win for BK. Our son isn’t old enough to care, but right now we do and one day he will. We already bough a bag of dinosaur shaped nuggets last week. This is a simple thing and kids and parents love this stuff.
Sometimes the big win is in the details. What little details do you incorporate in your ministry and service that equals a big win?
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Orange 2008: Creatively Wired Meetings
Posted on 28. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
This pre-conference breakout was led by Jennifer Tamborello who served on the original kid stuf team at North Point and at one time directed Kid Stuff. Here are some of the notes I took from this excellent breakout.
If we are not creative, we are not effective. It is imperative that we infuse our meetings with creativity.
Leaders need to be creative:
- to design relevant environments.
- to find effective solutions.
- to communicate a bottom line (what do we want people to know when they walk away).
Six stages of the creative process:
- Define: Establish a written brief (clearly define what you want to create).
- Acquire: Random brainstorm ideas (no rules and no bad ideas).
- Framework: Creativity happens in a sequential order… form helps clarify. Structure enhances creativity.
- Compress: Reduce to the best ideas (this is the time where we throw out ideas).
- Pause: Sleep on it. Allow ideas to incubate… allow time to process.
- Solidify: Add detail and action steps (creativity needs an administrative step).
Good ideas never happen without leadership. Somebody has to have the final say.
Jennifer shared that in a creative meeting, there needs to be 6-10 participants. Everyone needs to know where you are in the process (what problem, event or series are we being creative about). Invite the people who know the audience best (Jennifer talked about how as they created for family production, they realized that their target were 4th grade boys, so she invited 2 mothers of 4th grade boys to be in the creative meeting).
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