RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY: #DisneyWorld

Showing posts with label #DisneyWorld. Show all posts

Disney - Night of Joy Cancelled...Pride Nite In

11:01 AM Dale Hudson

I am a Disney fan. When I lived in Florida, I had a season pass and went 10-12 times a year.

I also co-authored a book called "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry" that has sold thousands of copies.

One of the highlights of my trips to Disney was the Night of Joy. Night of Joy was an annual, contemporary Christian music festival. It started up in 1983 and was held every year.

It was great to be able to see some of the top CCM artists sing praises to God throughout the park and to hear testimonies of God's grace and love shared.

Why was the Night of Joy cancelled? It definitely wasn't because of poor attendance. Every year I went it was full.

A Disney World spokeswoman said eliminating Night of Joy is a part of Walt Disney World's philosophy of "continually changing our offerings."

So...Night of Joy is cancelled.

Sad to think that the company cancelled the one event that exalted Jesus. I know they are not a Christian company, but they have been known all these years as a "family-friendly" place. It was definitely a place that Walt built to provide families with a great family-friendly experience. To be honest, I doubt he would be favorable to where the company has gone after his passing.

A few weeks ago, Disney rolled out a new celebration. What was the theme? Pride Nite.

Pride Nite took place this past June 13th and 15th at Disneyland in California. Pride Nite is a separately ticketed event which celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. This after-hours event includes themed entertainment, Disney characters, one-of-a-kind photo opportunities, specialty menu items, event merchandise and more.

This should honestly not be a surprise. Disney has been gradually promoting and celebrating the LGBTQIA+ lifestyle more and more each year. This includes not only this new Pride Night, but the ongoing "Gay Days at the Park as well."

The first week in June brings the LGBTQIA+ Community together in Orlando. The annual event began in 1991 and has grown each year. The event now attracts over 150,000 people. The event is packed with entertainment and gatherings for the LGBTQIA+ community.

We know there is an active agenda to indoctrinate the next generation with all things gay. Read my article "They Are Coming for Your Children." Disney has jumped on the bandwagon and under the guise of acceptance and inclusion are promoting the gay agenda to the kids and families they can influence.

As Christians what should our response be? Should we stop going to Disney theme parks? Should we stop attending or watching Disney movies? Should we cancel our subscription to the Disney Channel?

This is something each person and family must decide for themselves. I do know this. As Jesus-followers, He calls on us to speak the truth in love. Look at this verse.

"But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head-Christ." Ephesians 4:15

What does it mean to "speak the truth in love?"

"Speaking the truth in love" is being able to communicate your convictions to others without wavering and in a way that other people will hear you.

We are to stand with the teachings of the Bible. While at the same time sharing our convictions with a heart of love and kindness so people will hear what we have to say.

Your turn. Share your thoughts and insights about this. What do you think? Share in the comment section below.

3 Ingredients From Disney for Making Exciting Moments

9:51 AM Dale Hudson

Recently Tom Craven, long-time designer for Walt Disney World productions, shared 3 keys to making exciting moments and environments for kids and parents.

Tom was the leader of productions such as the Electrical Water Pageant, the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Epcot Center Lagoon Show and other creative projects at Disney.

He also played a big role in the design, construction and grand opening of Walt Disney World, Epcot Center, Disney Studios, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

In this talk, Tom shared 3 keys to creating exciting moments and environments.

Here are a few notes that I took while watching this. I would encourage you to watch it below. You'll get lots of ideas from his talk.

#1 - Inspiration.

inspiration can come from anywhere
spread your net wider than your own circle

#2 - Creativity

it is a team effort
it is not the domain of a single individual

#3 - Faith

believe in your team members
trust your team members

Do you have our book "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry?" It's a must read for children's ministry leaders. It's available at this link.

You can also get a recorded copy of our "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry" webinar. In the webinar, we share more proven ideas how you can make your children's ministry "the place for kids" in your community. It's available at this link.

p.s. If you can't see the teaching video below, it is available at this link.

Want to Increase Your Children's Ministry Budget? Here's How

8:59 AM Dale Hudson

Need more budget funds to help accomplish your mission? I'm sure the answer is "yes."

If you are like me, I have sometimes looked at churches or businesses and thought, "Wow...if I only had their budget...I could accomplish so much more for the Kingdom."

I have often thought that when I am visiting a Disney Park. I see all the incredible rides, fantastic shows and amazing parades and think "I wish I had their budget. I could do so much more if that was the case."

But if you dig a little deeper, you will see where their massive budget came from.

You see, Walt started out with nothing. He was so broke at one point that he had to live off of dog food. Yes, you read that correctly. He was so broke that the only thing he could afford to buy was dog food.

But what Walt lacked in finances at the time, he made up for with his vision to provide a place where kids and their parents could go to and have fun together.

Disney obviously has a huge budget and assets now. Their net income in 2019 was 11.05 billion U.S. dollars. In the same year, the company announced record revenue of 69.57 billion U.S. dollars.

How did they go from Walt living off of dog food to a billion dollar enterprise?

I would propose that their huge budget comes from their ability to connect with families. Over 73 million people walk in a Disney Park each year (might be lower this year due to pandemic). The vast, vast majority of those people will be kids and their families.

Disney's budget came from their ability to create great experiences for kids and families.

Want to grow your children and family ministry budget? Here's a simple answer. Reach kids and their parents. The more people you reach, the more you will see your budget increase.

Remember when Jesus and the disciples owed a tax. Jesus told them to go to the water and catch a fish. They obeyed and sure enough there was a coin in the fish's mouth. They used it to pay the tax. We see the principle again - if you want to grow your budget (and ministry), then connect with and reach families.

Your Pastor wants to increase your ministry budget. But for that to happen, you need to reach more families. More families means more budget.

p.s. Have you read my book "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry?" It has lots of great ideas that will help you reach more families. You can order it at this link - www.buildingchildrensministry.com.

Why Kids Are Saying Your Ministry is Boring

11:59 AM Dale Hudson

Recently, I was talking with a children's ministry leader and she told me the kids were saying the lessons are boring.

Let me let you in on a little secret. When a kid says a lesson is boring...it probably is.

If you want to know if your lessons are boring...ask the kids.

You can do this by having a round table discussion with a group of 6-8 kids. Ask them about the parts of your service and which ones they are bored with. Make it anonymous, so the kids won't feel pressure to answer a certain way because they want to please you. You need to hear the truth, whether it's positive or negative.

Here are some proven ways you can make sure you won't hear kids saying the lessons are boring...

Stop talking so much. When it comes to boring lessons, this is the #1 culprit. If you are trying to use talking to keep kids' engaged for 15-20 minutes, you are setting yourself up for failure. Talking should not last more than 5 minutes at a time.

Involve kids in the lesson. When kids have to sit still, they get bored and easily distracted. Get them up and moving during the lesson. Have them be the Bible characters. Have the rest of the kids be sound effects. Get every one involved.

Honor kids' attention spans. So here is the biggie. Honor kids' attention spans which is 5 minutes max. For preschoolers it can be even less, like 2-3 minutes. Look at your entire classroom time not as 60 minutes. Rather look at your classroom time as being 12 x 5 minute sessions.

Play games that have a purpose. A quick way to wake a child up from boredom, is to play a fun and engaging game. Play several games each week. Make sure to involve as many kids as possible and have the game tie into the lesson.

Sing worship songs that are age-appropriate and fun to sing. I'm not sure why...but from what I have observed in my travels...we are trying to make kids sing adult worship songs. Watch the kids during your worship time. How many are actually singing? How many are distracted because there are too many motions to try to copy? How many are being asked to sing words that are over their head?

In my opinion, we need to bring back some of the old school songs that kids sang 10 years or so ago.

These are songs that are written for kids and that engage kids and gets them singing. Songs like...

Come and Go With Me to My Father's House
I Get Down and He Lifts Me Up
Every Move I Make
Jesus, Be the Center of My Life

Use video...but not too much. It's okay to have a 5 to 8 minute at a time video segment but I recommend not going over that. Kids have video messaging and ads coming at them non-stop now. A full lesson on video can be too much of a good thing and kids get bored with it . Especially when the video is of someone just talking.

Watch the kids' reactions. When kids get bored, they look away. Watch and make a note of when kids start looking away. Go back and tweak that part(s) of the service.

We have the most exciting, engaging lesson ever presented to mankind - Jesus and His plan of salvation.

The best lesson deserves the best presentation.

I have often heard people say, "I'm not going to church, because I was made to go as a child." Think about this - you don't have to make someone go where they want to be. Their memory of church is that it was not relevant, not fun and boring.

I've never heard anyone say, "I'm not going to Disney World because I was made to go as a child." Why not? Because it was an exciting, fun place to go.

My prayer is that we will give our very best to creating environments where kids will walk out with a smile on their face and God's Word placed in their thoughts.

Your turn. What do you think causes kids to say a ministry is boring? What insight or advice can you give to someone to make the experience at their church one that causes kids to drag their parents to services? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Tips From How Disney Is Helping Families Make Magical Moments at Home

9:46 AM Dale Hudson

It is awesome to see how children's ministries are ministering to kids and their families not just on Sunday, but also during the week in the midst of the current pandemic. We know that millions of kids are home and parents are looking for ways to keep them busy, learning and entertained.

Using technology, churches are equipping parents to disciple their kids at home, discipling kids through interactive videos, broadcasting devotions, engaging with interactive activities and providing downloadable activities, games, learning pages and much more.

I'm sure you are aware that Disney has closed its physical parks during this pandemic. But true to Disney form, they are providing lots of great stuff to help families make magical moments at home. Let's take a look at what they are doing and gather some ideas from their strategy.

Like everyone else, they are running their programs online. Their website for this can be found at this link.

Here are some of the things they are offering. Be thinking of how you could do these things on a smaller scale and shoestring budget. The good news is most of the ideas below can be done with little to no cost. And for the video portions, if you have a phone with a camera built in, you are ready to go.

A digital video series called At Home With Olaf. What short videos can you create? Grab a camera and create a fun video with elements that tie into your lessons. If you don't have the resources or ability to create your own videos, then check to see if there are some other short videos you could show (make sure to follow copyright policies)?

Disney also has made a virtual ride-through of "It's a Small Word" attraction. What if you created a walk through video of your children's area? How could you make it creative? Maybe there are some puppets waiting to interact in one of the rooms? Maybe you can show them behind the scenes in your prop or storage rooms.

They have a sing-a-long time with a Dapper Dans' group. Take a cue from this and post your worship songs / videos on line and encourage kids and parents to sing-a-long (remember to follow copyright laws). Challenge parents to see if they can keep up with their kids' moves.

Disney also has a story time with the original Mulan voice actress, Ming-Na Wen. You can also stream or have on demand Bible stories read by someone.

There are also cooking recipes for kids who love to cook. Kids and parents can make a meal or dessert together. You could do this as well and tie the ingredients into truths from God's Word. An example would be making homemade bread and using it for communion...explaining what the bread represents.

There is a tutorial on how to draw Olaf. What if you walked the kids through drawing some Bible characters or scenes? Moses parting the Red Sea? Daniel with sling shot? Jesus in the boat with the disciples? You can keep the drawings simple.

Disney also has coloring and activity sheets that you can download and print from their website. You can do the same thing with lesson activity sheets, coloring pages, etc.

Their mission statement for this online strategy is this.

Disney Magic Moments lets you experience the magic of Disney wherever you may be. Enjoy Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic with stories, videos and activities to inspire imagination and discovery among kids, fans and families alike.

Disney says they have been "thrilled" to see families creating their own Disney moments while isolating at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

What an amazing opportunity you have as a children's ministry leader to connect with families at home and provide them with tools they can use together to create some "God moments."

Would love to see some examples of what you are doing at your church to engage kids and families during the weekdays. Share the link in the comment section below so we can check it out.

p.s. Have you gotten your copy of "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry? It shares tons of ideas you can use from Disney to make your ministry a magnet for kids. You can get the book at this link.