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Tag: children’s ministry

Leadership Lessons from “Restaurant: Impossible”

Kathie Phillips 6 Comments

One of my favorite TV shows is “Restaurant: Impossible” on Food Network.  If you are not familiar with the show, let me give you a quick overview.  With two days and $10,000 Chef Robert Irvine goes to a failing restaurant with the hopes of turning the business around.  Chef Robert chats with the owner, the staff and patrons to find out why the restaurant is failing.  Then, after ordering several dishes off of the menu (he has rarely liked anything on the original menu), he outlines the problems that he’ll address.

Most times, the owners don’t have a clue how to run their business.  Other times, the owners have lost their passion.  They have been failing for so long that they have little hope of ever recovering.

I love the show for many reasons but what I love most are all of the leadership lessons that the owners learn.  I learn a lot too.  Aside from serving really bad food, the reasons why most of the restaurants are failing can be narrowed down to four areas:

1.  Poor service

2.  Poor leadership/management

3.  Outdated decor

4.  Poor marketing

Sadly, these things are often true of Children’s Ministries.  Sometimes, leaders can get stuck in a rut or get accustomed to flying on ‘survival mode’ that we don’t give thought to the details that make our ministry shine.

Use the checklist below to see what areas your ministry might need to address.

Poor Service

  • Do you have friendly greeters stationed to greet families as they enter your children’s areas?
  • Do you have a check-in system?  Is it efficient?
  • Do you try to alleviate long lines at check-in?
  • Do you walk new/visiting families and their children to their classrooms or do you just point them in the right direction?

Poor Leadership/Management

  • Do you have enough staff to cover each classroom?  If not, are you working towards that goal?
  • What are your ministry’s strengths?
  • In what areas does your ministry need to grow?
  • Do you have key leaders (volunteer or paid) in place to help shoulder your ministry’s responsibilities?
  • Are your volunteers aware of what is expected from them?  Do you have written job descriptions in place?
  • Do you hold regular volunteer training opportunities that equip your volunteers to do their job effectively?
  • Do you appreciate your volunteers?  How do you show them?
  • Are you growing as a leader?  Are you reading, taking classes, and/or attending conferences/workshops to become better in your craft?
  • Do you have a mentor, someone who can pour into your life and hold you accountable?
  • Are you mentoring someone?

Outdated Decor

  • Does your ministry area scream “1980”?
  • Are your classroom spaces kid-friendly and kid-appealing?
  • Are your classroom spaces clean and sanitized?
  • How can you spruce up your ministry area, even on a limited budget?  A coat or two of brightly colored paint?  New tables and chairs? New flooring?
  • Are the books and toys in good condition?  Do you have working batteries in all of your battery-operated toys?

Poor Marketing

  • Does your ministry have an informative, eye-catching brochure?
  • Does your website have up-to-date information?
  • Is your signage clear and visible?
  • Does your ministry have a logo?
  • How do parents and those in your church body and neighboring communities view your ministry?

These are just a few things to think about when leading a Children’s Ministry.  Help your ministry grow in 2013 by addressing areas that might be pulling your ministry down.

I’d love to hear what you’d add to the list.  Share your thoughts below!

Volunteer Information Packet Must-Haves

Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

When volunteers join our ministry, they are given a packet of useful information to provide insight into our ministry’s policies and procedures. The packet is usually distributed at our volunteer training but occasionally a volunteer will join our ministry mid-year. That’s why we always have packets ready to go.

Our volunteer packets are usually a colored 2-pocket folder (without the 3 prongs): green (for our elementary ministry) and blue (for our preteen ministry). Here’s what’s found inside:

Left Side of the Folder

  • Children’s Ministry Pocket Guide to Discipline (published by Group)
  • Children’s Ministry Pocket Guide to Special Needs (also published by Group)
  • Leading a Child to Christ pamphlet (available through Lifeway)
  • Our ministry handbook*
  • Age-level characteristics information sheet

Right Side of the Folder

  • “Your Favorite Things” information sheet (a pdf copy is available under the “Leader Resources” tab)
  • “What You Do Matters” poster
  • Morning-at-a-Glance (schedule)
  • Lesson Schedule for the Quarter
  • Class List
  • Sub Contact List
  • Resource Closet Supply List

Providing these packets have helped ensure that our volunteers are not only informed but equipped to serve.

*If you would like to see our ministry handbook, please email me at kidminspiration@gmail.com.

Do you provide information packets to your volunteers? If so, what do you include?

Looking Back, Yet Looking Forward

Kathie Phillips

goodbye2012 hello2013

As 2013 approaches, I am overwhelmed with how much God has blessed me in 2012.  I have grown so much personally, spiritually and professionally this year, much more than I could have ever imagined a year ago.  Maybe you can say the same for yourself.

Looking Back

Growth and challenge are two words that I would use to describe 2012.  The thing is that those two words, growth and challenge can have positive and negative connotations.  Positive because God doesn’t want us to stay in a comfortable place, thus resulting in complacency. Negative because with growth and challenge often come pain, headache, hardship and deep introspection.

This blog is a result of growth and challenge.  In my very first blog post, I shared my ambivalence about blogging.  Yet here I stand seven months later!  God is so good!  I’ve always known that I’m up for a good challenge but this experience has really stretched me!

Here were our two most popular posts in 2012:

S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Ministry Dollars (Most Popular)

Book Review and Free Book Giveaway:  “The One Year Be-Tween You and God” (Most Viewed)

Looking Forward

With that said, I am looking forward to improving and expanding this platform that God has given me.  In 2013, you will see a KidMinspiration logo, more guest posts, more product reviews, and downloadable resources that you can use in your church (leaders and volunteers) and at home (parents).  Spread the word…some great things are coming!

I hope you’ll join me on this journey!  I am so thankful for everyone who subscribes, reads, comments, “retweets” and “shares”.  Thank you for becoming a part of my extended family!  I am looking forward to connecting with you even more.  See you in 2013!

Blessings to you all,

Kathie

Guest Post: Three Last-Minute Christmas Lesson Ideas

Kathie Phillips

Today’s guest post is written by Steven Knight.  Steven has been serving in children’s ministry for almost 10 years. He loves working with kids & families, both evangelizing and discipling them. He is currently serving as a children’s ministry leader in Chicago while studying at Moody Bible Institute. He is blessed to have a wonderful wife, Katie. Steven blogs regularly at Kidmintools.com, which is a website dedicated to providing Family and Children’s Ministry resources and articles. You can also follow him on Twitter at @StevenKnight09.

Hey everyone! Since the holidays are such a busy time, we all get behind in something. For this Christmas season, I wanted to provide you with three last-minute Christmas lesson ideas to help you, if you are in need of a quick children’s ministry lesson!

candycaneCandy Cane Time: For this lesson, you will need to write on small pieces of paper and tape them to the candy canes. On the pieces of paper, write things that you believe are important to children (family, friends, Xbox, toys, dolls, etc.) Hide the candy canes around the room and have the children search for them. After the game is over, have several of the children say which candy canes are most important to them. Using the candy canes as an illustration, link the things written on the paper to a story about what is most important in your life, which is God. You can share how important these things are during the holiday season, but God is way more important than all of them. You can then share the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in Luke 2.

The Ultimate Present:This lesson is based around an object lesson using a Christmas present. You can talk about how excitedchristmaspresent you are to give away a gift today. Pretend to give your present to one of your volunteers, but don’t let go of the present when you start to hand it to them. Act surprised and then ask them to pay you $50 for the gift first. After the volunteer has acted surprised at this outrageous demand, give the gift to him for free. Explain to the kids that every present has a cost, but there is no cost to someone when they receive a free gift, because it has been paid for by someone else. Use this analogy to then explain the free gift of salvation, and the purpose for Jesus’ birth.

nativityNativity Narrative: For this lesson idea, simply read the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2. While many children have heard about the story of Jesus’ birth, some children might not have ever heard the Scripture account of His birth, and definitely not an exciting narrative! To make this lesson have more of an impact, simply add emphasis to the story where appropriate. For example, “I cannot even pretend to imagine what it must have been like for the shepherds, who were out in their fields with their sheep at night, when suddenly an angel appeared with the heavenly host, all praising God while His glory shone around them!” If you need extra tips on how to make this re-telling of the Nativity story more impactful, you can check out this recent article on Reteaching a Story.

Have any other last-minute Christmas lesson ideas? Feel free to share them below!

 

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