Tag Archives: Student Ministry

What I’m reading

Posted on 12. Jun, 2009 by .

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It’s been about a year ago since I posted what I’m reading. The last time I did it, I spent an hour typing out and linking all the blogs I read. I think that’s why it’s been a year since I’ve updated the list on this blog. However I just found out about Google Reader’s bundles. It made this process so much easier.

Right now I subscribe to 33 blogs about Children’s and Student Ministry. I subscribe to blog from different categories as well, but if I only have a limited amount of time to read blogs, I usually hit this list first. Here the are.

Kenny’s Blog Bundle

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Here’s the beauty of the bundle. On the page I linked to, you can click on each blog in the list and go to that blog page or you can click the “subscribe” button and it will add all 33 blogs to your google reader account in a nice little folder called “Blogs Kenny’s Reading.” How cool is that?

This list has been trimmed down a little. I’m only subscribing to those who blog on a regular basis. So if someone stopped blogging two months ago, they’re probably off my list.

Who am I missing? What Children’s and Student Ministry blogs should I be reading?

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Chad Swanzy: Creativity is his middle name.

Posted on 24. Apr, 2009 by .

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I thought I’d introduce someone to you in case you didn’t already know him. Chad Swanzy is the Student Ministry Pastor here at Gateway. He came on staff about six weeks before me last year and I really enjoy working with him. Unfortunately for me I haven’t gotten to work as closely with him this last year as I would have liked (that’s changing this year though). One of the things I admire about Chad is his creative genius.

Perhaps it’s his need to be resourceful that sparks creativity, always maximizing resources on a shoe string budget. However, he connects very well to the students he leads and he connects through every medium possible. He’s constantly building sets, creating environments, designing totally insane games or filming promotion videos. He also connects to kids through every medium possible. He connects to the kids through the ministry blog and through facebook. Every message is published to iTunes and available via podcast and he’s streaming Wednesday night services through Mogulus. Actually one night there was supposed to be bad weather for small groups, so he broadcast the meeting over Mogulus and many from the group participated that way. Absolutely amazing.

The inspiration for this post was a recent video he pushed out to his kids promoting his next series. The video was very cool. Then a few days later how wrote a blog about how he made the video. Wow! I didn’t know he made it, I thought he got it from somewhere else. His blog post will show you how creative and resourceful he really is.


choices series intro from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

Here’s his blog post explaning how he made the video.

Here’s a video he made a few weeks ago to prep kids or baptism. Again, he connected to them through his blog, facebook and every other medium.


What is baptism? from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

Last of all, here are two of his camp promo video. One of them yo0u may have already seen on my blog, but it’s funny enough to be on here again. Enjoy.


Did somebody say Summer Camp?! from chad swanzy on Vimeo.


Uprising Presidential Camp Promo from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

You can follow Chad here:
Website
Twitter

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Orange 2008: Family Ministry Around the Table

Posted on 28. Apr, 2008 by .

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This was the first pre-conference breakout I attended. It was led by Dave Fox, the Family Ministries director at “The Bridge Church” in Decatur, IN and Darren Kizer, the Family Ministry Director at Parker Hill Community Church in Scranton, PA.

The heading for this breakout were guided by these statements:

“We will be focusing on an integrated strategy for family ministry. In this strategy, leaders and parents are leading with the same end in mind.”

Darren started things off by bringing out a bottle of Diet Coke and a Mento. Yeah, we know what that does. He explained that the the Mento represents the influence of the church in 10 years. the Diet Coke represents the influence of the family in 1 year. This is very Orange-ish! What happens when you strategically and intentionally combine the influences of the church and family? Yeah, great point!

They spoke about several key ingredients for integrating strategy:

  • Know you vision
  • Direction: who is part of your team?
  • Developing a “Espirit de Corps.” All for one and one for all… a pride of belonging to something.
  • Defining “wins” for each area and ensuring that each area knows and understands the wins of each area.
  • Plan collectively so we can impact specifically.

They also spoke about questions that invite teamwork and intentionality (great questions for a family ministry staff meeting)

  • Are we connecting with parents?
  • Are hand-offs crisp and tight? (The relay race is won or lost in the hand-off)
  • Are small groups a big deal?
  • Are we making volunteerism attractive?
  • Are students serving strategically?
  • Are we synchronizing the calendar

By asking these questions we:

  • Fuel productive tension
  • Reveal unstated expectations

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The Essence of Orange DVD (Part 3)

Posted on 04. Apr, 2008 by .

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t_235 This is my last post on my little series about the “Essence of Orange” DVD from reThink. My other posts can be found here and here. This is a short piece about the last segment on the DVD.

Engaging Students

Reggie emphasized the importance of engaging students in ministry as an integral part of the discipleship process.

I remember reading an article from Dr. Dobson many years ago. It was about how many students walk away from their church (and even faith) once they leave the student ministry and go off to college. A portion of them will return once they are married and starting a family. Why are they leaving? Because once they leave the student ministry, there is no longer any “connection” to the church. A decade ago Dobson recommended integrating students into active ministry so that long after they graduate, they will feel connected (even needed) to the local church.

Why is it that a two week mission trip will do more for a student spiritually than four years of going to Wednesday night programming? Because a mission trip “engages” the student and they grow by doing? Why do we limit the level of their “ministry involvement” to summer mission trips?

In ever church I’ve worked, students were freely welcome to serve in the Children’s Ministry and other ministries. But is discipleship can happen through their engagement in active ministry, why isn’t there a greater push for students to serve? Not only do the other ministries appreciate the help, it may just change the student’s life!

Just something to think about.

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The Essence of Orange DVD (Part 2)

Posted on 03. Apr, 2008 by .

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t_235Yesterday I began a short series on the “Essence of Orange” DVD from reThink. It’s a great DVD and it belongs in your library. My posts are by no means comprehensive, just little “Orange” treats to tempt your for more.

Family Ministry

Yesterday I shared how under the best circumstances, most kids will attend church for only 40 hours a year. That isn’t a lot of influence, is it. When I think back on my life, I see how my Children’s Pastor was the most influential person in my life. My situation must have been very unique. I’ve pastored thousands of kids in my short 11 years of ministry and I can only think of a handful that might say this about me. It’s unrealistic.

However, a parent will spend 3000 hours a year with the same child. I think it’s pretty obvious where I’m going with this.

Churches (Children’s Ministries) typically spend 100% (or close to it) of their time and resources on the 40 hours we’ll have with these kids. Wouldn’t it make sense to invest more time in the people who are truly influencing these kids? We won’t always be their pastors, but these adults will always be their parents. It’s just too simple, really.

I’ll leave you with these two statements from the DVD:

  • Every parent needs somebody to help them be a spiritual leader.
  • Every kid needs a parent to help them grow in faith.

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The Essence of Orange DVD (Part 1)

Posted on 02. Apr, 2008 by .

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t_235Okay, I’m a cheater! When I signed up for the Orange conference, they had several breakouts that they highly recommended. They were a series of “Orangology” breakouts that explain the Orange philosophy. Although this is very important (since much of the other breakouts probably build on the Orange philosophy concepts), there were several other breakouts that I really wanted to attend. So, I decided to get caught up with the Orange philosophy before going. I decided to purchase the “Essence of Orange” DVD from reThink and I’m so glad I did. First of all, I’m glad I did so that I can attend these other breakouts without feeling like I missed something. In addition, watching this DVD gave me plenty of time to stew on these concepts… otherwise I’m sure I’d be at information (all of it mind-blowingly good) overload at the conference. I want to share a few concepts from the DVD here. I highly recommend adding this DVD to your collection. Reggie Joiner clearly explains this ministry philosophy in very creative ways that you can share with your teams, your staff and leadership. It’s good! In this post and a few to follow will give little snippets of the DVD… hopefully enough to whet your appetite to buy the DVD for yourself.

Selective Bible Teaching

In the very best-case scenarios, most of our kids will spend a maximum of 40 hours at church each year (they’ll spend over 400 playing video games alone).

So, if we only have 40 hours, what are we going to teach? This fact shows us the need for prioritizing what we are teaching. We’ve got to make the most of the limited time we have. We shouldn’t look at this issue like “we have less time to get more in… so how are we going to cover it all in only 40 hours?” Instead, we should look at this fact by saying “we only have 40 hours… so what are the most important concepts we’re going to cover this year.”

A revolutionary concept for many will be to “teach kids the Bible” rather than “teach the Bible to Kids.” These phrases sound the same but are amazingly different. Teaching the Bible to kids puts the emphasis on the material and figuring out how to get as much of it into the kids as possible. In this approach, distribution of knowledge is the priority. Teaching kids the Bible puts the emphasis on the kids and presenting the message of the Bible in a way that impacts the lives of the children. In this approach, understanding and application of knowledge is the priority.

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Demystifying Orange

Posted on 01. Apr, 2008 by .

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big_orange A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my exposure to “family ministry.” I wasn’t 100% sure, but I had a feeling that this is what the Orange Conference was all about. I ordered a DVD a few weeks ago and I was right… so some degree. It was really so much more.

I feel like there is somewhat of a shroud of mystery surrounding Orange. I’m not sure if this in intentional or if it’s because the movement is still so new. They certainly have many people attending their conference, so it’s not like their hurting or anything. However, I’m not sure everyone knows what Orange really is. I’ve spoken to many people who think it’s just another conference. Who wouldn’t want to attend a conference with some of the biggest names in student and children’s ministry? There are a lot of big conferences out there, but this one seems to be very different.

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