Tag Archives: Networking
The power of Kidmin community
Posted on 17. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.
I was really bummed that I missed out on CPC this year. I had the opportunity to watch a video of a session where Michael Chanley interviewed Matt McKee, Sam Luce and Jonathan Cliff about the “networking group” Gina McClain and I share with those guys. I say “networking group” lightly because now it’s more like a strong group of friends that give and receive so much life from each other far beyond conversations about ministry. I think that “our story” was a glimpse of what great networking and community can look like in the world of kidmin.
However, right now I’m experiencing kidmin community right now in an entirely different level and I’m really excited about it. Last week I wrote this post and tweeted several times about starting an official Kidmin Biggest Loser group.… Read the rest
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Starting a Local Kidmin Network: Social Networking
Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
Probably the easiest way to keep everyone connected in your new local Kidmin Network is to create a Facebook group. I’d recommend it as the first step, before you even hold your first network meeting. We’ve had many people want to be involved, but they’ve not been able to come to any of the lunch meetings, either because their schedule didn’t allow it or they have another job that prevents them from coming to a meeting. Having the presence on Facebook allows there to be a certain sense of community that exists at all times.
When I’m recruiting to the kidmin network, I often send them a link to the facebook group in my initial email so that they can get signed up right away.… Read the rest
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Starting a Local Kidmin Network: Meeting Structure
Posted on 01. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
I’ll tell you what we’ve done and I’ll tell you what I’m looking forward to doing in the future (meaning I haven’t done it yet).
Honestly, I’ve tried to keep the meetings pretty flexible and light, hopefully making it rewarding for everyone involved. For the past nine months we’ve followed a pretty simple schedule. Each month the meeting would be held at a different church. We try to mix it up so that every month, the lunch is on a different side of town. We usually have the room set up with 4-6 round tables. We’ve had a lot of success making table assignments, meaning we had a table for elementary staff, a table for preschool staff, a table for admin/operations staff and a table for pastors/directors.… Read the rest
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Starting a Local Kidmin Network: Recruiting
Posted on 31. Oct, 2011 by Kenny.
Once you have two or three other people who are on board with your newly formed network, now it’s time to start connecting with others. This part really is easier than you would think. I’ve found that kidmin folks generally do want to get together, too many just never really initiate. So now you just got to make the connections. Here is where I start.
Work connections – I try to find out who my pastor is already connected to locally. My pastor is pretty tight in a network of about 10 other churches in Austin. Once I found out what those churches were, I messaged the Children’s Pastors of those churches to get the ball rolling. It’s a lot easier making that first connection when you use the line “Our pastors network on a regular basis, so I thought it would be great if we connected.” In addition to your pastor, maybe there are others from your staff that do some networking locally.… Read the rest
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Starting a local Kidmin network: Foundation
Posted on 26. Oct, 2011 by Kenny.
Every great thing has small beginnings it’s no different with your Kidmin network. You have to build a great foundation for the network before it becomes that HUGE resource you’re envisioning. Honestly it begins with just one or two relationships.
The first year I lived in Austin I only knew one other children’s pastor. We connected every couple of months and shared ideas and just kept up with how each other was doing. The way we met was purely accidental. In my second year of living in Austin I ended up meeting and getting to know two other Children’s pastors. After having a somewhat frequent relationship with three or four other children’s pastors I decided to get things started. I sent out an email just asking if they would be interested in helping me start a larger network.… Read the rest
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The Homeless Blogger: Conference Roommates
Posted on 24. Oct, 2011 by Kenny.
My third Homeless blogger post was generously hosted by my good friend Sam Luce. Sam Luce is one of my closest friends and a true partner in ministry. We have many things in common, but we’ve also been involved in many projects together. You can check out his killer blog right here!
In this post I wrote about conference roommates. I think I asked Sam to host this post because he’s been my roommate on more occasions than you can imagine. We’ve shared a room at the Hampton Inn in Middle Tennessee for at least a dozen night over the past few years. Essentially this was a silly post about my other good friend Matt McKee and I sharing rooms at Kidmin.… Read the rest
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Starting a local Kidmin Network
Posted on 24. Oct, 2011 by Kenny.
I believe that one of the most powerful things that we can do in ministry is to network and connect with others who do the same thing that we do. It’s probably the best way that we can learn. Plus, it’s always encouraging to be able to connect with someone and get help when you need it. For the past 4 years I’ve been actively connecting with ministry leaders from around the US and world and it has literally changed my approach to ministry. However, I’ve never been great at connecting on a local level. I’ve never had a good model of what that looks like. So, last year I launched a Kidmin Network here in Austin, TX.
This week I’m going to share my experiences of networking on a local level.… Read the rest
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Road Trip to the Volunteer State
Posted on 18. Oct, 2011 by Kenny.
That’s Tennessee in case you didn’t know that.
Next week I’m taking off to spend three days in beautiful Tennessee. I’m actually flying into Nashville on Tuesday morning and I’ll be driving all over the state. So, here’s my road trip itenerary.
- Tuesday: Nasvhille
- Wednesday: Knoxville
- Thursday: Memphis
Honestly, I’m heading to TN because we’re going to be hosting an Illuminate Conference there in a few months (February 18th to be exact). So I’m going out to take care of some details and while I’m at it, I’m hoping to connect with kidmin leaders all over the space. So, I’m setting up lunches in all three cities where I can meet and connect. I may even have some time to connect outside of those lunches, but the schedule is starting to fill up pretty quick.… Read the rest
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Doing ministry alone
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by Kenny.
I just had lunch with the Austin Kidmin Network. A year ago this group didn’t exist. Currently the group is up to 50 people, represented by about 15 churches. We’ve got a long way to go to connect other churches in our city, but some amazing relationships are developing. Yesterday I spend a few hours with one Children’s Pastor talking about doing some radical things together so we can truly collaborate and be the church in a city. I love it.
You know, I totally get it that there are many who really aren’t going to network a lot online. Some people are going to lurk and read and not really connect online. However, there really isn’t any excuse for not networking with others in your city.… Read the rest
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Orange 2011: Networking with Brian VanderArk
Posted on 05. May, 2011 by Kenny.
I had the privilege of sharing a meal (it was more like cheese fries) with Brain VanderArk from Ada Bible Church. Sorry, this is the best picture I could find of Brian. Before last week, I had not met Brian, but I’ve sat in several Orange Conference Breakouts over the year and I’m good friends with his favorite employee… Dan Scott (I just made that up about Dan being his favorite… but if I were Brian I’d give Dan a HUGE raise). Actually, a whole bunch of people from Orange kinda showed up at a restaurant and I just invited myself to sit at the “Ada” table with Brain and Dan and some other staff (plust that guy from Scranton… Daren Kaiser).… Read the rest
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