Tag Archives: Vision
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 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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What I said
Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Last week I proposed a situation. What if you had the attention of your entire church staff for an hour. What would you say?
Not many people commented, so I’ll assume that you figured it was rhetorical. 
Well, I asked becasue I got that opportunity last week at my church. The day after Thanksgiving, my boss texted me and asked me if I wanted to lead the next All-Staff scheduled for Tuesday. Essentially it would be my opportunity to share the vision of Next Gen with everyone and give the staff practical ways that they could get behind and support this ministry.
Now that it’s over, I’ve learned several things from the experience. Tomorrow I’ll begin sharing this experience with you as well as all the content as well.… Read the rest
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Sometimes leaders know when to quit
Posted on 06. Sep, 2009 by Kenny.
Several weeks ago I was in an off-site staff meeting and I wrote down a scripture passage that I wanted to explore deeper. It concerned the selective nature of Jesus’ ministry.
Mark 1:35-39
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Today at church, one of the points was “Sometimes a leader knows when to quit.” When your vision is clear and you know what what you’re after, that often means saying no to some really good things.… Read the rest
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Requiring parents to volunteer: My thoughts
Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.
Yesterday I wrote this post about parents being required to volunteer. I asked what you thought about it. More people than I expected responded and it seems that most people were against requiring parents to volunteer.
What I found intriguing was Holly’s comment. They attended a church where serving was required and it eventually led to her and her husband going into Children’s Ministry full time. Surprisingly I’ve actually met a handful of long-term volunteers who came into ministry that way.
My opinion is similar to what many of you said. I worked at a church where my boss highly encouraged me to make this requirement. I respectfully declined and he didn’t press the matter. I remember having the conversation with him asking him if we were going to be the nursery Gestapo.… Read the rest
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Vision: The cure to anxiety?
Posted on 30. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay, this is a little raw and honest. Since I got back from vacation, I’ve been struggling with anxiety.
It’s been strange. Since I’ve been doing Children’s Ministry full time I’d usually have one of “those days” every year or two. It was when t felt like the sky was falling and I couldn’t breath. My solution was to usually close my office door, turn out the lights and cry for a few minutes. Then I’d get a Lemon Berry Slush and things would be better. This was a pattern, it would happen every year or two and when it would happen, I knew what to do.
Until this year.
On my way home from Canada, I started to get those feelings of anxiety.… Read the rest
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SATURATE
Posted on 23. Jun, 2008 by Kenny.
I mentioned yesterday that we’re recruiting volunteers and developing leaders for the fall promotion on August 24th. We actually did a push from the stage yesterday, but we’re looking for way more volunteers than we can get from that. I’ve been talking to my staff about how we can “saturate” the vision in as many venues as possible. Here are some of the ways we’re going to (or hoping to) get the word out among our church.
- Parent Communication: It’s fairly common for me to send out an email to all the parents who’s kids attend regularly. Next week I’ll be sending out an email to inform them of all the events and activities coming up this summer. In that email I’ll mention some serving opportunities they can take advantage of.
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A HUGE favor: Helping someone discover their passion
Posted on 18. May, 2008 by Kenny.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been hearing some interesting stories from some of the men who serve in the Children’s Ministry here at Gateway Church.
One guy told me about how he and his wife responded to a plea for help in the Children’s Ministry. One day the Children’s Pastor turned to him and said, “I think you’d be perfect to operate and voice the Elmer puppet (our preschool character).” Now this guy is incredibly passionate about “being” Elmer and is also overseeing a dad’s group.
Another guy started volunteering in the classroom where his daughter attended. At that point in time, he was an agnostic. Now he’s one of the lead teachers (no, he’s not an agnostic anymore).… Read the rest
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