Childrens Ministry Online

What matters now?

Posted on17. May, 2010 by Kenny.

Henry Zonio, Amy Dolan and Matt Guevara put together a great resource called What Matters Now. It’s a collaborative project involving over 30 different leaders in the world of kidmin. It’s simply everyone’s different perspective on what matters now in the world of Chidlren’s Ministry. It’s a quick read. Each author had to state their response to the question in less that 200 words.

You can download this free e-book here.

For more information and to follow the buzz and conversation:

• Follow What Matters now on Facebook here!
• Follow What Matters now on Twitter here!

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Who says it’s lonely at the top?

Posted on03. Mar, 2010 by Kenny.

Okay, this statement is partially true, but the way most people use it, I don’t buy it.

Yes, when it comes to leadership, the higher you go, the less people you have to surround you with support and encouragement. At times you have to make tough calls that no one understands. This is the part where loneliness comes in. However, that’s only fully true if you’ve been doing ministry alone.

Last Saturday I spoke to volunteers in our Children’s Ministry about never doing ministry alone. I’m not sure I effectively communicated what my heart truly feels, but I shared how vital it is that we shouldn’t just do our ministry job, whether as a staff member or weekly volunteer, but we should seek out others to share in the joys and frustrations of ministry. My words of encouragement were:

• Lean into the community of those you already serve with. Most of our volunteers already serve in a consistent team each week, but developing relationships with those you serve with isn’t always natural. I shared that ministry is rewarding, but when you share your ministry experience with others you’re connected with, the reward is exponentially greater.
• Expand the community of those you serve with. Life is busy. Just becasue you’re one a 9:30 Early Childhood ministry team doesn’t mean relationally you going to connect with everyone on your team. Since you’re already serving, ask a friend or another family member to serve with you. That way you can have a shared ministry experience with someone you’re already in community with.

I’ve found both of these concepts to be so incredibly true. Some of the best relationship I’ve had in my life have been with those I serve with, both as volunteers and as staff. In the last several years, I’ve made intentional efforts to develop strong relationships with those outside my church. It’s true that higher up in leadership, there are less people in your organization to really connect with relationally. It is possible to feel a certain amount of loneliness within your organization, which is why it’s so important to develop key relationships outside of your organizations. Connect with others doing the same job as you. That way when things are tough and few people understand what you’re going through, you’ve got someone to talk to that understands, can encourage you and pray with you. When you need ideas or a fresh perspective, call on these other relationships. As I transitioned into a new job almost two years ago, I was able to lean heavily on good friends who remained consistent in my life although everything else for me changed.

It doesn’t have to be so lonely at the top, it’s just up to you to make it that way.

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Registration card resource page

Posted on12. Oct, 2009 by Kenny.

A little while earlier today I posted the new family registration card we’re using at Gateway. When I was having this designed, I asked kid’s pastors from all over to send in what they were using so I could gather ideas. I remember literally sitting down at a conference table looking at everyone. I’d circle what I liked on every card. Then I gave it all to a designer and said “good luck getting it all on one page.”

I recently updated my resource page for registration cards. Click here to see registration cards from 13 different churches. Want to add your card to the gallery? Send it my way at kenny@childrensministryonline.com.

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Collaboration: One Prayer

Posted on29. Jun, 2009 by Kenny.

I’ve talked a lot about collaboration this year. It’s my favorite word. How do you collaborate? How are you collaborating right now? Does your church collaborate?

Right now our church is doing One Prayer with nearly 2000 other churches. Hundreds of churches have uploaded video teachings. Thousands of people will hear the words of guest pastors speaking into their lives and into their situations. This is collaboration on an epic scale.

How else are you collaborating?

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How my ministry team works

Posted on14. May, 2009 by Kenny.

Yesterday I introduced you to my ministry team. We were invited to teach a lunch session at Orange about collaboration. I think the five of us all had some great things to say about collaboration, but more than that we just told the story of how we’ve done it with each other. The videos below are what we taught. Gina’s video hasn’t been uploaded yet… so come back soon to check that one out.

KENNY CONLEY ONLINE COLLABORATION SESSION from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

SAM LUCE LEVELS OF ONLINE COLLABORATION from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

Jonathan Cliff What Online Collaboration Is Not from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

MATT MCKEE TOOLS FOR ONLINE COLLABORATION from chad swanzy on Vimeo.

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My Ministry Team

Posted on13. May, 2009 by Kenny.

This is my ministry team. Oh, I have more than one. I have my staff, who I LOVE working with every day! This is my peer ministry team. They’re Children’s and Family Pastors from across the country. We all met on the internet initially by reading each other’s blogs. Then we started emailing each other which led to phone calls, facebook groups and all kinds of other things. Over the last two years, we’ve become good friends and a great place for encouragement and ideas. I think everyone of us have walked away with ideas from our group and have implemented them in our own churches. Together, we’re getting better at what we do and together, we’re serving more kids than any one of us would alone.

Two weeks ago at Orange, the five of us met in person for the first time. What a blast! We hung out a lot. It was like a family reunion. If you saw us at Orange, I hope you didn’t think we we’re stand off-ish or exclusive at all, we were just excited to all be together.

Why am I writing all of this? It’s my challenge to you. Outside of your staff, do you have anyone else that challenges you to be better professionally? I went nine years without this in my life. My only regret in ministry is that I would have had this earlier. So, what are you waiting for?

In the picture:
Jonathan Cliff
Matt McKee
Gina McClain
Sam Luce
Me

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Meeting new/old friends

Posted on28. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.

I feel like today is going to be a reunion. Seriously. I’m not even talking about the Tweet Up tonight… that one’s going to be like a reunion of epic proportions.

This afternoon I’m picking up Matt McKee and Sam Luce at the airport. A few hours later Jonathan Cliff is flying in as well. Gina McClain is flying in later but I probably wont see her until the Tweet Up. These people have become some of my closest friends in ministry. I feel like it’s a gathering of old friends as we’ve experienced so much together. Funny thing is that the five of us have never met in person.

That’s the value of collaboration. The five of us are leading a brownbag lunch session on Friday about this very topic. If you’re yearning for this kind of community, be sure to atted this session.

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Can my staff meet your staff?

Posted on23. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.

Last year I went to Orange alone. I wasn’t on staff anwhere (I started at Gateway the Monday after the conference). Going to Orange I knew about five or six people. It was a lot of fun, but I really wish I could have met more people. It helps to arrange some of that before you go.

This year I know of at least 30-40 people that I’m planning ot meet. I imagine that I’ll likely connect with dozens more. It’s going to be so cool.

I’ve seen the benefit of collaboration in my life and ministry this last year. I’m encouraging my staff to make some new connections with people in thier areas. They’re planning to meet people, but I thought I’d give them a head start as well. Here’s who I’m bringing that need to make some connections:

Early Childhood Director: She oversees brith through kindergarten, about 400 kids each weekend.
Early Childhood Coordinator: She assists the director and helps with volunteer staffing, so I know she’d love to connect with other Early Childhood people as well.
Production Director: She writes scripts, shoots and edits videos, leads production teams and worship teams for both elementary and early childhood. I’d love for her to connect with others doing this stuff as well.
Interim Multi-Site CM Coordinator: We’re still looking for our CP at our South Campus, but I’d love for our interim person to connect with other leading ministry at a small (100 kids) multi-site campus.

I have other staff coming, but they’re already well connected. If you are in any of these roles or have staff memebers who are in these roles, can we connect? I’d like to get my people talking to your people. Collaboration is amazing and it’s a value I want all of my staff to live out. Feel free to leave a comment and I’ll respond to you by email!

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Orange Blogger Brown Bag Lunches

Posted on23. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.

Hey people. Something you may not have known about yet.

On Thursday and Friday of next week, several bloggers will be hosting brown bag lunches. It’s an opportunity to network and learn more about blogging, social media and network collaboration. So if you’re interested, here are some details.

Stop by the upper level of the Arena to meet over twenty bloggers that write about their experience with children’s and student ministry. We’ll be having brown bag lunches on Thursday and Friday with a handful of the bloggers to discuss very specific topics in an informal setting.  Space is limited and will be filled on a first come-first served basis. Meet at the specified time at the top of the escalators in the Arena to head to the lunch location.

Blogger Brown Bag Lunches

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Topic: Blogging Explained – General Q&A
Time: 1:15 p.m.

Friday, May 1, 2009
Topic: Children’s Ministry Collaboration via Social Networking
Time: 1:15 p.m.

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My collaboration team

Posted on17. Nov, 2008 by Kenny.

Both Matt and Jonathan already linked to Sam’s video. Here it is in case you haven’t seen it already. Sam created this video for his Pipeline Conference last week. What a great video, and I’m not just saying that becasue I was in it.

I think some of these guys were were talking some already, but it was last May that I sent an email to Sam, Matt and Jonathan for some help on an article I was writing for K Magazine. It was kind of a shot in the dark, but I got great feedback from everyone and in the few days that followed, all of us kept emailing each other back with other ideas, thoughts and everything in-between. From my perspective it wasn’t really that intentional, it just kind of happened…. but I’m glad it did. Not too long ago Gina joined our group and has provided some incredible thoughts, ideas and feedback. It’s been one of the best things that I’ve experienced in ministry in recent years.

So, if you don’t have someone to collaborate with, I recommend a little intentionality. Read lot’s of blogs and develop relationship with the authors (comments and emails). Do the same on sites like Kidology and CMConnect. Find people you gel with and start collaborating. It’s a beautiful thing.

Here’s the video Sam made!

Collaboration Video from Sam Luce on Vimeo.

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