Showing posts with label #buildvolunteerteam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #buildvolunteerteam. Show all posts

Increase Your Volunteer Team With This Proven Strategy

9:20 AM  Dale Hudson  

Do you need more volunteers? 

Yes. Of course you do. I know I do. I have a solid volunteer team, but I always need more people. Especially if you want to grow. Adding new volunteers prepares you for growth.  

Volunteers are an essential part of children's ministry. Without them there is no children's ministry. 

So how can you increase your volunteer team? Here's the good news. I have a proven strategy that will help you grow your team.

It is a proven strategy that even Jesus used to grow His disciple's team. 

Ready for this ground breaking strategy?  Okay, here it is. 

Personally invite people to join your team...one at a time. 

Look at this example of how Jesus built His team one person at a time. It is found in Matthew 9.

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."

And another example found in John 1. 

"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

The proven strategy is personal, one-on-one asks. How many volunteers do you need? The way to enlist people is to personally ask them to join your team.

Don't complain about not having enough volunteers if you are not personally asking people to serve. 

At one of the churches where I lead the children's ministry, we grew our volunteer team from 300 to over 2,000.  It took us nine years to do this. How did it happen? One new volunteer at at time. Every single week, we started asking people to join our team...one person at a time.  We did this week in and week out for over 9 years. After 9 years of doing this, we looked up and saw that we had over 2,000 volunteers. 

How many volunteers do you need? 5? 50? 500?  You will get them one person at a time.

That sounds like a lot of hard work. Yes...it is. But it's a price you have to pay if you want to grow your team. Don't complain about not having enough volunteers if you are not personally asking people to join your team.

One little (big) hint. Before you ask people, ask God to give you divine appointments. You see, there are people in your church that God has been speaking to about serving. Ask God to lead you to those people. 

I'll never forget when Dan joined our team. We had an opening on our volunteer security team. We begin to pray and ask God to bring us the right person for this important role. One day, we saw a man named Dan who was dropping off his kids at children's ministry. We felt God telling us that he was the person. We approached him about serving on the security team. His eyes immediately filled with tears and he said, "that is where I have been feeling God wanted me to serve, but I didn't know if you needed anyone.  Of course, I would love to serve in that role."

Divine appointments. Ask for them and watch in amazement as God leads you to the people He wants on your volunteer team. 

I'm not sure what proven strategy you were looking for...but you have found one. Try it and watch what God does. 

p.s. For more great tips about building and leading a volunteer team, get my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams."

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Why I Told a Potential Volunteer to NOT Serve in Children's Ministry

8:11 AM  Dale Hudson  

This past week, I was talking with a potential volunteer.  He was a great prospect to serve in children's ministry. I knew he could make an impact if he joined our team. 

But after talking with him, I encouraged him to NOT serve in children's ministry.

Why did I tell him no? 

Did I think he wouldn't pass the background check? No.

Did I think he is not gifted to influence children? No.

Does he have a negative personality? No...in fact, it is the opposite. He has a dynamic personality. 

The reason why I told him not to serve in children's ministry was the answer he gave me to this question.

"What is your dream role at church?"

He paused for a minute to think about this and then told me that his dream role was to work with young adults. That was his passion. 

My red flag went up. I told him he shouldn't serve in children's ministry. I encouraged him to pursue serving in our young adult ministry.  In fact, yesterday I talked with our young adult pastor and he is going to get him plugged into serving in our young adult ministry. 

Is it easy to not pursue a great potential children's ministry volunteer?  No...of course not. I would have loved to have him on our team.  But I would have been doing him a disservice. 

Think with me about this. When you ask a potential volunteer where they want to serve, they will often say "wherever you need me."  The temptation is to put them where you have a need...even if it's not the best fit for the person. 

Don't place potential volunteers where you need them.  Rather, place them where they need to be.

Where do they need to be?  In a role that aligns with their passion and calling. Their dream job at church. 

One of two things will happen when you place a volunteer in a role that is not their sweet spot. 

They will burn out and quit or they will continue to serve in that role out of character, but they will not enjoy it.  

I remember I received the name of a man that wanted to serve in children's ministry. He had responded to someone telling him we needed some more small group leaders.  I was excited to have another man join our team.  We had many boys that were from single parent homes and a male role model and mentor could really make a difference in their lives. 

As I was meeting with him to finalize his role in children's ministry, I knew I still needed to ask him the question. 

What is your dream role here at church? 

He paused and then he said, "I really love working with high school students. But I know you have some openings in children's ministry so I can serve there." 

The easy thing would have been to get him serving in children's ministry. But I would have been shortchanging him.  

I said, "no....I don't think you should serve in children's ministry. Let's walk down to the high school ministry and I will introduce you to our student pastor so you can serve in student ministry."

Remember this... 

Don't use people to build the ministry...rather, use the ministry to build people.

When you help people find their "sweet spot" in serving, they will thrive. 

Serving shouldn't be about what we want from people. It should be about what we want for people. That's why you have to say "no" sometimes to someone serving in children's ministry.  

Here are a couple of resources that can help you with this. 

Volunteer Interview Questions -free of charge. You can get it here.  

My book - The Formula For Building Great Volunteer Teams. You can get it here. It has been called the best book ever written on the subject. 

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Don't Give Your Remote Away

10:15 AM  Dale Hudson  

Have you given your leadership remote to someone else?

Are your feelings as a leader based on how other people feel about you?

Do you hesitate to share your vision with others because you worry about what they will think or how they will respond?

Who controls the temperature of the ministry? You or someone else?

Are you leading or are you being led by popular opinion?

Do you lead with power, love and sound judgment or with fear?

Are you leading with an "I can do all things through Christ" attitude or are you frozen because of other people's lack of faith?

Yes. Delegation is critical if you are going to build a great children's ministry.  You need to give away parts of the ministry so it can grow and expand. 

That being said, there are other parts of the ministry that you, as the leader, must control and guide.

Don't give away your VISION remote.  You have to set the vision for the ministry.  If you don't have one, then work to create one. 

The vision must come from you as the leader since you are the primary vision caster.  The vision will keep taking volunteers back to the "why."  

I can't say it enough.  You have to keep pushing your remote control button that says "vision."  Vision leaks.  Vision must be repeated to be remembered long-term.  

Don't depend on other leaders to push the vision button.  It has to come from you. 

Don't give away your VALUE remote.  It is easy to get discouraged in ministry.  If we are not intentional about pushing the value remote, we will get our value from what we do instead of who we are.  Often the value we place on ourselves is based on how the ministry is doing.  

Push the value button often and remember that your value to God is not based on your "performance." Rather it is based on who you are in Christ.  You are loved.  You are valuable to God.  You are a child of God. 

People will try to pull the value remote control out of your hands.  Don't let them have it.  See your self as God sees you. 

Your value is worth more to God than all the riches of the world.  You are priceless to Him. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.   Matthew 10:29-31

Don't give away your VICTORY remote.

Your victory comes from God, not other people. Your victory must not be based on what others think victory looks like.  It must come from your relationship with Christ and what He says victory is.

Look what He told the disciples in Luke 10.  

I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning! Look, I have give you authority over all the power of the enemy and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them.  Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you: rejoice because your names are registered in Heaven.

Hold your victory remote close to yourself and make sure your victory motives are in line with what Jesus thinks.  He makes it very clear in this verse that we should rejoice because we will live with Him for eternity.  That trumps everything else.  

Think about this...

Let your main source of joy come from what God is doing in you, not what God is doing through you.

Let your main source of joy come from who you are in Christ, not from who you are in ministry.

Let your main source of joy come from the time you spend with Jesus, not from the time you spend working for Jesus. 

Let your main source of joy come from what God thinks about you, not from what others think about you.

Let your main source of joy come from your growth in Christ, not from the growth of your ministry.

Hang onto your remote!

p.s. Have you signed up for this upcoming webinar? Don't miss this opportunity to learn from some of the best team builders in the world. Plus...you get a copy of one of my books when you register. See below for more info. and register at this link.


 

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Post Pandemic Issues I See in Churches

10:59 AM  Dale Hudson  

As I speak and minister at churches and conferences, I am often asked what are some of the trends I see in churches.  

One of the big trends I see is churches working through the after effects of covid 19. 

Many churches are still trying to recover from a drop in attendance and volunteers.  

One thing that is interesting is this - many churches saw their giving remain constant or even increase during the pandemic.  This shows that giving online has become one of the primary ways people give.

When it comes to attendance, many churches are struggling to regain their pre-covid numbers. Families that were faithful attendees have simply not returned. It seems that Covid 19 was the excuse they were waiting on to drop out of church.  This will obviously have a negative effect on the next generation who is watching this happen. 

As parents, our actions speak louder than our words.  When parents don't make church attendance a priority, it sends a message to the next generation that attending and being a part of a church is not essential to growing in our faith and advancing the kingdom of God.

We must continue to emphasize to parents that it is critical to have their children in church faithfully.  We must continue to encourage families who have dropped out to come back.  Hebrews 10:25 is still in the Bible. 

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Notice some key words we find in this verse.

  • "Let us not give up meeting together" - don't give up going to church - it's one of the key ways we grow in our faith
  • "as some are in the habit of doing" - habits dictate actions - when families get in the habit of missing church, it can be difficult to return
  • "let us encourage one another" - we should encourage each other to return to church
  • "all the more" - now is not the time to pull back - but rather to raise our level of commitment 

My new book "Fertile Soil...see kids' faith grow and flourish for a lifetime" is a great resource to get in the hands of the parents in your ministry.  One of the chapters talks to parents about the crucial importance of having your child in church faithfully.  You can get the book at this link. 

What about volunteers?  Covid definitely has had an impact on volunteers.  We know that volunteers are the life blood of every ministry.  Without them, ministry can't happen.  Many volunteers stepped out of serving and many of them have not returned. For some it was an exit opportunity. This is not to say some volunteers did have a valid reason for quitting due to their health situation.  

It takes a lot of work to build a solid volunteer team (and to rebuild one).  But it can be done.  You simply need the right strategy and a commitment to building a team.  In the church I attend, we recently recruited 10 new volunteers to serve in a new ministry environment we are opening. Yes, you can still build and rebuild volunteer teams.  If you are struggling in this area, get my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams."  It is available at this link. 

These are the two big issues I see. What about you? What are some challenges you are facing post-covid? What are some steps you are taking to rebuild and refocus?  Share your thoughts and insight in the comment section below.

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10 Questions To Ask When Hiring a Children's Ministry Director

11:50 AM  Dale Hudson  

This past weekend I was consulting with a church that is hiring a children's director. 

I was helping them conduct interviews with the people who had applied for the position. 

I have a list of questions that I asked the candidates.  Thought I would share the questions with you.  

These questions can also be used with a volunteer who is stepping up to assume more leadership responsibility as a volunteer. 

 1. Can you tell me about your relationship with Jesus?  When did you enter a relationship with Him?  What do you do to grow in your faith?

 2. Why are you applying for this position?  What drew you to this?  Why do you want to be a children's director?

 3. What are your strengths?  What comes easy for you?

 4. What are some things you are working on to get better at?

 5. What are 3 goals you would set and try to accomplish in your first year?

6.  Can you tell me about a time when there was conflict in a previous job and how you handled it?

7. Children's ministry is about the volunteers who make the ministry happen just as much as about the kids who are part of it. How would you build and equip a volunteer team?  What experience do you have leading adults?

8. How would you partner with parents and equip them to disciple their children?

9. Have you taken a personality test?  If yes, what were the results?  If you haven't would you be willing to take one?

10. What have I not asked you that I should ask you?  

The children's ministry director is one of the most critical hires you can make.  Get the right person and they can help the children's ministry become a major growth engine for the church.  

And think about this.  No one, besides the Pastor, has more contact and influence with the people in your church.  The children's director ministers to babies, preschoolers, elementary, pre-teens, students who serve, adults who serve, parents and grandparents.

This is not an exhaustive list of questions.  What are some other questions you ask potential hires?  Share your thoughts and insight with us in the comment section below.

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The Best Ability to Have in Ministry

12:18 PM  Dale Hudson  



What is the best ability to have in ministry?  Is it the ability to lead people?  Is it the ability to make good decisions?  Is it the ability to build a solid volunteer team?  Is it the ability to communicate well?  Is it the ability to coordinate great events? 

These are all great abilities to have.  But there's one ability that catches God's eye more than anything else.  What is it? 

It's AVAILABILITY. 

The Bible says this in 2 Chronicles 16:9. 

The LORD's eyes keep on roaming throughout the earth,
looking for those whose hearts completely belong to Him,
so that He may strongly support them.

Above all else, God looks for people who will make themselves available to be used by Him.  

Isaiah is a great example of this.  Look what it says in Isaiah 9:6.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
"Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?"
And I said:  “Here am I. Send me!”

If you want to make an impact, if you want to be used by God,  then simply say to God what Isaiah said, "Here am I.  Send me!"

God knows you.  He knows where you are.  He knows your heart.  He knows that you want to be used for kingdom work.  All you need to do is whisper those four words to Him and He will use you more than you could ever imagine. 

When you do this, you will move from just natural abilities to supernatural abilities that will have people watching God do a great work through you.

Many of us have been told that we are not gifted enough to do ministry.  That our personality is not good enough.  That our leadership qualities are lacking.  That we don't have what it takes.  And to be honest, often it is coming from ourselves.  We've been overlooked so many times that we begin to doubt if we are worthy enough to be used by God. 

Turn those negative thoughts off.  You have a God who can take your life and change the world. 

Most of the people in the Bible were not able to be used by God if you look at their life through a natural lens.

Moses stuttered.

Jeremiah said he couldn't talk well.

Gideon said his family were the nobodys of the tribes.

Peter was a fisherman with a bad temper.

And Paul...look what he said.

"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,  so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

Yes, you can be used of God in a great way.  All He is waiting to hear is, "Here am I Lord, send me."
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Millennials and Online Church Attendance

8:30 AM  Dale Hudson  

We are definitely living in challenging times right now.  In the midst of this national and international crisis, we must help parents keep their eyes on Jesus and His love. 

And it is vital that we provide them with clear steps for staying connected to a local church.

It is extremely important to track how Millennials are responding spiritually to COVID-19.  The reason - it's not just for their own personal spiritual health, but for their children's (Gen Z) as well. 

Barna recently released a report that reveals that 50% of Millennial (young parents) churchgoers are not attending online services.  35% of Gen Xers and 26% of Boomers have also stopped attending online services.  

When Millennial parents are not attending services, it means in all likelihood their Gen Z children are not either.

Yes, I know that attending church in person has been all over the board as churches try to navigate starting in person services back.  Many churches are also providing great online programming for kids and students.  But the truth is, at least half of parents are not watching the online services and I would say the same holds true with their children as well.

Barna has identified 3 groups during this COVID-19 world: 

  1. People who have continued to engage by watching their home church.
  2. People who have started watching the online services of another church.
  3. People who are not watching anything online.
One big thing to note is this - the younger people are, the more likely it is that they stopped attending church during this lock down.  

Contrast that with this. People who have stopped attending church online during this time, report higher levels of anxiety and stress.  While those who are staying in church (online or in person), report having a higher level of security. 

We must remember that as parents, our children are watching us. 

Where are we going for encouragement and Biblical teaching? 

Are we modeling what it means to be faithful to our church, either online or in person?

Are we using the children's discipleship tools and resources that our church is providing for us?

Are we taking time to pray with and for our children?

Are we showing our children what it means to trust in God and let Him be our peace?

Encourage the parents in your ministry to be the spiritual leaders God is calling them to be.

Our kids will look back one day and remember how we handled this crisis.  Let's leave a legacy of faith and trust in God.
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How to Keep Your Volunteer Team Motivated During a Pandemic

8:57 AM  Dale Hudson  

Many, if not most churches are struggling with keeping their volunteers engaged during this pandemic.  Especially, the faithful, senior adults who have served so well over the years.  Many are cautious about returning to their volunteer role until there is a vaccine / antidote for the virus.

This is understandable, especially among our senior adult volunteers.  And our first priority should be to keep them safe and use caution about bringing them back into their pre-virus roles.

If you don't keep your volunteer team motivated during this time, it can lead to a decline in volunteer engagement. 

So...the big question is how do you keep your volunteer team engaged and motivated as they wait for it to be safe enough for them to serve again?

If you are struggling with this, don't worry.  Most churches are.  We definitely have to lead well during this time.  Let's look at some helpful ideas that can help you keep your volunteers motivated enough to come back after they get the clearance to do so.

Keep the vision alive.  Most of your volunteers are serving because they want to be part of the vision you have put before them.  Keep going back to that vision.  Keep the "why" in front of them.  "How" the vision is accomplished may shift and adjust in the days ahead, but the "why" will remain the same. 

Every piece of communication they see should have the why attached to it.  Emails should have it.  Newsletters should have it.  Social media posts should include it as a tag line at the minimum.  Your volunteers want to make a difference.  They want to be the difference in kids and families' lives. 

The "how" may change, but the "why" is unchanging.  Keep it at the center of everything you do.

Communicate.  Communicate.  Communicate.  Keep them in the loop.  Don't expect your volunteers to shine at church if you are keeping them in the dark during the week.  Send out updates, need-to-knows, etc.  Leave space in your communication for Q & A. 

Meet with them virtually.  You can use apps like Zoom, Facebook live, Skype, etc. to communicate with them as a group.  Meet with them virtually and share updates, encouragement, spend time praying together, casting vision and providing relevant and pertinent training.

You can also use this approach to meet with key volunteers individually.  They, in return, can then contact the volunteers they lead or serve with.

Listen to them.  As you meet with volunteers in person or virtually, give them space to express their thoughts, worries, ideas and insight.  They can see some things you can't see and they have ideas that can help the ministry run smoother.

Ask them questions like this and listen to their responses.
  • What is driving your motivation up or down?
  • How is the current situation affecting you and your family right now?
  • How can I serve you and your family during this time of need?
Think about how you will navigate through these 3 stages: 
  • sheltered phase
  • re-opening phase
  • post Covid 19 phase
It will take wisdom, strategizing and adaption to walk through these 3 stages with your team.  Map out a clear, well thought out plan to communicate with them.

Pray with them. 
Take time to pray for their prayer requests.  People are worried about losing their jobs, paying their rent or mortgage payment and protecting their health.  They need your prayers and prayer truly does make the difference.
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5 Great Tips for Teaching Children

10:28 AM  Dale Hudson  

Want to improve your effectiveness as a children's communicator? 

Here are 5 great tips for teaching children.  Use these and you will become a master teacher. 

HONOR THEIR ATTENTION SPAN.  I can't emphasize this enough.  Today's kids have a very, very, very, very, very, very short attention span.  How short?  3 to 5 minutes tops.
 
There are 2 approaches you can take for this. The first one is to ignore their attention spans and try to force them to be quiet.

The second approach, which I strongly recommend, is to teach for a few minutes (5 min. max) and stop to let the kids do an activity, game, craft or discussion about what you just taught.  Give them 5 to 10 minutes to do this and then pick back up with your teaching.  Continue this pattern until your teaching is done.

Do this and your behavioral problems will go away. 

TELL STORIES.  Kids (and big kids) love stories.  The next time you are teaching, notice what happens when you tell a story.  The kids will zoom in with you and carefully listen.  And when the story is over, their engagement will lessen.  Jesus, the master teacher, always used stories when He taught.  It's one of the best things you can do if you want to be an effective communicator with kids.

USE OBJECT LESSONS.  Use objects to illustrate the truth you are teaching.  As much as possible, make the object something the kids know about.  Here's an example.  If you are teaching about growing spiritually, you can use a video game controller and tie getting to a new level in a game to getting to a new level in your relationship with Jesus.

INVOLVE THEM IN THE LESSON.  Here are a few examples. 

If you are teaching about the animals coming into the ark, have the kids make animal sounds as you call out a few of the animals that went into the ark. 

If are sharing the lesson about Jesus walking on the water to the disciples, have the kids make sound effects for the storm.

If you are sharing a lesson about David and Goliath, have them make a swish sound every time you say the word "sling shot."

Stats show that when kids are involved in the lesson, their retention rate increases significantly.

GET KIDS TALKING.  The kids should be talking as much as you are or even more.  Will this create a noisy classroom?  Yes.  But that's a good thing.  Have lesson questions prepared that they can discuss.  Give them set times to talk through these.

Do these 5 things and you will see kids responding to and enjoying your lessons.  Here are some more articles if you want some more great tips for teaching kids.






Your turn.  What are some other tips you have for teaching kids and engaging them in the lesson?  Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.
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Helping Kids Feel Safe and Secure During Crazy Times

9:16 AM  Dale Hudson  

So far 2020 has been a very stressful year.  Pandemic.  People out of work.  The death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter.  Stock market ups and downs.  Racism struggles.  Police brutality and the murder of George Floyd and others.  Unemployment.  Riots.

Many would say 2020 has been the most stressful year in their entire life. 

When parents are going through tough times, kids pick up on it and can become stressed out as well. 

Fear can come from catching a small glimpse of the news, overhearing conversations between teens or adults and seeing what their parents post and read in social media. 

It is common for kids to pick up on these things and become fearful during these crazy times.

So how can we help our children feel safe and secure during all of this?  Here are some steps.

Monitor how much exposure kids have to the news.  While most protests and riots have been peaceful, many have not.  Media is showing images of fires, looting and violence.  

Children do not have the emotional security to understand what they are seeing and it can lead to fear, insecurity and sadness. 

Talk with kids.  It's important to talk with children about what they are seeing and hearing in an age appropriate way.  Help them understand what is happening.  If you don't, they will try to fill in the blanks themselves and may come to scary and frightening conclusions in their mind.  They may even think someone is coming to get them. 

As parents and leaders, we are called to walk through these times with our children and have the wisdom to help guide them through it.  And during these crazy times, we must check our children's emotional temperature and help them adjust it as needed.

Be a safe place where kids can ask questions.  Find out what they are thinking and reassure them that you will keep them safe.  Let them know there is a great group of people that are working hard to keep everyone safe. 

Stay positive.  Use positive words.  Built up others rather than tearing them down.  Empower your child through your actions and displayed emotions.

Model the behavior you want to see in your children.  Kids will pick up on how you are responding.  Make sure you model what you want their response to be as well. 

Encourage kids to be proactive.  They can encourage other kids who are experiencing fear by talking with them about it.  Equip them to be the leaders who can bring about the change that is so desperately needed in these days.

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Do You Know How to Navigate Today's Culture?

11:43 AM  Dale Hudson  

Yesterday I took my son kayaking.  The river we were in had several different currents going on.

Unfortunately, at one point, I found myself in the wrong current and ended up smashing into a fallen tree that was  emerged out of the water. 

When I hit the tree, the current pinned me against the tree and my kayak flipped over. 

I lost the paddle and my water shoes.  But it gets worse.  I also lost my wallet with all my credit cards and driver's license in it. 

Thankfully, after some major struggling, we were able to pull the kayak out of the water and regroup.  My legs were scraped up with several gashes.

Why did this happen?  It was because I wasn't familiar with the currents in the river and didn't know how to navigate it properly. 

Leading in ministry is like kayaking in a river.  There are cultural trends you have to be able to navigate.  The currents can quickly change just like ministry.  It takes knowledge and hard work (paddling) to stay on course.  There are pitfalls to avoid.  You have to look ahead and see what is coming.  If you want the ministry to do well, then you must navigate well.

This reminds me of a verse in the Old Testament.  Here's what it says.

"From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives.
All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take." 
1 Chronicles 12:32

There are some truths we can learn from this verse that will help us guide our ministry. 

Notice first of all that these men were leaders.  You can see in the verse that it calls them leaders.  You are a leader as well.  God has called you to lead the ministry you are now in.  Embrace your calling.  You've got this because God is with you.  Is it always easy being a leader in children's ministry?  Of course not.  But remember when God calls you, He will equip you to lead.

Notice next of all, that there were 200 leaders.  Don't try to navigate today's culture alone.  You must gather other leaders around you.  
  • Leaders who will speak the truth to you. 
  • Leaders who will hold you up in prayer. 
  • Leaders who have the same heartbeat as you. 
  • Leaders who are passionate about reaching kids and families. 
  • Leaders who are students of the culture.
The leaders in this verse also had their relatives with them.   Your team needs to feel like family.  You are close to each other.  You have each other's back.  You do life together.

Next we see they understood the signs of the times.  They knew the culture.  They understood the ramifications of where things were headed.  They keep up with "the currents" so they would know how to navigate well. 

As children's ministry leaders, we must stay on top of what is going on in our world and specifically when it comes to the next generation. 

How can you stay current with the culture?   The best way I have found is to enter the world of today's kids and families. 
  • Find out what music they are listening to. 
  • Find out what their favorite movie is. 
  • Use google to find out what is "cool" at the time. 
  • Swing by the toy aisle when you are at the store and  see what is currently popular. 
  • See what is currently "cool" in the clothes they buy.
  • Turn over to the Disney channel, Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network.  Watch some of the shows and see what kids are watching.
  • See what websites are popular with kids.
  • What video games are popular with kids?
Doing this will help you see what the current trends are and where things are headed.  With God's help you will be able to do what the leaders did in this verse.  They were able to chart the best course to take.  What approaches to take.  What methods to drop and what methods needed to be ramped up.   

As a children's ministry leader, your team is looking to you for leadership.  Follow these steps and you will be equipped to lead them well and help navigate which course is the best to take. 

If you are looking for help in leading a children's ministry, then check out my book "Lead Well in Children's Ministry."  It will provide you help in leading all aspects of children and family ministry.  It is available at www.buildingchildrensministry.com.
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Our Words Matter...Talking with Kids Who Curse

8:10 AM  Dale Hudson  

One thing I have noticed about Millennials and Gen Zer's is their use of curse words. 

They will pop out a curse word when talking with someone like it is nothing.  They will also write curse words in various social media platforms. 

One of the most common words is the word "F_ck."  Pre-teens and middle/high school students use it without a second thought.

But we know the Bible tells us to watch what we say and use kind words.  Here are a few examples.

"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth."
Colossians 3:8

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."   Ephesians 4:29

"From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
James 3:10

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless."  James 1:26

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. "Psalm 19:14

It is obvious that God is against speaking words of corruption, cursing and deceit.  It is a sin to curse.

Instead, God wants us to speak words that build up people, that are acceptable before Him and are a blessing to those around them.

Simply put - there is no room in the life of a believer to use words that tear people down, words that deceive people and words that curse people. 

Goes does care about which words we are using. 

I want to encourage you to take some time at church to teach kids what words are and aren't pleasing to God.  Then challenge them to use words that build up those around them. 

There is no room for cursing in the life of a child of God.  Our words are a big part of how we show people we love Jesus. 
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7 Reasons Why Online Church Can't Replace In Person Church

9:54 AM  Dale Hudson  

On March 11, 2020 the Coronavirus Disease, COVID-19, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. On March 13, 2020 a national emergency was declared in the United States concerning the COVID-19 Outbreak.

With this has come many changes that have effected the church. 

In my opinion, the biggest change has been not being able to meet together in person. 

The vast majority of churches have went online and it has forced so many of us to rethink how we do church services.  Before the pandemic arrived, I could count on one hand the number of churches who offered online children's ministry services.  Now every church I know of has online services and experiences for kids.  It has been amazing watching churches respond with online engaging, relevant content for kids and parents.

And most of the churches I talk with are going to continue offering both adult and children's services online.  I believe we will look back one day and see that this pandemic caused a majority of churches to go online and stay online.

Online offers so many ways to connect with today's families and it makes sense.  We are living in an increasingly digital world where doing and attending online is a viable option.  And offering the services "on demand" fits right into our culture of instant gratification.  Will "church" become a "Netflix" church where people can choose from week to week what they want to watch?

Yes.  The Gospel can be spread online. 

Yes.  People can grow spiritually using online materials. 

Yes.  You can pray together with other believers online.

But, with that being said, here are 7 reasons why church online will never completely be able to replace meeting together in person.

Reason One - personal discipleship happens most effectively when you are with other believers. 

We are called to...

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”   Matthew 28: 19-20

These are all things that need to happen in person.  Baptism happens publicly.  Obeying and living out the commandments of Jesus happens publicly. 

Reason Two - Corporate Worship.  We need to worship in person with other believers.  Worship online is a good thing, but it can't compare to being surrounded by a group of other believers who are worshiping.  Jesus inhabits the praise of His people.  We were meant to worship together. 

Solo no. 

Choir yes. 

This is a warm up activity to prepare us for the day when we will all meet together to worship Jesus.

One area that does concern me is parents won't feel the "good pressure" to attend church in person.  One father said before the children's online services started happening, he would often go to church because it was the only way he saw his child learn about the Bible.  But with the addition of online services for kids, the pressure to attend in person has lightened.  Now when he doesn't feel like attending in person, he can hand his child a tablet to watch the online children's services.

Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for all the churches that have dedicated the time and money it takes to create online services for kids.  Any most of the churches I consult with say they will continue to provide online services for kids after the pandemic has been controlled.

It will be interested in seeing how this plays out.  Will some families switch over to all online services?  Maybe.  Will online services  be enough to keep kids' attention?  Will churches have the fiances, people and bandwidth to continue offering online services? 

Reason Three - Relationships.  It is through relationships that discipleship happens. It is through relationships that spiritual growth happens.  It is through relationships that people are able to grasp the unending love of Jesus. 

Every child needs someone who will look them in the eyes and say their name.  Someone who can pray with them.  Someone who can challenge them.  Someone they feel comfortable enough with to share what 's going on in their life.

Reason Four - Accountability.  We were not meant to walk alone.  We need other believers who can look us in the eyes and hold us accountable.  We need other believers that will ask us the hard questions and help us stay on course.  

Reason Five - Serving together.  The biggest impact happens when believers serve with other believers.  Serving Jesus wasn't meant to be done solo.  When you lock arms with other believers, you become so much stronger.

Reason Six - Giving together.  Great things happen when believers gather their funds together.  A single tithe can make an impact.  But when you gather your tithes together toward a project it can make a huge impact.

Here's an example of this - Many churches are doing a $1 challenge.  Everyone is challenged to give $1 dollar toward making an impact in someone's life.  When you put all of the dollars together, it gives you the finances you need to help change someone's life. 

Reason Seven - The presence of Jesus.  Look what He says about worshiping and serving together.

"For where 2 or 3 are gathered together in My name, I am in the midst of them."
Hebrews 10:25

Notice that it says you should gather with a minimum of 2 people.  And I believe when He's referring to gathering, He is talking about gathering in person.

"There's something special that happens when you gather
with other believers.  Jesus shows up." 

Maybe that's why the author of Hebrews said this.

"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,
especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."
Hebrews 10:25

And when Jesus shows up, it changes everything.

Your turn. Do you think online church can or can't replace in person church?  I realize that most of the points I mentioned above could also happen online.  But the bigger question is "Can it be as effective as in person church?  What can and cannot be transferred to online? Share your thoughts and insight in the comment section below.
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