Over the past several years, the Lord has been brewing something in my heart that I just can not contain any longer. About two and a half years ago, I could not go to sleep. There was a burden on my heart that I had to get on paper. I had a burning desire to glorify Christ in all things. I was driven to the Scriptures. I read the Word, I read books on Christology, family ministry, and discipleship…and I wrote.

I hope to have a book published out of this…in fact I’m currently searching for a literary agent and/or publisher. I also want to proliferate these ideas through a new site which is now live at Becoming Saturated. The goal of the site is to further dialogue in the Christian community about the importance of the supremacy of Christ (Col. 1:18) with leaving a legacy. I’m not proposing some revolutionary movement, I just think that in all the family ministry, legacy, orange talk out there, we must always be aware of our focus on the centrality of the Person of Christ and the gospel.

I’m encouraged by the gospel-centeredness that the Christian community is heralding more and more. I want to be a part of that. I want to be a helping part of that as a fellow journey man who is on the road to “becoming saturated” with Jesus. I want to see Jesus more and more in my life as a disciple, husband, father, pastor, and leader. I’m sure you do to.

So that’s the deal. Free CM Stuff will remain a site for now, though I will not be updating it with new content. I’m working with another organization to get the Free CM Stuff content on their site, and I think that will be a great partnership. I’ll update you when that becomes more of a reality.

I’m so thankful for the support of my readers. I hope this site has been a blessing. I hope Becoming Saturated will be a blessing as well. I would certainly love for you to spread the word about my new site. Tweet it, share it with your leaders at church, post it on Facebook, put it in your newsletters…whatever avenue comes to your mind. I would greatly appreciate your promotion.

May the Lord bless you richly through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as you minister to the next generation.

Often my pastor encourages us in the fact that “people are down on what they aren’t up on.” With that encouragement comes the reminder to be redundant in communication. For larger events like camps, VBS, or church wide festivals, you’ll want to hit all 10 of these. For smaller events, I would suggest tapping into the 5 that will most likely bring you the most fruit for that particular event.

1. Email: Email is still wildly popular, but is slowly being supplanted by other forms of social media as the communication method of choice. The effectiveness of this is very dependent upon the culture of communication of your people.
2. Newsletters: Church wide, volunteer, or parent. Get the word out in all of them.
3. Worship Guide/Bulletin: Make sure the average church attender who is prone to not be in the know has an avenue to see your events.
4. Facebook: Invite people to events, swamp them with info about your event through your feed, or write a post about it to share with your friends.
5. Posters: Put 11×17 or larger posters up on visible areas. Doors to kids ministry space, bathroom entrances, stairwells, prominent bulletin boards, plaster them with posters!
6. Word of Mouth: Call people. Ask them if they’ve heard about the event or are coming to it as you see them on Sunday mornings when you chat in the hallway. Recruit several noteworthy volunteers to personally invite 5 children or families to your event.
7. Blog: Does your church have a blog? Put it on there. Do you have your own Children’s Ministry blog? Put it on there!
8. Twitter: There aren’t many of my families plugged in to this yet, but if your church is in a more metropolitan area, this avenue will prove useful for you. Create a hashtag for your event or ask people to retweet your announcement.
9. Handouts: I’ve found that giving a postcard out to parents as they pick up can be a very effective “kick off” announcement leading up to an event.
10. Phone Tree: Yes, people still use phone trees. They are still useful b/c it puts a verbal message into the ears of most people in your ministry.

We all have needs that come up in our ministry. People experience death, crushing sickness arises, babies are born, and jobs are lost. When those dire events take place, it is imperative for the church to surround our brothers and sisters with love and care during this time. In a similar format to Sign Up Genius, CareCalendar allows you to bring together a community of people to meet the needs of others.

CareCalendar is a web based system to organize meals and other help for families during a time of illness or life changing event, such as the birth of a baby or death of a family member. CareCalendar can also be used for long term situations, including homebound and caregiver respite care needs.

Features include:

• Status updates and photos
• Real time updates on needs that remain un-met
• Customizable fields, schedule meals, errands, work, rides, visits, and more
• Email notifications
• Maps and driving directions

The following is a guest post from Cassi LeTourneau, a mom and author of Treasure the Rain.

If I could visit every single church around the country (maybe even the world) I would. I’d bring a stack of books with dog-eared pages, highlighted paragraphs and notes scribbled in margins. I’d sit across a little table from you, coffee in hand, and we’d walk through the needs of your church and how you might begin to address them. We’d share whatever knowledge we have of special needs, ministry, and God’s call in our lives (please know that my knowledge is fairly limited…but my God is definitely not!). I’d probably remember at the very last second that I wanted to pass along a couple of resources—and I’d quickly write them on the back of a napkin before praying for you, your church, and your community. And then we’d go our separate ways…friends for life because that’s kind of how I work.

That is my heart. To reach families in my own church as well as individuals and families thousands of miles away. I want to see these precious children, their families, church staff, and volunteers as well as entire communities blessed in ways they never would have imagined. If special needs ministry is on your heart—and my guess is that it very much is—start praying. Ask God to open doors.

Here are a few resources, in addition to Free CM Stuff, that you might look into:

Joni and Friends

The Inclusive Church

Ministry to Children

Keep in mind inclusion will look different for each and every congregation. I don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all plan for special needs ministry. There are definitely “best practices” that can be gleaned from churches with existing special needs ministries and from resources such as those listed above. For now I will offer the following thoughts to help get you started.

• Communicate Your Ideas. Present your ideas to church leadership in a clear, concise way. Your Pastors, Elders and Children’s Ministry Directors have a lot on their plates. A lot. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t love to see a special needs ministry in place—it just means they may not have the means to see it through personally.

• Research. Provide them with a summary from the research you’ve done. Statistics along with success stories might be a great place to start. Just the Facts! Compile statistics along with examples of what other churches are doing. Remember that where you are headed, others have gone before. And many of those people are committed to seeing special needs ministry impact individuals and families far beyond the walls of their own churches. Check out these special needs statistics from the Inclusive Church Blog to give you a boost.

• Share a story. Don’t have a success story to share? They are out there—I promise—but if you’re like me, I didn’t know where to look and what I had at the time were stories of heartbreak. Stories of families being turned away…church after church informing them their children weren’t welcome. Stories of people being isolated from the one place they should feel most loved and accepted. So those are the stories I shared.

• Be consistent. Become familiar with your Children’s Ministry policies and procedures. If there is not currently a “Safe Kids” policy in place I highly recommend that you work with your Children’s Ministry Director to implement one. It is my opinion that this should be mandatory for all churches/Children’s Ministries (with or without a special needs ministry). Applications, criminal background checks, references and training…these basic safe guards should be non-negotiable when working with children.

• Step out in faith. Don’t think you have to have everything in order before sharing your heart. You may not have all the answers—or know exactly what special needs ministry will look like for your church—but what you can share is your heart! And when you boldly share your vision for inclusion you just might come across someone with a God sized vision of their own; waiting for someone like you to step out in faith and give voice to a need that is all too often overlooked.

• Cast the wider vision. With the blessing of church leadership, share your vision with the entire church body! This can be done in a number of ways. We chose to reserve ten minutes during each of our three weekend service times. We shared a brief video, were interviewed by one of our Pastors and encouraged everyone to visit us at a table in the foyer after service. For a sample on how to do this, check out this post, especially the document at the bottom.

• Recruit. Survey your church members. Look for needs that can potentially be met as well as people who might be experienced in a particular area (i.e. medical professional, special needs educator or someone with ministry/event planning experience). Don’t be afraid to recruit support from the secular world as well. Pediatricians, special education teachers, etc… These dedicated professionals have a heart for children even if they don’t necessarily share your faith. And what an amazing opportunity to model the love of Jesus!

• Manage volunteers and families. Provide a basic intake form for anyone interested in volunteering and for families of special needs children. Here are a few examples to get you going.

• Train. Offer an Orientation/Training day. For us that consisted of:

1. A (free) CPR class offered by a church member who responded to our announcement in service.
2. A brief video introduction to special needs ministry. One great option is “The Father’s House” by Joni and Friends.
3. The opportunity for everyone to introduce themselves and share their heart.
4. The option to attend our mandatory Safe Kids Training that evening (other training dates were available).

If I could leave you with just one thought it would be to remind you that special needs ministry is about relationship. Get to know your volunteers. Get to know your families—I would urge you to spend whatever time you can getting to know these parents and their sweet children.

Remember – parents are your best resource when it comes to caring for their individual child. Be sure to provide them with a thorough intake form where they can share vital information about their child. Listen to their questions and concerns and be completely upfront about what you can and cannot offer.

If you run into bumps in the road—ask someone who’s been there. If they can’t help you—ask someone else. Ask until you find someone who can. Just please—don’t give up!

About the Author: Cassi a wife deeply in love with her husband, a mom incredibly proud of her boys, and a girl forever indebted to Jesus. She started her blog, Treasure the Rain, as a place to share her heart and hopefully a little encouragement “through the rain.”

The following is a guest post by Jared Massey from Small Town Kidmin.

Love it or hate it, we all have to do a little budgeting now and then. From the largest church to the smallest church, we all have “limited resources.” Some are just more limited than others. In order to be good stewards of the resources God has given us (and hopefully to prove ourselves faithful of managing more), a budget in some form is necessary.

Budgets in some churches are a beautiful spreadsheet of various calculations stemming from years of giving and spending research plus forecasted growth minus increased expenses taking into account current economic inflation rates and various other factors. God bless those churches. I’m not in one of them. Our budget is much more simplistic and pragmatic, and I think that is healthier in a church our size (averaging about 55 people on a Sunday morning).

Anytime I need to make a large purchase, I need to get board approval. One of the board members always asks two questions. Do we need it? Can we afford it? Those two questions should be at the root of any budget of any church.

When budgeting for the year, or month, first ask “What do we need?” In order to effectively do ministry, there are certain staples that need to be had, curriculum for example. Budget those things first. Then dream, if I had more money, how could we be more effective? During a workshop I sat in about building large group environments on a small budget, the speaker said, “Fit your budget to your dream, don’t just dream to your budget.” I think this is good, albeit not always practical, advice. Based on your God-given dreams, what budget is necessary? That’s the budget you need to ask for. I have been told no, I have been told not now, and I have been told go for it. While I prefer a yes, a no or not now helps to sharpen the vision for my ministry. Sometimes, the best way to figure out what is important is by learning what isn’t.

Budgeting is tough and serious business. We are called to be good stewards of God’s money and that means using it wisely. Purchases that serve to inflate our egos or make me as the leader look better are never wise purchases. Spending money on things that show God’s love to the world around you is always wise.

About the author: Jared is the Associate Pastor of Warsaw Assembly of God, a church in a populous town of 1,700. Even though he narrowly beat me in the Blog Madness tournament earlier this year, I still count him a friend. He works full time at a bank and is a good dad too. I’m thankful he was nice enough to take some time out of his schedule to send a few words of advice to the Free CM Stuff community.

Take a look at the Downloads section of Joe’s site. You can get a few good resources there including forms and job descriptions.I’m thankful for those in the Kidmin world who are so willing to share resources that have worked for them.

Joe is the Family Ministries Pastor at Praise Christian Center in Beaumont, TX.

Recruiting volunteers is a true art form. Some of us are really good at it and some of us are really bad. This article is for my friends out there who will readily admit they are lousy recruiters. Your team is suffering because you just don’t know how to bring in excellent people by making an effective “ask.”

First of all, let me say that recruiting volunteers effectively has nothing to do with conniving people into something they are not interested in. It has everything to do with allowing people of varying gifts the opportunity to make those gifts come alive in the proper setting. This is Ephesians 4:12 kind of work.

If you want to make an effective ask, you need to shoot for the EMMY.

E–Explain: Explain who you are and what your role is within the church. Tell them what is going on in your ministry and the specific reason for your call. If they know who you are, just give them a short update of your ministry.

M–Motivate: Let your passion for the ministry come through in your voice. Take a moment to describe why what you are speaking to them about is important. Describe for them the reasons they came to your mind for this specific task or why someone else recommended that you call them. You should definitely be smiling during this part!

M–Map Out: Provide them the exact details regarding what you had in mind. Be sure to include start and end dates, commitment level, required trainings and other material that would be beneficial for them to know as they consider the position.

Y–Yo: This is the time where you wrap up the conversation by encouraging them to pray about the opportunity. The “Yo” is to remind you to arrange a time to get in touch with them. If you really want them to serve, don’t leave the ball in their court to get back with you. Many well meaning people who would really would serve in the ministry get very busy and forget to call you for weeks. You do the follow up. Put it on your calendar, make a sticky note for your computer, spray paint a reminder on your cat…whatever, just call them back! Sometimes, fortunately, you will ask someone who will jump at the opportunity right in the middle of your conversation. In that case, forget the “Yo” and just praise God that they felt immediately called!

If you hit these four tips spot on, you will see your recruitment take some giant leaps and most likely see a vast improvement the excellence factor in your ministry. People will be more bought in, more motivated and confident about their service because you helped them become a right fit.

What you see above is the Awana Gospel Wheel. When I found out about this about a year and a half ago, I became a big fan. I think that it appropriately communicates the gospel message along with, for the most part, a clear response. I appreciate how the Gospel Wheel utilizes I Corinthians 15:3-4 to accentuate not only Jesus’ death, but his resurrection–a portion of the Good News of Jesus that is often forgotten and relegated to a footnote. I found out now that they have an app available in Android, iPad and Iphone configurations. I just used it this week with my daughters to communicate the gospel to them and it served me well.

I think this is a great tool for those of us who work with children whether you are an Awana fan or not. You can go through the App with someone and never know it is an Awana tool except for the initial splash screen.

One critique I have, and it is a general critique for the gospel wheel, is that they do not include the concept of repentance in this presentation. Repentance, a change in mind and heart–away from sin and toward the Lord, is a critical component in a response to the gospel that goes hand in hand with faith/belief/trust. When presenting this to my daughters I had to insert the idea of repentance in it on my own.

Format wise, I do like how you have three options of presentation to choose from: kids, teens and adults. I believe the adult one could be more visually appealing perhaps utilizing symbols or “icons” to display the truth on screen. I really like how the teen portion allowed for some discussion questions, though a few of them seemed slightly surface level. Others, however, were quite poignant. You also get to choose from NIV, KJV or Spanish–another nice feature. Take a look at this video to find out more.

Do you have a staff team you work with or a volunteer team that works closely in ministry together? You may want to consider attending this free online conference to develop healthy church teams. If you are not familiar with Leadership Network, they are an organization that helps church leaders innovate in their context through publications, online content and events.

Register for this free online conference here.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how many things have to be processed by me as a leader on a Sunday morning. I’m sure you feel the same way. You mean to follow up with a child about something special you know happened to them that week. You wanted to recruit someone for something. There was a point of evaluation that needed to take place. But you forgot.

If you are like me, lists and reminders are huge helps for getting things accomplished. I’ve decided that I want to have a “cheat sheet” in my Bible each week that helps to remind me about particular points of ministry leadership each Sunday. I’d love your feedback about any points/questions you would add. Then I’ll design a nice Bible insert that I will make available for free here on Free CM Stuff. My questions would be:

• Who do I need to have specific conversations with today?
• What areas of ministry do I need to evaluate?
• Specific children I need to encourage?
• What do I need to follow up on this week?
• What prayer needs came up today?

What would you add? Look forward to hearing your thoughts and incorporating them into this little guide.