Ministry with Kids, Students, Young Adults, and Parents
Two and a half years ago we shifted our young adult ministry strategy to one more like church planting, a “church within a church.” After using a more “integrative approach” for 8 years, I realized that we just weren’t reaching our potential. I did a little local research and found that there are over 5000 young adults […]
Building a great team is vital to building a great ministry with kids. This post is part of a series of posts exploring tangible ways to build a great children’s ministry team. The last two posts were about key roles you’ll need on your team and various teams you’ll need in your ministry. This post is about determining how many people you really need in those roles. […]
Building a great team is vital to building a great ministry with kids. This post is part of a series of posts exploring tangible ways to build a great children’s ministry team. The last post was about key roles you’ll need on your team. This post is about additional teams that are helpful to have within your larger ministry. Some teams are vital to your ministry with kids. […]
We’ve put together a handbook for all the leaders and staff in NextGen Ministries at our church. While every church is different in scope, size,Read More
Developing policies is time consuming but super important for purposes of safety and risk management as well as the continuity of healthy practices. We require thatRead More
There are many skills that ministry leaders need to develop. Among them are skills like teaching & preaching, leading meetings, planning events, caring for people, responding toRead More
There are many skills that ministry leaders need to develop. Among them are skills like teaching & preaching, leading meetings, planning events, caring for people, responding toRead More
We use Basecamp to manage all our ministry’s major projects, plan events, and manage some key processes. It’s an intuitive, simple online
A NextGen Pastor (or Pastor/Director of Next Generation Ministries) is also sometimes referred to as a Family Pastor (or Pastor/Director of Family Ministries). Most NextGen Pastors oversee multiple staff and multiple age groups, some of which can include college and young adults. A Family Pastor […]
NextGen and Family ministry models are a rising trend in the world of ministry to children, youth, and families. We’ve recently made this shift ourselves. Previously,Read More
The #1 skill that a pastor should master is RECRUITING.* You might say that the #1 skill that a pastor (or any other ministry leader) should master is preaching. A pastorRead More
There’s a big difference between organizing ministry and mobilizing ministry. The more we grow, the more gears there are to grease, the more issues weRead More
The Problem: How I Did Missions Then For years, I took students on annual mission trips. Some were domestic (in the U.S.) and some were internationalRead More
Here’s what I try to do when it comes to doing staff reviews. Pave the Way First, write the into the “Terms of Hire.” This isRead More
1. Leading Worship – I used to do that, but now someone else is doing that. 2. Giving the Welcome and Announcements – I usedRead More
Over the years I’ve experimented with a variety of formats for running youth group. And, I see a lot of other people experimenting, as well. OfRead More
With all the changes to our staff and ministry teams, we had a lot of work to do clarify our roles, responsibilities, goals and objectives, andRead More
Making Decisions & Getting Things Done How do decisions get made in our church? How do things get done? These are two very important questionsRead More
Okay, so a lot of things have changed at our church and in my job. Over the summer (2014) we 1) made some major changes to our churchRead More
So for the last few months, I’ve been pushing a little harder to see our team put more energy into making sure that every student in ourRead More
I can’t help it…I’m humming the now famous song “Let it Go” performed by Idina Mensel, the voice of Elsa in Disney’s Frozen. We’ve seenRead More
The more recent conversation in our Student Life Leadership Team has been about defining our roles (last post) and focusing our meetings (this post). NowRead More
The more recent conversation in our Student Life Leadership Team has been about defining our roles (this post) and focusing our meetings (next post). NowRead More
As I look back on my life and ministry, I’ve realized that there have been three basic principles that have helped facilitate both growth andRead More
Pushing back from the table is the best part of a meal with friends. That’s when the really good conversation comes out. That’s when youRead More
I’ve heard it said that a ministry without infrastructure is like a body without a skeleton…it’s just a 6 inch puddle of skin, fat andRead More