KidMinspiration

Let’s Catch Up!

10/12/201810/12/2018 Kathie Phillips

Hey friends! It’s been a long, long time since I’ve posted here. So much has happened over the past few months and I have not shared in this space as much as I would’ve liked. I’ve missed you!

I wanted to bring you up to speed on what’s going on in my world and share about some new things I’m working on.

Ministry/Staff Changes

My church has done some staff restructuring over the past few months, affecting many departments, including Children’s Ministry. Because of these significant changes, I have restructured and streamlined Children’s Ministry as a whole. This has meant realigning ministry areas, rewriting job descriptions, making our curriculum more cohesive, and raising up new team leaders. In some areas, it has meant adopting new ways of doing ministry. This has been a ton of work and continues to be, but my goal is sustainable, healthy ministry practices. I’ll keep you posted.

New Ministry Programming

Typically, during times of transition, new programs aren’t added. However, in the midst of restructuring our Children’s Ministry and working toward more sustainable, healthy practices, I have tuned in to some felt needs that we, as a ministry, needed to focus on. Here are a few things we heard and how we are working on them.

Preschool parents are looking to connect with other preschool families. Our church is blessed with an awesome weekday preschool and many of our families are connected through that. However, there was a lack of connection for other preschool families. One solution for this is to offer four (4) Preschool Family Experiences this ministry year. The goal for these events is simply to provide an on-ramp for families to have faith conversations as well as connect with other preschool families. Our preschool curriculum is ah-mazing and provides these experiences to us with our curriculum subscription. All I had to do was invite a group of gifted ladies to hear my vision about what I desired. They then took the material, ran with it and knocked it out of the park. We hosted our first Preschool FX last month and welcomed 41 families (60+ preschoolers) – it was phenomenal. I can’t wait for our next one, which will take place in January.

Elementary parents want resources to have faith conversations with their kids. A good number of our parents did not grow up in Christian homes and many are new believers themselves and don’t know how to have faith conversations with their children. So, we plan to resource parents by offering START HERE, a resource provided by Orange. We will customize the content to fit into a 30-minute parent meeting (on a Sunday morning, between services), to put materials in their hands and answer questions. I am excited to teach this class next Sunday!

Outside Projects

Over the past few months, I’ve also had the privilege of doing some freelance writing for various groups as well as teach a workshop based on my book at KidMin Mega Con in Nashville last week. (If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve seen the pics!) I also recorded a podcast with Stuff You Can Use: A Children’s Ministry Community.

So, lots has been keeping me busy, but most of it is fun busy! On that note, that’s a great intro for me to share two new projects I have been working on.

The Expert Interviews: All About Family Ministry

Earlier this year, a new ministry friend (Keith Ferrin), invited me to be part of a family ministry resource project that he was working on. Well, I’m thrilled to announce The Expert Interviews: All About Family Ministry, a collaborative project with 20 leading voices in family ministry. I am honored to have shared ways for new family ministry leaders to lay a solid foundation. This newly-released book can be found here.

Get Certified in Children’s Ministry!

The other project that I’m excited to share with you is that I – I can’t believe it! – will be an online instructor for beadisciple.com. The Children’s Ministry certification track has been redeveloped and relaunched and I look forward to participating as an online instructor! This is one of those ‘never in a million years would I ever do THAT’ opportunities – it certainly wasn’t on my radar of bucket list items – but God had other plans. This rookie instructor will be developing my course content from scratch. Wow. I’ll be teaching a six-week class next spring on teaching theology topics to children in age-appropriate, engaging ways. Registration opens next week. Come learn with me! You can find out more here.

Well folks, that’s a peek into what I’ve been up to lately! I’ll keep you posted along the way. In the meantime, drop me a line in the comments, on social media or via email and let me know what you’re up to – I’d love to connect with you!

Blessings!

Meet Dorena Williamson, Author of “ColorFull”

05/01/201805/01/2018 Kathie Phillips 1 Comment

Friends, I am so very excited to introduce you to Dorena Williamson! Dorena is the author of the brand new book “ColorFull: Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us“, which releases today, May 1st. But Dorena isn’t just the author – she’s my aunt!! I had the privilege of interviewing her recently and I am so excited to share her with you so that you can hear her heart behind this incredible book that you should grab for your ministry.

Colorfull: Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us

Tell my readers a little bit about yourself.

Hello! I am a PK turned Pastor’s wife, so church sometimes feels like my second home! Together with Chris I’ve raised four amazing kids who are now 24, 22, 17 and 14. Two are graduating this year so this is a season of celebration! My new adventure as a children’s author stems from 22 years leading and loving a multicultural church in the Nashville, TN area. On the side I’m a stylist with Evereve, a national company focused on heart filled styling for women. When I find leisure time, it’s spent reading, watching travel shows or dreaming about tropical places to visit!

Racial reconciliation has been a longtime passion of yours. Was that the motivation for this book?

That was definitely a part of the formation of ColorFull. Over twenty two years of multicultural church leadership has cultivated a passion to help others experience God’s diverse kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus invites us to enter the kingdom as children do, since they can teach us so much.

Tell us about “ColorFull”. What is the story about?

ColorFull begins with something we all have in common: friendship and family. A grandmother uses a teachable moment to reinforce God’s truth, that creation’s colors AND our skin colors are all a part of God’s colorful design.

What was your process for writing this story?

The idea for ColorFull grew out of frustration! I saw companies like Mattel and American Girl expanding their doll lines to incorporate more varied skin tones. Yet, Christians diminish God’s glory by being ascribed to colorblind rhetoric. I wanted to lend a new voice to the conversation and help teach kids that every person’s color is a beautiful handiwork of God to be fully seen and celebrated. Once I signed with B&H, we got an excellent illustration husband/wife team to bring the words to vibrant life. I’m really excited about how it turned out!

What are the main takeaways you want people to walk away with from “ColorFull”?

1. We need to be talking to our kids about ethnicity & skin color!!

2. Reinforce God’s truth in this area while your kids are young; raise the importance level on this conversation; let go of colorblind rhetoric and instead teach God’s intention in diverse creation.

3. Find teachable moments to impart wisdom.

4. Relationships and proximity changes everything. What you read, who you spend time with, what activities you engage with all shape a worldview that not only appreciates God’s diverse kingdom but helps advance the work of justice and restoration.

You have a follow-up book, “ThoughtFull”, in the works. Can you tell us a little about that?

Yes! ThoughtFull is book two in the series of three books. In this story, Ahanu, a Native American boy with Down Syndrome, models how to be ThoughtFULL – full of kind thoughts towards others. I hope this book reminds us that every person has value and is uniquely gifted!

Where can readers find “ColorFull”?

It releases May 1. Readers can order via my website and directly through LifeWay and Amazon.

Where can my readers connect with you on social media?

Facebook – Dorena McFarland Williamson

Twitter – @dorenawill

Instagram – dorenawilliamson

Website – dorenawilliamson.com

Friends, purchasing this book is such a great investment for the children and families in your ministry! I am happy that Dorena has agreed to give away a book to one of my fabulous readers. To enter, email me at kidminspiration@gmail.com with your response to the following question:

How do you celebrate the colors God gave us?

Responses should be received no later than 11:59 pm EST on Friday, May 5th.

No More Manic Mondays!

04/09/201804/09/2018 Kathie Phillips

Mondays don't have to be manic! Here's what my Mondays look like like and how it sets me up for a productive week!

Mondays. The day of the week many people dread for various reasons. However, for many others, Mondays offer a start to accomplish new goals and gives a fresh perspective to tackle the week ahead and allows. You either love ’em or you hate ’em.

Mondays don’t have to be manic. They can be magnificent!

Click To Tweet

Today, I’m sharing a peek into what my Mondays typically look like. These seven tasks help me to start my week off on the right foot. While I don’t do every single thing below every Monday, this gives you a general idea of what I block Mondays out for.

FOLLOW UP WITH NOTES FROM SUNDAY

Each Sunday, I carry a clipboard (yes, I’m very old school – I am a ‘pen and paper’ type of gal) with my Sunday volunteer list and blank paper. I make notes of any upcoming volunteer absences, school performances, special occasions/milestones, prayer requests, supply needs, etc. If I don’t write it down, I forget! On Mondays, I transfer these notes to my daily planner and follow-up accordingly.

FOLLOW UP WITH VOLUNTEERS WHO CALLED OUT

Like any kidmin leader knows, rarely a Sunday goes by without a volunteer calling out unexpectedly due to illness (or the illness of a child), traveling or last-minute emergencies. I follow-up with an email or text, asking for any updates on how they’re feeling, if I can bring a meal, how I might help, etc. I want my volunteers to know that I truly care about them and that I miss them when they’re not able to serve.

UPDATE THIS WEEKEND’S VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE

Each Monday, I update my volunteer schedule to reflect those who are serving for the upcoming weekend. This is especially helpful early in the week because I can identify serving opportunities (not “slots” or “holes”) quickly and know exactly what our needs are. Doing this early in the week also saves me those unexpected surprises and scrambling at the last-minute.

INVEST IN MY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

In order to grow as a leader, I have to invest in myself. This could include reading books/blogs/articles, listening to podcasts, viewing webinars or meeting with another leader. By blocking out this time each week, I am able to invest in myself so that I can pour into others. See some of my favorite books here and my favorite magazines, websites, social media networks and podcasts here.

MEET WITH VOLUNTEERS AND/OR PARENTS

It is very important for me to spend time with my volunteers and parents outside of Sunday morning. Nothing makes the beginning of a busy week better than grabbing coffee, breakfast or lunch with a volunteer or parent. Doing this in a relaxed setting allows for us to have great conversations and get to know each other better. (*Note: this is typically ‘issue’-free. We meet on Mondays just for fun and fellowship.)

CURRICULUM EDITING

Honestly, this is one of my favorite parts of my week. I love seeing ‘raw’ curriculum become ‘live’ curriculum that I’ll get to see in real-time! I’ll share my process for editing our curriculum in a future post, but when I sit down to edit, I edit for the entire month/unit so that I can (1) get an overview for the entire month, (2) set a cohesive tone for the entire month, (3) build on each week based on the previous week, and (4) purchase any needed supplies in one order.

SCHEDULE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

I schedule all of our social media posts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) for the entire month on the first Monday of each month. This saves me a HUGE amount of time and gives me one less thing to think about.

TOOLS I USE TO GET THE JOB DONE

Google Docs – I use this to keep track of who is serving when and where – this is a great tool because any necessary changes are made in real-time and I’m able to share the document with others on my team.

Hootsuite – This program allows me to schedule all of my social media posts for the entire month. Not only can I do this from my computer, but I can use their app on the go. Very flexible and very easy to use!

2018 At-A-Glance – Yes, I still use a paper planner, mainly because I take great joy in actually checking things off of my to-do list! This planner is one of my favorites.

Keep the conversation going by leaving a comment: What do your Mondays look like?

Freebie Friday: Recruiting and Training New Nursery Volunteers

12/29/201712/29/2017 Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

Church nurseries are often the first place where parents leave their babies for the first time, so it’s very important to ensure that this ministry area is particularly top notch. As a kidmin leader, you have the responsibility of recruiting the right people and thoroughly training them to serve in your Nursery. Where do you start?

Earlier this fall, I wrote a training piece for Sparkhouse’s Frolic Online to assist kidmin leaders with this task.

Recruiting and Training New Kidmin Nursery Volunteers