I want to commend a free PDF book by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church. You may not agree with everything that Mark teaches, though I think he is practically and boldly biblical, this book will be a great tool in your hands as you disciple fathers in your ministry. Print it out and make them available to dads. Mail a copy to a dad who you know could use it. It’s a short little read, but very thought provoking. I read it last week and have a new sense of direction as a father now!

I love VBS (that’s Vacation Bible School for the scarf with t-shirt wearing crowd of Children’s Ministers!). I love it because when it is done well and creatively, children learn foundational truths about Jesus, kids get saved, parents get plugged into church, and momentum is built to further the overall vision and work of one’s children’s ministry. My VBS is in 2 weeks and I’m extremely excited for what God has in store this year! Below are some creative ideas you can incorporate into your VBS to make it the best one ever!

Fun for Kids

• Mascot Hunt: Figure out a good mascot for your VBS and try to find a stuffed animal that looks like it. Hide the animal each day and challenge the kids to find it as they are walking around. If they find it, reward their class with a bag of candy and a special flag they can carry around the next day. This is so popular at my church, I have to do two, one for Pre-K and one for elementary.
• Surprise Character: Have someone dress up as a character who matches the theme. Have them bust into the classrooms during teaching time, interrupting the teacher and getting the whole lesson for the day wrong. Alert the teachers ahead of time so they can interact with the character and “set them straight” on the meaning of the lesson.
• Incentives: Offer an incentive for non-church kids to attend or for your own church kids to invite their friends. Last year, I gave away a Wii. It was our largest VBS in church history. This year, I’m giving a $5 gift card to Toys R Us to any non-church kid who attends at least 4 nights of VBS. I’m already WAY above the average mark for this point in our registration process and many of them are guests.
• Involve Kids in Follow Up: Have children in your ministry take the contact info for a guest that was in their class. Instruct them on how to follow up via a phone call or note in the mail. Have them to invite the kids back to church the next week and start a friendship with them.

Fun for Parents

• Send them home in style: If you have a car pick up line (which I recommend to reduce the amount of people who come into your building), then I recommend that you greet parents with a smile, open the door for kids, help them get their seat belt on, and say something positive about the kids. This can really have a huge impact on the ride home.
• Parenting Skills: Offer a parenting skills class during your VBS time. Have some snacks, foster community, and/or bring in a well known presenter to help them grow as a parent (Frankly, I’d love to do it!). You may start this off one year by just doing a one or two night thing. That way you could advertise it well during drop off and pick up prior to it occurring.

Fun for Volunteers

• Late Week Break: Have a variety of drinks and special snacks available on day 3 or 4 of your week for volunteers. Stand by the cooler and personally thank each one who gets a drink.
• Perpetuate the Memories: Set up a Facebook page or blog where VBS leaders can share memorable experiences after VBS is over. Use these quotes in recruitment the next year.
• Make Them Feel Good: Be sure to recognize them in a creative way if you do some sort of kick off or celebration night. Have them run out through a kid “tunnel.” Do a creative video highlighting the lead teachers. Pick a “Leader of the Day” to recognize outstanding work.

What creative idea do you have for VBS?

Have you heard yet? Some of the biggest names in CM are offering their professional advice at the Children’s Ministry Telesummit. This completely free call-in conference is taking place June 21 and 22. There will be 8 hours of training on each day and you can pick and choose which sessions in which you would like to take part. That means you can go to a children’s ministry conference in nothing but your Tom and Jerry boxers while you eat a bowl of Captain Crunch. That’s pretty freakin’ awesome!

Who’s leading sessions? Let me name drop: Jim Wideman, Karl Bastian, Gina McClain, Amy Dolan, David Wakerly, and others (see them all here). Check out the Telesummit partners in the Exhibit Hall.

Register for it. Tell your volunteers about it. Thank Jeremy Collins for doing it. Make your smartphone remind you about it. Cherish it. Learn from it. Be a better leader because of it.

What do you do when you have families splitting up in the church? We pray, we offer encouragement, we hang out a little extra with the kids. In order to minister to hurting families, we have to garner as many resources as possible. If you check out the Divorce Care for Kids Parent Zone website, you can find a great deal of articles about how to handle various situations in a divorced family.

You may not have DC4K in your church, but you can still download the Parent Pages handout that goes along with the various segments of DC4K in addition to the helpful articles. These are helpful resources at your disposal that keep you from having to write your own, therefore spending more time ministering to families!

Check out Family Time Training to get a few free family activities to spread around your ministry. Use them as a follow up to a special event or insert them in newsletters.

A ministry called Faith Inkubators has a unique game site called FaithInk Games. They are pretty cool and a great resource to have on ministry computers or to share with parents.

I know that many of you may be considering your options for a guest speaker over the coming year. With many of you not coming to my actual site and checking the blog from a reader, I wanted to make sure you knew about my secondary calling as an event speaker or worship leader. I am passionate about kids and families drawing closer to the Lord. I’m even more passionate about my Jesus and His gospel. Perhaps you are considering a speaker for:

• Upward Awards Night
• Awana Awards Night (Scripture memorization is a deep passion of mine)
• VBS Kick Off or Celebration
• Summer Camp
• Kids or Family Retreat
• Volunteer Banquet
• Kids Ministry Sunday

Coincidentally, I’m not available to speak on:

• Pet Grooming
• Fireworks Safety
• Small Engine Repair
• How to Get Your Youth Pastor to Understand That Children’s Ministry Really Is the Most Important Ministry in the Church
• Rogaine: To Foam or Not To Foam
• Any Topic with the Letter “Q”

Or perhaps you want a powerful and entertaining message delivered at half of what you would normally pay someone who does this on a full time basis. I don’t juggle fiery samurai swords, can’t spin 14 basketballs on my fingers, and don’t know how to make an ornery child disappear under a sheet. I have been told, however, that the Lord has given me a unique ability to present His Word in creative, powerful, and entertaining ways. I intertwine games, interactive object lessons, passionate speaking, music, audience response, and expository preaching into all of my messages. I’ve done a number of these events over the years and can provide a good deal of references (except the church that almost burnt down…).

If you are interested, check out my Consulting section for contact details. I’m flexible and fair regarding fees and travel; I work with what your church is able to do and have no set charges. May the Lord bless your ministry, and I hope my calling can benefit a few churches out there!

One of the priorities in my prayer and planning day earlier this month was to develop a communication time line. I started thinking that I not only need to communicate about events that happen from year to year, but I need to communicate other pertinent reminders throughout the year. I thought this time line might be helpful for you. It is in an editable format so you can adjust to fit your ministry needs.

What would you add to it? Send me some comments to make it better!

This blog post is going to be a little different. I have found a website with various “game show controls” for games like Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, Press Your Luck, Family Feud, and others. These are downloadable applications which you can customize to fit your needs. You could use them for review games in a kids class, for fun games at a retreat or camp, or with your volunteers at an appreciation event.

I’m not giving the link yet, though. In order to get the link posted, I have to see 10 comments about the picture above. Just jot a quick comment about what you sarcastically like the best about that pic. I’ll get the ball rolling:

“I like the energy, however, I’m wondering if I am pushing the limits by showing adult “midriff” on a Children’s Ministry site!”

Give me 10 comments, I’ll give you the link!

Congrats, you did it, here’s the link:

Game Show Controls

Recently I have commented on several tools for communicating to others in rough circumstances. One was called Make a Child Smile and the other PrisonerAlert. Both of these are great opportunities for the kids and families in our churches to share love and encouragement along with the gospel message. Another one of those opportunities is called Let’s Say Thanks. It is mostly supported by Xerox, but you can see the list of partner companies here. The front page is a little difficult to operate, but it becomes easier if you choose the “View All Designs” link on the left side of the page. When I did it, I choose “other” as a message and wrote my own message thanking them for their hard work and sacrifice. I also wove the gospel message into it. It’s just another creative way that our kids and families can share the gospel with people all over the world!