Today I want you all to know about a very well done video from Max 7. Max 7 is a great website full of downloadable videos, curriculum, music, and ministry forms.
You MUST have the Aim Lower video. If you can get your pastor to let you play this in the service, you deserve a raise!
I wanted to interrupt our little series to tell you about a free webinar on church websites. I found this over at Church Communications Pro.
I have seen some really shotty children’s ministry web pages so this webinar is certain to help some of you out. You do have to sign up for it ahead of time. Here’s a quote from their blog entry:
Join WebDesign.com co-founders Cory Miller and James Dalman for a special webinar titled 4 Keys to Effective Church Websites on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. Learn the essentials of highly effective church websites with two experienced church marketing professionals.
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/342534819
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
Yeah…I’ve been out for a few days! My doctoral work was very heavy last week, so I apologize for my “Freed Up” slackness!
But this week we resume the 21 Days to a “Freed Up” Ministry!
Today…a HUGE listing of free videos, looping backgrounds, and countdowns. Take a look at this page from Church Tech Talk.
Know a place where readers can get more free loops and countdowns? Just comment below.
Go to Coldwater Cafe and check out some great resources by Roger Fields of Kidz Blitz Ministries. He has a great little one sheet commentary on why we are children’s ministers called “The Calling.” I have it in my office to remind me of what I do. Put it on your door for people to read as they pass by. Frame it and hang it on the wall outside of your office. This is a way to show your members how serious you are (and how serious they should be) about ministering to children!
Today…you’ve got to have Log Me In. This is one of the absolute best tools I have on my computer. I allows you to freely access other computers (which you have previously set up) anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. Having this program has eased me of a lot of hassles over the last two years.
Keep up with the latest trends in ministry. Subscribe to the free digital version of Ministry Today Magazine. Just click on the picture below to get signed up. What a great resource Strang Communications is making available!
If you have an exciting event coming up (Family Worship Night, Kids Outreach, Children’s Music Performance), then you have to get the Pump Up the Crowd countdown from FreeCountdowns.Net. It is visually stunning and has music and words that will get your crowd ready for the action!
Today’s resource: The Gimp. The Gimp is an open source graphics editor.
When you download it, you can be sure you will be overwhelmed. However, I found a nifty tool within The Gimp that allows you to create stunning logos. When you open the program, simply click the “xtns” menu and scroll down to “logos.” From this point you can work through a small “wizard” that will help you create professional looking logos.
I have found that branding particular worship experiences, children’s sermon series, and events is a way to build extra excitement for your ministry. The Gimp is one tool to help you do that. Here are some very quick examples I came up with. You can do a great deal more with them after the initial “wizard.”
This week, I am starting a series of blog posts, something I have never done before. This first series of mine is called “21 Days to a ‘Freed Up’ Ministry.” The point of the series is to highlight 9 incredible free resources for your ministry (3 posts a week x 3 weeks=9 posts over 21 days, get it?). Basically, I see these as “must haves” for your ministry. Some may be new, and some may be a re-hash of an old post. My goal is to bring you as many new things as I can.
This series will get very specific. Whereas most of my posts will point you to a general website where you can get a number of things for free, these posts will point to specific mostly downloadable resources.
The first out of this world resource that I reccomend you do not do without is Brain Drain from Five AM Productions. If you do any type of game in your ministry, this nifty little program will be beneficial in helping you keep tabs on team scores.
KidzPlace is a website for children and CM leaders. It is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and contains tools for leaders to teach kids how to be Matthew 28:19-20 Christians as well as interactive gospel presentations for kids and games.
You will definitely want to check out the video presentation, “God’s Special Plan for Children.” You can show it to kids online, embed it into your own website, and if you call NAMB and talk very nicely to them, they will probably send you a high quality version of it on DVD free of charge (at least it worked for me about a year ago!).
