Conspire

Wed, 7 Nov 2007 10:29:25 -0600

For the past 4 months, I have been working with the Willow Creek Association – helping to plan the 2008 Children’s Ministry Conference. I’m having a blast working with an extremely gifted and passionate team – and am really proud of the work we’ve accomplished together thus far.

The idea behind the conference is simple: we need each other. We need each other for support, encouragement, connection, inspiration – all so that the children and families in our community can be best served. The conference is called Conspire – we want to connect and inspire children’s leaders in a new and fresh way.

Check out the website www.conspireconference.com and let me know what you think!

Kids and Nutrition

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:36:11 -0500

Kids and the idea of good nutrition has been on my mind a lot recently - with so many parents concerned about raising their children to make good nutrition choices – how are we as the church helping them accomplish this?

Some days I love to work at my favorite coffee shop down the street from my house. Lately I’ve been noticing a trend that has made me do some serious thinking. Often when I am in the coffee shop I notice moms coming in and out with their very young children – the moms stopping in for their morning coffee while at the same time picking up a treat for their kids. This particular coffee shop offers a magical milk delight drink for young kids – it’s basically milk, ice cream, a lot of whip cream, and sprinkles if you choose – and not in a small cup. The first time I saw a young boy – about 2 years old drinking this magical drink – I thought – Wow! That’s a big drink for such a little boy. And since then I’ve noticed more and more young children drinking this sugary drink very early in the morning. Is this the current reality for most families?

A friend recently made a comment about how his young son had received armfuls of candy the previous Sunday from the children’s ministry at church. He said that when he went to pick up his son he saw the teachers throwing bagfuls of candy at the kids. This was a little disturbing to him because it was only 10 AM on a Sunday morning – and he didn’t want his son to eat candy that early in the morning. Later that night I was thinking about his comment – and thinking about the trillions of times I had given candy to children at church before 10AM. It got me thinking – is this really the best thing to do? I know that I want children to enjoy church and have fun learning the Bible – but does candy have to be involved for that to happen? Probably not.

These are my initial thoughts – I have more to say – but want to hear what you think first.

Where are the Volunteers?

Wed, 5 Sep 2007 18:53:55 -0500

It seems as if we all have the same shortage of volunteers willing to serve in our children’s ministries - especially as we head into a brand new ministry season. Where are all of the fabulous men and women who want to teach the Bible creatively and shepherd children and partner with parents and count goldfish and lead worship and build sets? Sometimes it feels as if they are nowhere to be found. And I’ve looked just about everywhere..

It also seems to me that volunteer resources – books, curriculum, websites devoted to helping me as a children’s ministry leader recruit and train volunteers are also nowhere to be found. I have a short list of books (2) that I turn to when I need new ideas in recruiting and shepherding volunteers, and an even shorter list of websites that come to mind (1). I am very passionate about volunteerism within children’s ministry and have some ideas about developing creative new resources. But, I’m interested to know what you think – are there great volunteer development resources out there that I don’t know about – or do you feel the shortage in the same way I do? And what kind of resources would help you most?

I value your feedback – so bring it on!

3 Weeks

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:26:06 -0500

It has been 3 weeks since I last posted - Allow me to catch you up on the details. My husband and I left for Montclair, New Jersey about 2 weeks ago in order to serve at the Leadership Summit. What a fantastic time we had! We served alongside the fabulous people at Christ Church – and were so struck by their servant leadership, their passion and dedication to God, and their love for each other. It was a beautiful picture of diversity in the church and the power of God to bring about unity.

After our time in New Jersey, we took some vacation days in New York City. What fun we had exploring the city – we visited the Empire State Building, Central Park, Washington Square Park, Ground Zero, Times Square and Broadway. It was great to have time together to explore.

Upon returning from this trip, I left for a 2 day trip to Chicago with an outstanding group of children’s ministry leaders. They call themselves leaders – but I call them celebrities because they are fabulous at serving children, families and volunteers in the church. We gathered together for a creative brainstorm and to hear the truth about the present state of children’s ministry. These children’s leaders gave so much of themselves and their ideas – their thoughts will stay with me for long time.

Now I am back home – and very happy to unpack my suitcase for a little while. I’m thrilled to back in my normal routine – consulting children’s leaders and preparing some speaking and writing. And I’m most happy to be back at my favorite coffee shop.

Leadership Summit

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:30:15 -0500

In just about 1 week I’ll leave for my first ever visit to New York City. I’m an urban city-girl at heart but I’ve never been to the big apple. I’m taking a trip to the east coast to help with the leadership summit for the willow creek association. I’m assigned to a satellite site at Christ Church in Mont Clair, New Jersey.
I’ll be at the church for 4 days and then my husband and I are taking 4 vacation days in New York City! I’m thrilled to be attending the summit and visiting the east coast!

I’ll be blogging from the summit each day – so if you are attending, be sure to add your comments from your location.

Every year I am inspired to be a better leader at the leadership summit. I’ll never forget Bill Hybel’s message a few years ago about the holy discontent inside each person. It was during that time, my own personal discontent become more clear than ever to me - I won’t rest until this world is a fair and safe place for all children. This year I am looking forward to Carly Fiorina – her story as a woman in leadership is fascinating to me.

Let’s start a conversation - What are you looking forward to this year at the Leadership Summit? Was there a moment at a past summit that re-defined your life?