Tag Archives: Gateway Church
Save me from this kingdom of comfort where I am king
Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.
Kingdom Comfortable from Gateway Church on Vimeo.
Save me from this kingdom of comfort where I am king and take me to the kingdom of life where the King is king. It’s the final and most powerful line of this poem from local Austin slam poet, James Wilson. It’s a profound message our culture needs to hear. It’s a profound message we all need to really get.… Read the rest
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New family registration form: Redux
Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
Okay, you’re going to start thinking that I like to re-design registration cards for fun. Actually, it is kind of fun. So back in October, we redesigned the registration card we were using. Functionally speaking, it was just about perfect. However, as soon as it was done and after I posted it here, I realized something I was missing. The Children’s Ministry at Gateway has had somewhat of an “old world” feel thing going on. It looks great, but we’re wanting to move the look and feel in a different direction. Something more vibrant, fun and colorful. So I don’t know what I was thinking by redesigning our registration card to look “old world.” So, I sent this back to our graphic artist and she changed the feel.… Read the rest
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Helping volunteers grow
Posted on 12. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
One of the things I love most about Gateway is that central to the mission of our church is the fulfillment of the Great Commission in EVERY aspect of ministry. For year, my focus as a Children’s Pastor was to help kids know and follow Christ. It wasn’t until coming to Gateway that I really began considering the spiritual health and growth of those serving kids. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been concerned about my volunteers spiritual condition, it just wasn’t my job. It was their responsibility to be in a small group or accountable relationship to be growing. I just needed them to help me reach kids. Sure, we could debate the pros and cons of this setup, but Gateway challenged my thinking about caring for and leading volunteers spiritually.… Read the rest
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Portable decor issue
Posted on 23. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
So I need some ideas. Those of you who are portable church experts might have a simple solution for us, but all are welcome to make suggestions.
Corey Schwarz, Gateway’s South Campus Children’s Pastor just rearranged where the kids are meeting. I think what he’s done is a GREAT idea. It’s better use of space and has the potential to be much more fun. However, we have one problem. Ugly trophy cases. As you enter the kid’s space, you see the check-in and welcome area. They plan to purchase a 20 foot long banner that will hang over the railing right above check-in which should look great and make it very obvious as to where to check in. However, as you walk into the kids area, you’re greeted by a giant 18 foot wide trophy case.… Read the rest
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Casting vision to your church staff (conclusion)
Posted on 11. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Thanks for allowing me to crank out 5 or 6 posts all about a 90 minute meeting I had over a week ago. I cranked out a lot of words, but hopefully there was some stuff in there you found helpful. Enough teasing though.
- Here is the handout every staff member had.
- Here’s the same handout with the blanks filled in.
- Here’s my script. I tend to write out my talks rather than outline, so this is essentially everything I said.
So what did I learn from this experience?
- I’m disappointed that I haven’t done this before (at least to this capacity). From this point on, I’ll ask to lead our all-staff at least once every year.
- Although they didn’t know it, the staff wanted to hear about NextGen.
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Casting vision to your church staff (Part 5)
Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Here is my final post concerning my recent opportunity to cast vision for Next Gen to my church staff. If you’ve missed my other posts, you can find them here, here, here and here.
The introduction and first two points built a really strong case for Next Gen. I had the staff right where I wanted them and they had the information they needed to communicate Next Gen well. My last point was were I practically pulled the rug out from under their feet. I presented the greatest problem we face.
Point number three was: Next Gen can’t do it alone.
I read Barna’s description of a biblical worldview. How many of those 18-23 years of age possess a biblical world view?… Read the rest
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Casting vision to your church staff (Part 4)
Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Yesterday I wrapped up my first point in my vision casting to my staff, about how Next Gen is Strategic, Vital and Urgent.
My second point was:
Next Gen isn’t just about Kids and Students.
This part may or may not be true of your church, but it is of Gateway. So, this may not apply to your situation.
Here at Gateway we have a connection path that is well known by the staff and leaders. Essentially a person begins the connection path by ATTENDING our church. Then we try to get them to CONNECT either in a small group or spiritual running partner relationship. The next step would be to take steps of spiritual GROWTH in the context of their small group or running partner group.… Read the rest
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Casting vision to your church staff (Part 3)
Posted on 09. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
I ended yesterday with the introduction of my vision talk to my church staff.
I asked the question, “what would Gateway look like if Next Gen didn’t exist?” I knew what their answers would be. You do too. It actually generates a lot of laughter. We imagine a chaotic place. Kids running everywhere. We imagine a noisy auditorium with squealing kids. Maybe even roaming gangs of Middle Schoolers roughing people up in the parking lot. These were some of the things people said. One person said, “we’d have a lot less people.”
After I got a handful of predictable answers, I let them in on the secret. I told them that the question was a set up. I expected their answers.… Read the rest
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Casting vision to your church staff (Part 2)
Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
So I had to set up this talk. I actually had almost 90 minutes at my disposal. How was I going to draw everyone in? How did I maintain energy throughout the talk and keep it from dragging on. I had so much information, I didn’t want to bog down under the weight of a LOT of really good information. So here’s how I set things up.
During these all-staff meetings, we sit at round tables and eat lunch during the first part of the meeting. I got up a few minutes after everyone was situated. We had notes for everyone at every table and I turned everyone’s attention to the discussion questions at the top of the page. I asked everyone to discuss the first two questions for 5-7 minutes as they finished up their lunches.… Read the rest
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Casting vision to your church staff (Part 1)
Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Last week I had an opportunity any ministry leader would envy. I had 90 minutes to lead our all-staff meeting and share the vision of Next Gen, explain what we do and how everyone can get behind us. Unfortunately, I only had four days notice and since it was a holiday weekend, I didn’t really break the news to my staff until Sunday (the staff meeting was on Tuesday).
Here are two things I learned:
A good meeting takes time to prepare. I wouldn’t say that I lead “great” meetings. Unfortunately, I “wing it” for a lot of them. I’ve got some notes I’ve jotted down, but rarely do I come into meetings where I’ve spent hours and hours preparing.
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