I experienced something not to terribly long ago. I came across some pretty incredible talent. Actually, it was down right amazing. It was the kind of talent that when you see it, your mouth drops open. Wow. Then I experienced something that felt like I was punched in the gut. This talented person has not been able to use the talent they had been given.

Actually, this kind of thing happens all the time. Sometimes people above you don’t see the talent. Sometimes there isn’t an opportunity. That’s just the way of life.

Some of this is based on assumption, but what I understand about this situation is that this talented person’s gifts were known. But either because of pride or control, the talents were suppressed. That may be a little harsh. Maybe that wasn’t the case, but that is how it appeared.

Regardless, this is what I’ve unpacked:

• Lord, allow me to recognize gifts and talents of those serving with me
• Lord, never let my pride get in the way of letting someone else SHINE
• Lord, let me see my limitations and not be afraid to surround myself with others who are BETTER than me

That’s about it.

Since we’re talking about timeliness, I figured I’d breach this topic since we’re all thinking it.

So, how do you get your volunteers to show up on time? No really, how do you get your volunteers to show up on time?

Every church I’ve been at I’ve experienced difficulty in this area. We’d have volunteers show up just minutes before the kids… or sometimes several minutes after the kids. It frustrates the staff and key/committed volunteers like crazy. So, how do you get them there on time?

This is an issue that I think has a deeper root. It’s actually something that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about, especially in my role here at Gateway. I don’t think the real question is "how do I get my volunteers to show up on time?" I think the real question is, "why don’t my volunteers truly value their role in the children’s ministry?" Honestly, I believe that we show up on time for the things that we value. Even for me, getting to the movies on time to see the previews is a value. So I’m there on time.

Yes, I think it’s inconsiderate that volunteers show up 10 minutes late when they’ve committed to being there on time. However, I’m not convinced that they are the ones to blame. No, really! I think the solution lies with us. Too many of our volunteers are serving because in their mind they’re doing us a favor. They signed up because we needed help and the fact that they’re even showing up is a huge "blessing" for the children’s ministry (this also points to the ineffective recruiting strategies we use at times as well). I don’t think they show up on time because they don’t value their serving in the children’s ministry enough to show up on time. Whether they say it or not, every volunteer is asking the "what am I going to get out of this?’ question in relationship to serving. Right now, my best answer to that question is "to make a difference in the lives of kids." For many volunteers, that is enough. For others, it’s not enough to make them get their on time. The thing that is challenging me right now (and maybe something for you to think about) is to further develop answers to the "what am I going to get out of this?" question. What if I could honestly answer that question with the following answers:

• You get to make a tangible difference in the lives of kids
• You’ll develop deep and meaningful friendships with other adults on your serving teams
• You’ll be challenged to grow spiritually and given the tools to take the next step in your faith
• You’ll feel like a part of a community you didn’t know existed

I don’t know, but I just think that if I could provide these experiences for my volunteers, they may just value their role enough to show up on time. What do you think?

I’m not going to spend much, if any, time talking about politics on this blog. However, I thought that you might just be interested in an alternative to both Obama or McCain. It could happen!

I’ve actually enjoyed the comments and suggestions on some of the pieces I’ve had to put together. I was spoiled to have a graphic artist helping me with this stuff at my last church.

So, below is a Baptism Class poster followed my a revision of my Parent Meeting postcard.

Any last comments or suggestions before these go to print?

So, we’ve been talking about timeliness. As I’m hearing from others, it’s an issue everyone faces. On the weekend people show up late. So here is the big question or questions:

Do you have a "too late to check in" policy? If so, how late is too late?

Some of us have to close rooms because they get too full or there aren’t enough volunteers. I’m not talking about that though. I’m talking about closing rooms because service is halfway over. As children’s ministers, we know why we close the rooms:

• Letting kids in half-way through the service is distracting to the other 17 kids in the room.
• Kids coming in half-way through the service won’t get the full experience possible.
• Emergency/Evacuation rosters are already printed and kids coming in this late might not make it on the roster.

I know some of these excuses sound lame, but to those working so hard to make the weekend a quality experience, it’s frustrating to have kids coming in so late. However, there are several reason why we don’t want to "not" check in a kid so late.

• It could be a visitor and we don’t want to turn away a person who’s coming to check things out (I know, it’s not usually the visitors who are late, but do we really want to be the gestapo who determines who we do and do not let in?).
• Do we really want to keep the kids away as it’s not their fault?

Currently at Gateway, we do not turn anyone away. Our program is such that someone could come in late and it’s not going to be that big of a deal. However I’ve been at churches where it was a very big deal. I talked about it with leadership and they were never interested in going there… so we didn’t. Yes, it does bother me that people come late. It’s annoying and I feel bad that the kids are only getting half the experience that they could, but for me I don’t know that it’s worth doing it.

What about you? What is your policy and why do you do what you do?

Okay, one more postcard for your review. The image on the left is the front of the card. Since this week is a holiday week, I need to get this off to the printer before the end of the day, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.

Thanks

I’d like your opinion on this poster. It is an 11×17 inch poster. I really like the design and the simplicity of it all. I already have postcards that go into more detail. Is this enough for my poster or does it need more info? The postcard is here. Help me out here. Oh, and I have to get this off to the printer in the early afternoon, so if you have an opinion and the time, I’d appreciate it!

BTW, I’m going to post the original files for all these graphics I’m working on on the site in a few days. I can include it all except for the backgrounds that I purchased. The license states that I cannot share or give away the files, however, I will give you the link to the file I used so you can download it yourself (not very expensive anyway).

The other day I wrote a post about timeliness here. Some of the comments added to the post in a way that I thought I’d write a little more. Interestingly enough, I wrote about this issue specifically about 14 months ago. Timeliness. It’s something we all struggle with. Kids are late. Volunteers are late. Parents are late. What do we do?

“I’m going to train my parents to be on time.”

Yeah, I’ve said that. Have you?

Unfortunately, I don’t think its necessarily right to think of it that way. It’s not my job to get parents to sign up for stuff on time. However, we all understand the value of timeliness. If we only get an hour a week with these kids, we want the full hour, right? Or when we’re planning camp, it totally throws us off when 40 registrations come in a few days before we leave for camp. So, it’s not really about “training our parents” but more about setting policies for the purpose of creating ministry excellence. Here are some examples:

Late registration price increases. A lot of times I’ll do this for camps. Initially I did this as motivation for parents to sign up their kids on time. However, I found that it really didn’t help that much. However, late registrations often cost more money. I’ll usually order t-shirts by the time registration closes. I always order extra shirts because you know someone else always signs up and I’d feel horrible if 140 kids got a t-shirt and one didn’t. So I order enough to handle late registrations and the price increase pays for the extra shirt. Sometimes extra supplies are needed at the last minute and we have to pay extra to get it on time, so price increases help with this.

Registration closure. At some times you have to just pull the plug. When I would do a lock-in with a couple hundred kids (and my last few lock-ins traveled a little as well), it was imperative that I had enough help and I knew exactly what kids were in what groups. So, I’d intentionally close registration 3-4 days before the lock-in so I could organize groups and be ready for the big night. Yes, I’d have parents get upset with me. However, most (if not all) of those parents signed their kids up early the next year.

Programming great stuff early. Sam mentioned this in my post. He creates the kinds of things kids really don’t want to miss at the beginning of the service. Honestly, if I don’t get to a theatre in time for the previews, I feel like I’m missed half of the experience. I do everything I can to be there on time! Certainly the local theatre doesn’t care what time you come as long as you pay, but what are things you can plan for the first 10 minutes of your program that the kids absolutely don’t want to miss?

I think that if we create these experiences and put these policies in place… and then stick to our guns, we’ll see a difference. There will be less stress and we’ll get more time with the kids.

Okay, I think that was a good start. I’ll hit room closures tomorrow followed by getting volunteers to be on time the next day.

Here is a link to a web site my wife came across the other day. CAUTION! Don’t got there yet… let me prep you as you may not want to go there. Trust me!

My wife met someone recently who is a volunteer photographer for a foundation called "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep." I had no idea anything like this existed and it’s simply powerful. Perhaps there are photographers at your church who’d be willing to volunteer for something like this. I can think of few things more touching that this.

Here’s the deal. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is a network of volunteer photographers who go to hospitals and homes to take pictures of children who have passed away shortly after birth or are are going to die due to a complication or illness. Most of these parents will only enjoy holding their child in their arms for minutes to days and these photographers provide beautiful memories that the parents can cherish forever. These aren’t morbid or disturbing photos, but beautiful and touching scenes.

I’ll caution you though, viewing these photos will absolutely rip your heart out. If you’re up to it, I do encourage you to visit the link, view the pictures and read the stories from these parents who lost their children. I’m not an overly emotional man, but I was fighting back the tears. Sara and I lost babies at 8 and 10 weeks. When we got pregnant with Titus, we were on pins and needles at every doctor visit. On the day of delivery, I was holding my breath. I really knew he was going to be healthy and strong, but true joy and relief came when I saw him suck in air and let out that beautiful little cry! How precious is life? Isn’t it a miracle? I think I’m going to go grab my little boy out of bed and give him a hugs and kisses!

I’d like to say that they never worked, but as a kid I was a big fan of Psalty the Singing Songbook and Charity the Church Mouse. I had the records and cassette tapes with the kiddie-dopey illustrations… and I think I loved it. Children’s Pastors take notice… it’s not the 80’s anymore!

Always having been a young Children’s Pastor, I’ve tired my best to create an elementary ministry that related to the kids we were trying to reach. What seemed to work for me as a 5th grader did not work for me. I remember being so frustrated with music options 8-10 years ago. I couldn’t find worship songs that didn’t sound like the music was recorded with toy instruments. We wore out Big House as it was the only song that I wasn’t embarrassed to do with my 4th and 5th graders.

Over the years, I always tried to push the envelope on what music we’d play as kids were hanging out. In the early years of ministry, DC Talk (those kids loved Jesus Freak) and Five Iron Frenzy were winners. The WOW music videos were usually pretty good, but even in recent years I felt the need to even grab some of the edgier that really grabbed those older boys. The boy band and girl groups had nothing on the power chords of a spiky haired rock band. On occasion I’d have a parent complain that the music was a little mature. At least I knew I was pushing the envelope.

Well, I think all of this is true of the images we use as well. Whether it be a logo, a flyer or our web site. Fact is, dopey graphics don’t cut it anymore. A few years ago I created a new logo for my summer camp (called Camp Extreme). It was pretty fun. Then last summer I told the graphic artist that I wanted him to make it edgy. I wanted it ripped and scraped and beat up. The result was the coolest camp graphic we’ve ever had… and the kids loved it. No more dopey camp shirts.

I was pleased to see the camp logo that my friend Sam Luce is using for his summer camp. It’s modern, fun and reflects what is popular right now… holding to the retro look. I love it. That set me out to find what other people were using as their camp graphics. I was impressed by so many.

However, there were a few that seem to be stuck in the 80’s. For the love of reaching kids, stop it. Update yourself. Get a new image. It’s not as hard as you would think. Even if you have no budget for this kind of stuff, I bet there’s a 15 year old in your church that could create something really cool. See what you can do!

The Good Ones:

The Bad Ones: