I’ve always been the type to fully write out my talks and speak from that. So when I used my iPad yesterday, I had to modify my document for reading purposes. The 9 point font was just a little too hard to see, so I jumped it up to 17 points. Perfect.

I was also a little curious as to how I was going to access my file. After playing around with it for a few minutes, put copies of the document in both word and pdf formats in dropbox. I was able to open the word doc in pages and transfer the pdf into iBooks. In the end, I liked having it in iBooks. What I loved most about the iPad as a place to display my notes was that it was smaller, more compact and freed up my hands a little more. At several weddings, I’ve been given a microphone to hold and balancing my notes with a microphone on a windy day is not fun. Holding a microphone still isn’t ideal, but with the iPad, I can hold it with one hand and turn the page with one finger touch.

I haven’t played with it yet, but I need to change the setting so the iPad to not go to sleep and the screen go to black. This way I can use it more effectively for notes when I speak, which I’ll test out this summer at camp… maybe even a few times before then.

The only thing I felt I needed to be cautious of was making sure I had a paper backup. I couldn’t imagine having any problems, but I did print out a copy of the ceremony. I left it in the car, but I think that next time I’ll keep it in my coat pocket. If my iPad had failed, it would have been awkward to say, “hold, on a sec… let me go grab my notes from my car.” Secondly, I’ll need to test the screen backlight settings. I did a wedding not too long ago where they had a low light setting. It would have probably looked weird for me to have a bright screen illuminating my face during the ceremony.

When doing a quick web search, I found they do make super cool podiums for the iPad. How great is that?

Or conversations rabbit trailed from favorite movies to past church experiences to funny comedy sketches and most importantly, the Rumspringa. As random as our conversations were, one thing that came up several times and as I went back to the room later, I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea of the power of the story.

Daniel is a sharp guy, insanely creative and talented. He networks with some of kidmin’s best when it comes to “story” and spent a few minutes talking about some of the blogs and tweets he follows from writers and storyboarders from Pixar and some of the cartoons he watches. He talked about how he’s inspired by these guys who make millions knowing what kids want and how to craft stories and messages in a way they “get it.” Daniel passionately talked about his desire to network and pick the brains of these kinds of people when it comes to Children’s Ministry.

This is SO not the case in Kidmin (generally speaking). I find that usually, it’s the exception to the rule. We are quick to pop in a DVD or throw a volunteer on stage who halfway reads from a script when in delivery. We actually have the best story ever written. It’s a story that changes lives. It’s a story that altered history. However, more often than not, we fall flat on our faces when it comes to presentation.

I know this isn’t the case everywhere. I am making some generalizations… but these are some of the thoughts going through my head at the moment.

Why don’t we care more about how we tell the story? Why are we satisfied with things like how the environment looks or whether the kids “had fun” when the delivery of the most important story these kids will hear every week is far below where it should be? To add to this, I’m thinking about what Sam Luce was telling me today as we were driving around, about how important it is that Kids know that all that matters is Jesus. How often do our kids attend our services and hear a great message about praying, reading their Bibles, serving someone? All of these are great things, but if all that really matters is Jesus, why aren’t we saying that more and why aren’t we doing a better job at saying it.

I’m not offering any solutions here, just thinking out loud. Thanks Daniel for getting my thoughts going about this. Any thoughts?

Personally, this was one of the best camp experiences I’ve ever had. It was a really unique opportunity for our church as for me. I guess I’ll start off at the beginning. I’m a HUGE believer in the power of camp. I went to summer camp as a 3rd-5th grader and have very specific and tangible memories of God’s work in my life at summer camp. Although I asked Christ into my life as a 4 year old, it was at camp as a 10 year old that I wept at the alter for the first time feeling sorrow for my sin and how it affected my relationship with God. In many ways, I see that experience as a 10 year old as the linchpin that put me on the path for who I am now. It was even at that summer camp where I got my first glimpse of my calling… something I still treasure today.

So, for the past 10 or so years, I’ve been organizing camps for the kid’s ministries I run. Only twice have I attended a camp I didn’t organize. So, in running these camps, I was responsible for organizing everything as well as delivering the messages every evening. It’s a lot of work… but I still love it.

When getting ready for camp this year, we originally booked a facility near Dallas and we would have complete control of the experience. However, by January, I was getting nervous that we would get enough kids to cover our financial responsibility. In this late hour, we found a camp (one that my children’s pastor had been involved with for years) that programed the same way we would. With this camp, there would be no financial risk as we only would have to pay for what we bring. Last of all, they hadn’t yet hired a Camp Pastor, and they offered the opportunity to me. It was a huge blessing that God just put in our lap.

So, this summer at camp, I spent as much time with our Gateway kids as possible. I also made sure to join the activities of other kids from other churches so I could get to know them as well. However, my only responsibility was to speak to the kids. It was wonderful. I spent time every morning and every evening looking over my messages and actually rehearsing, something I rarely do. By the time I actually delivered my talks, they were pretty much memorized… I could speak from my heart and not be tied to a podium. It was a wonderful experience to have just one focus.

I discovered something. I rarely get to speak to kids anymore. Maybe one or two times a year I’ll speak to the elementary kids and 3-5 times a year I’ll teach the baptism class. However, in this week of speaking 9 times in 5 days, I recognized that when I’m speaking to kids, I’m doing what I do best. I love what I do now. I’m passionate about it too. I know that I can’t speak to kids every week and still do the job I do now… and that’s fine. However, I know that I have to find ways to speak in this way becasue it truly is a gifting and a passion.

So, it was a powerful and fulfilling week for me as a Camp Pastor. I look forward to doing it some more next year.

Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School Promo Video from Kenny Conley on Vimeo.

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