Archive for August, 2009

Facebook pages or groups

Posted on31. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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facebookLast week I posted a video about integrating social media in our ministries. One great way to do this is using facebook. I’m still a noob at using facebook specifically for ministry related stuff, but I thought I’d explain the differences between groups and pages and how you want to use both.

First of all, you probably want to use both. Both have different functions. Groups have been around longer and of someone has experience with only one, it’s probably groups. However, most people are using groups to do things where they probably should use pages. Let me explain.

Groups
Groups can be big or small, but they’re mostly suited around connecting people around ideas, thoughts or specific people. The discussion boards, photos, links and allow for great connection, discussion and collaboration. I’ve used groups for book discussions, a biggest loser group and for a Children’s Ministry collaboration group. The real advantage of the groups is your ability to control access and obscurity. I’m in some groups that are open to anyone, other groups that are close and you have to be approved to join. I’m also in an obscure group that no one can see except the people in the group. This is the primary advantage of groups. The disadvantage to groups is obscurity. You can join a bunch of groups and completely forget you’re in them unless the administrator sends everyone a message.

Pages
Pages are just like groups with a few unique features. People don’t join pages, they become fans. There aren’t any limitations either, anyone can join. Pages have access to discussion boards, wall posts and photos just like groups, so the experience can be similar. The idea behind pages though is that they are not designed to be obscure. They’re for everyone to see and intended to be viral. When an admin post on the wall, it shows up in every fan’s feed. So one update can be seen by every fan and every friend of every fan. That’s a huge impact. Pages were designed to be marketed too. A few months ago, facebook opened up vanity URLs. That’s when I snagged www.facebook.com/kennyconley. They also allowed pages with more than 1000 followers to get their vanity urls. Check out www.facebook.com/starbucks or www.facebook.com/mcdonalds. Oh, and when it comes to pages, you can advertise. For instance, you could advertise to age demographics for communities and such. Doing a big outreach event? Create a facebook page and advertise.

So, if your church has a presence on facebook, you want to use both. You might use groups to communicate with volunteers or certain ministries where you can share schedules, training and these kinds of things. However, your church needs a page. Your student and children’s minsitry needs a page. As you post updates, friends of your fans see learn about you and potentially become fans as well. Who knows, maybe they’ll come visit physically eventually because of what they experienced on facebook. Also, if you get enough fans, you could grab a vanity url and have the address: www.facebook.com/yourchurch.

So, go start some groups and pages people!

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I love my church!

Posted on31. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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Picture 5I’m more proud of my church today than ever before. I’m thrilled an honored to work in this faith community, a church that’s being raised up out of the culture. Yesterday we covered a risky topic for churches but a topic that is important to our church and community. The message was about same sex relationship. Rather than hear John speak about it for 40 minutes, which he would do very well, he spoke for about 20 minutes and gave the rest of the service over to three people in our church to tell their story. All three are people who attend Gateway that have recently come out of homosexual relationships. Their stories are stories of grace and life-change. They’re not stories of miraculous conversions where God healed them and took something away, but stories of Christian men and women who have struggled with their sexuality and made decisions to honor God with their bodies. I’m not going to say anymore as I just can’t do this any justice.

Click here to watch the video.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-30

Posted on30. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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  • CMO: #kidmin Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-23 http://bit.ly/IYWNT #
  • CMO: #kidmin Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-23 http://bit.ly/18zzgR #
  • Eye-Fi'd 7 photos to Flickr. http://tinyurl.com/lbzklo #
  • CMO: #kidmin Ministry as usual or climbing higher mountains http://bit.ly/124Gj #
  • Titus just put on Shoes and Socks for the first time this summer. You'd think it was the end of the world. He's a sandals kind of kid. #
  • He does look cute in his all stars though, doesn't he! http://twitpic.com/f3w82 #
  • CMO: #kidmin Mac OS Firefox tweak http://bit.ly/usMM7 #
  • Almost did something stupid. I'm glad reason won over in my head and kept me from regretting something. #
  • @_Matt_Carter mighty fine made it to the top 50 burgers in TX! Good stuff! in reply to _Matt_Carter #
  • @karinpwilliams haven't done dans yet… On treadmill now… Dreaming of burgers! in reply to karinpwilliams #
  • 5.21 miles in one hour. Gettiing faster 1 tenth of a mile at a time. Ughhh! #
  • @karinpwilliams Oooh, I've heard good stuff about 5 guys. The fries are supposed to be amazing. I wasn't all the impressed with Hutts. in reply to karinpwilliams #
  • Looks like too many Mac/Firefox users suffer in silence. Doesn't have to be that way. Here's hope! http://bit.ly/ZqWgA http://bit.ly/ZqWgA #
  • Just updated facebook settings so I don't get 40 bajillion emails from facebook a day. Now only if you send me a message. Nice. #
  • calling it quits. Going home people. Can't wait to see my wife and son! This is the best part of my day. #
  • G8way's Advance Leadership Weekend is coming! Check out this promo: http://bit.ly/TLk0Q 4 more on Rocket's addiction: http://bit.ly/nPGxg #
  • @cathyharwick I don't miss those days at all. :) in reply to cathyharwick #
  • @coveredindust Cool article Dave! in reply to coveredindust #
  • Writing tonight. Fighting through distractions. About 1500 more words to go. #
  • @kristyfinley are you picking up snacks? Might I suggest more oatmeal cream sandwich thingies again… yum! in reply to kristyfinley #
  • Still writing this morning. I'm a little over half way done. Two weeks past my deadline and at least 1000 words to go. :) #
  • okay, time to pack up and head into the office. #
  • CMO: #kidmin Need Bibles or books? http://bit.ly/3UOWhp #
  • @kristyfinley sorry, I'm not really much of a "shopper" unless you can buy it online. Didn't know you couldn't buy them at dollar tree. ;) in reply to kristyfinley #
  • @coveredindust Yah! Welcome home! For some reason, I thought they were going to be gone longer. Okay, so we need to schedule BSG… soon! in reply to coveredindust #
  • @cathyharwick It wasn't that long ago that I was in college, I could have told you what you need to know.! in reply to cathyharwick #
  • Back to doing a little writing. I've only got 600 words left… not sure I can get it all into 600 words. #
  • @jonathancliff is a real friend. I just learned today what he'd be willing to do 4 me. JC, if I ever find myself there, I'm calling you! :) #
  • @lisareid Are you reading my email? I'm amazed at how close you are to being right on. :) Everyone needs a friend like @jonathancliff in reply to lisareid #
  • Pretty much finished up my writing… and with 150 words to spare. Now to edit and clean it up… #
  • That's @chadswanzy on the mic tonight! I never new! A man of many tallents! http://twitpic.com/fe9q3 #
  • @lisareid Ha! No worries. We haven't done anything like that… in reply to lisareid #
  • CMO: #kidmin How much is social media integrated in your ministry? http://bit.ly/sXGBJ #
  • I think I'm going to pack up and go home. Unfortunately I still have a little work to do tonight. #
  • however, I am declaring this weekend a work-free weekend. Woo hoo! #
  • At chilie's. First time in the booster for him! http://twitpic.com/fi5xs #
  • Treadmill here I come! #
  • Had to cut the run a little short… Foot still hurting a little. Only 3 miles today. #
  • back to writing again. My editor (Sara) destroyed my draft! It's all good, she really brings out the best in me. We make a good team! #
  • @kcraxton is on twitter? Well wonders never cease! :) #
  • @kcraxton and you tweeted me in your first tweet! I'm honored! Welcome! #
  • I was literally up until 3:00 AM re-writing after my editor (Sara) had her way wit my first draft. Just finished the edits of round two… #
  • Totally disappointed with myself right now. My inability to follow instructions means I get to spend most of my day at the library… crud! #
  • Still at the library. Making some progress. Not as fast as I would like, but getting there nonetheless. I see massive editing in my future. #
  • Have spent almost 6 hours writing today. I'd have to get paid a lot of money to write for a living. I'm worn out! #
  • I was in the kitchen talking to Sara and I started singing Stevie Wonder's "I just called to say I love you" Sara had no idea what it was. #
  • No Sara's kind of a Stevie Wonder fan… especially when I sing for her. I'm that awesome! What other love tune from the 80's can I sing? #
  • @MikesGateway Ha! I love it! in reply to MikesGateway #
  • It's edit time, back with the butcher! #
  • My wife is awesome. I feel asleep editing last night and she finished my edits without me. A few finishing touched and I'm done. #
  • Ready to go eat some BBQ. The Texas BBQ Challenge continues! http://bit.ly/eGw8i This is our 3rd stop out of 5. @jonros are you ready? #
  • At city market in luling, tx. In the pit room for a few min. Don't know how they do it. http://twitpic.com/fpwgi #
  • Here's a BBQ feast! http://twitpic.com/fpwma #
  • Titus getting snuggly with Jon and julee http://twitpic.com/fq1cm #
  • @beckylaswell city market in luling. Good… But smitty's is still my fav! in reply to beckylaswell #
  • @JeffPelletier I'm game… Hope it's good… I've been eating some serious BBQ lately! in reply to JeffPelletier #
  • These are the kinds of signs you only find in tx! http://twitpic.com/fq3dp #
  • Again, only in Texas. http://twitpic.com/fq4id #
  • All I'm saying…. I think I want this for Christmas! http://twitpic.com/fq5ma #
  • I'm sorry I missed breakfast with chef chad. Next time maybe. (@chadswanzy live on http://twitcam.com/zij) #
  • Way over-ate today. Good BBQ from Luling, TX. Then grabbed a taco from Mr. Taco in Lockhart. Washed it all down with a Blizzard from the DQ! #
  • @jonros Glad to see you've got cool air again. Was going to invite you over to share our icy cold air. We've got more than we need. #
  • @jonros Slumber parties are always fun! Woo hoo! in reply to jonros #
  • @JeffPelletier Hard8 didn't make the list: http://bit.ly/ceiTN But I will take you up on your offer… next time in in DFW! :) in reply to JeffPelletier #
  • @jonros BTW, I revisited the list http://bit.ly/ceiTN and Luling BBQ was in the top 50. Guess there's room for two greats in 1 small town. in reply to jonros #
  • CMO: #kidmin Still fabulous http://bit.ly/37hl98 #
  • CMO: #kidmin Student ministry stereotypes http://bit.ly/FaWkM #

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Still fabulous

Posted on30. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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Two years ago I wrote a book review on Aaron Reynolds’ book, The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School. Last week I got a DVD in the mail. Essentially it was a promo DVD promoting the book and Aaron’s “Master Class” which comes on DVD when you buy at least 5 copies of the book from the Willow Creek Association. I’m going to pick up five more of these book so that I can get this DVD. It’s something my teachers need to see and I know many who need to read this book as well. Whether you’ve read the book or not, watch the video below, it will charge you up (even though it is essentially a commercial)!

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

sdfsdf

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Student ministry stereotypes

Posted on30. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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We all know that Children’s Ministry has more than its share of stereotypes, both for the ministry as well as those who lead. Sometimes it can be embarrassing. But you have to admit, Student Ministry has plenty of stereotypes as well, just maybe not as dorky. I’ve worked with enough Student Pastors that I had a lot of fun watching this video.

All I can say is… Awkward Side Hug!

And what’s up with that creepy puppet at 2.24? Was that some kind of sub-conscious reference to Children’s Ministry?

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How much is social media integrated in your ministry?

Posted on27. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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I just picked up this video from our Web Director and Online Campus Pastor, Vince Marrotte. When it comes to social media, Vince is all over it. Watch this video, it’s definitely worth your time.

Question. How much is social media integrated in your ministry? If it’s not, get with the times people. You’re missing the boat. A year ago I launched a blog for our families and just recently a facebook page for the Children’s Ministry. We’ve recently started using twitter to communicate news and information as well. However, I feel that there are so many more ways to communicate to our volunteers, our leaders, our kids and their parents. What new social media strategies are you incorporating into your ministry?

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Need Bibles or books?

Posted on26. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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index_02About six or seven year I ran into these guys at the CPC in Atlanta. I didn’t really have a definitive source for Bibles or other books. When I needed to buy Bibles by the case, I haven’t found anyone who can beat Harvest. When I was using curriculum from one of the major publishers, I found that I could buy it at a discount from Harvest rather than the publisher. As churches, we’re always looking for opportunities to save some money and stretch our ministry budgets. Harvest can help with that.

Here’s a little secret though. Don’t rely on just their website. Several years ago I was designing a small group/discipleship program for elementary aged kids. Depending on what grade you were in determined what books and supplies you needed. There were books that I’d picked up from trade booths at conferences and from the shelves at local Christian bookstores. Once I knew what I wanted, I sent Harvest the list of books and Bibles I needed. They always beat the best prices I could find and often floored me with the savings. So, if you need to pick up Children’s Ministry books and Bibles, be sure to check with Harvest before you make a purchase.

In case you’re wondering, I wrote this post simply to pass the information along. Harvest doesn’t know I’m writing this. Other than a case of gift Bibles for Child Dedication I ordered six months ago, I haven’t ordered from them in a few years. The truth is that I had misplaced their information and a few days ago I came across their site. I figured I’d blog about them to share the love and so that I wouldn’t loose their information again. Yes, I blog for me as much as I do for you… it also serves as my public address book and idea pot.

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Mac OS Firefox tweak

Posted on24. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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Maybe it’s just me. I’m not talking to everyone out there, but just the Mac users who are using Firefox. Firefox in my opinion is the best web browser out there (pushing innovation in web browsing to a new level and the add-on features make certain sites and certain tasks come to life). However, Firefox has done this buggy thing for me ever since I moved to the Mac. When filling out an online form (usually entering my address) I begin typing in the first field and when done typing the information I “tab” to the next field. No need to mouse over and click when I can type, tab, type, tab, type. However, whenever I would get to a pull-down tab, like the state, the tab button just skipped over this field. Frustrating. Several months ago I heard in passing that there was a fix for this and yesterday I finally was frustrated enough to fix it myself. I spent a few minutes looking for the fix and had things working a few minutes later.

Picture 3

Essentially you go to system preferences and to keyboard and mouse. Once they’re click on the top tab “Keyboard Shortcuts.”At the very bottom of the window you will see “Full keyboard access:” The default selection seems to be “Text boxes and lists only.” Instead, select “All controls.”

That’s it. Now you can tab to every filed. When I tab to the state pull-down I just hit the “t” key twice to pull up Texas (I’m jealous that those of you from Tennessee only have to hit “t” once, but I figure it’s becasue Texas is twice as awesome).

The site where I found this fix is here. Hope this helps you if you’ve been frustrated with this Firefox bug.

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Ministry as usual or climbing higher mountains

Posted on24. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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Pikes_Peak_summit_to_NE_1On Friday I posted about the mountain I’m preparing to climb. Fifteen years ago I trained for about 3-4 weeks in preparation. I was running 1-3 miles a day and about 20-30 flights of stairs 4-5 days a week. Fifteen years have passed and I’m in worse shape and about 30-40 pounds heavier. I’m not really nervous, I’m just aware of the fact that this isn’t going to be easy. Sara, who’s going to climb with me is also very concerned about the challenge.

Almost a year ago Sara and I vacationed in Banff, Canada. On our first day there, we hiked to the top of Big Beehive Dome overlooking Lake Louise. It was a 3 mile hike ascending almost 2000 vertical feet. That little hike kicked our butts. We hadn’t done anything to prepare, but we barely made it.

The hike to the top of Pikes Peak is four times what we did last year in Banff. Four times the distance and four times the vertical climb. This is the reason for our concern and preparation. We’re working hard to prepare so that we can finish the hike. Sara and I are on treadmills for 45-60 minutes, four to five days a week keeping our heart rate above 70% of max to prepare for the high altitude hiking. The running and stair machines are preparing our legs for the 6-8 hours of climbing.

So, this is what I’ve been thinking. When’s the last time I set a goal in my ministry that almost kicked my tail trying to achieve it? Most of us set goals every year and usually my goals represent concerted growth, I don’t know that I’ve really “stretched” myself in a way that I have been to summit Pikes Peak. What about you? It’s almost time to start thinking about goals for 2010. I’m thinking about a Pikes Peak sized goal or two.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-23

Posted on23. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.

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