Children’s Ministry Online

Okay everyone. I need some ideas and suggestions.

This year, we are having five Christmas Eve services. Two on the 23rd and 3 on the 24th. In years past, we’ve had some services fill up more than others, but none of them packed to the gills. We’re providing programming for kids up to Kindergarten.

As a church we’ve been throwing out the idea of ticketing the services. Families will have to pick up tickets before the service to "reserve" space. We will open the doors to the auditorium 30 minutes before the service for people with tickets and it is open seating 15 minutes before the service begins. From what I’ve heard, Gateway has experimented with ticketing before. Some people on my Kids staff have indicated that they planned on more kids than actually showed up. Although that is good, they didn’t feel that the tickets really helped them know how many to plan for.

What do you think? Have you used "ticketing" or something like this before? Are there any things you’ve done to predict the number of kids who will attend? I’ve got my own idea of something I was moving forward with, but I’m not sure I can do it along with ticketing. I hope that some of you who experience massive crowds for Christmas and Easter can throw out a few ideas.

written by Kenny

What John shared during this breakout is some great stuff (John’s the pastor at my church and he’s been sharing this stuff for many weeks now). In some ways it comes across as fluffy stuff we hear in a lot of churches out of the mouths of a lot of pastors. The difference here is that this stuff is really happening and has happened at Gateway. John shares story after story of people coming out of ever imaginable situation and getting reconnected with God. John shares insight on how the church today can connect with a culture that has become very disconnected with God.

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written by Kenny

Wendy Kopp is the CEO and founder of Teach for America. Teach for America is described like a Peace Corps for education. The best and brightest college graduates are recruited to give two years to teach in a failing school.

Wendy describes how even in America, where you are born does determine your educational prospects.

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written by Kenny

Bill George is a professor at Harvard Business School, former CEO at MEDTRONIC and the Author of Authentic Leadership and True North.

Bill begins by saying that we’ve been in a leadership crisis for the past 10 years. Continue reading »

written by Kenny

Gary Haugen is the President and CEO of International Justice Mission.

Social justice is a topic that many are aware of yet we often do little about it. We may even say “well, justice isn’t really my thing.” God may reply, “Then maybe I am not your thing.” Continue reading »

written by Kenny

Bill began by talking about the power of decision in the hands of a leader. He talked specifically about how leaders truly should make decisions within a framework. The framework he used as an example is below: Continue reading »

written by Kenny

Today I had the privilege of attending the Leadership Summit. Not at the Chicago location, but at the satellite location in Austin, TX.

Churches I’ve worked with in the past have not been Willow Creek Association churches, I I haven’t really known that much about Willow. I’ve certainly read a lot about Willow Creek and of the amazing things they’ve done, but really more as a bystander. However, once I came on staff at Gateway I’ve been much more exposed to Willow Creek. Not only is our church a WCA church, but many from our staff were once on staff on Willow. John Burke, our pastor was on staff at Willow when he felt called to plant a church in Austin. So, we use a lot of Willow resources and they’ve been absolutely fantastic. I’m very impressed.

So this was my first Leadership Summit. I only attended the first day because day two was on Friday (my day off) and I really needed a day off. Need I remind you of what’s been going on in my house? I was amazed at the scale of this event. It was never said (at least I didn’t hear) how many were attending this conference, but I heard that there were upwards of 60,000 joining either live or at satellite venues. How amazing is that? In addition to this, they’re boxing this thing up and making it available to gatherings of Christian leaders all over the world. In the same way that One Prayer impacted hundreds of thousands through synchronized worship experiences, Leadership Summit may impact many more through incredible leadership training.

So, here is my very brief overview of my one day Leadership Summit experience at a satellite venue.

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written by Kenny

Just curious if anyone is attending this year? I signed up this afternoon to attend. I won’t actually be in Chicago, but I will be at a video venue here in Austin. Our Senior Pastor, John Burke, will be speaking on Friday. He’s got a new book out (just in time for Leadership Summit) and will be talking about how we’re using it as a tool to do something pretty amazing this fall here at Gateway. I’ll write more about Soul Revolution and our plan to start a revolution next week. So, anyone going to attend?

written by Kenny