Showing posts with label Leonard sweet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leonard sweet. Show all posts

Top 25 Books Every Children's Ministry Leader Needs to Read

7:02 AM  Dale Hudson  

Reading is a key to growing as a children's ministry leader.

I'm often asked what books I recommend.  It's hard to narrow it down to 25, but here's 25 books I believe every children's ministry leader should read.  You can purchase any of these through Amazon.

Creating Ever Cool: A Marketer's Guide to a Child's Heart by Gene Del Vecchio

100 Best Ideas to Turbo Charge Your Children's Ministry (co-authored)

Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley

Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Corderio

The Disney Way by Bill Capodagli & Lynn Jackson

Disney U by Doug Lipp

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Start with the Why by Simon Sinek

Axiom by Bill Hybels

Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley

100 Best Ideas to Turbo Charge Your Preschool Ministry (co-authored)

Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger

Volunteers That Stick by Jim Wideman

17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player by John Maxwell

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell

Be Our Guest by The Disney Institute

Inside the Magic Kingdom by Tom Connellan

I Quit by Peter and Geri Scazzero

Replinish: Leading from a Healthy Soul by Lance Witt

Children's Ministry in the 21st century (co-authored)

Right from Wrong by Josh McDowell

Carpe Manana by Leonard Sweet

Think Orange by Reggie Joiner

Too Busy Not to Pray with Bill Hybels

Communicating for Change by Andy Stanley

What's missing from the list?  What other books do you recommend for children's ministry leaders?  Share the titles with us in the comment section below.
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The Importance of Using Images in Your Children's Ministry

8:06 AM  Dale Hudson  

Images capture kids' attention.  Show a child an image and they will point to it, say something about it, and respond with a variety of emotions.

Dr. Leonard Sweet says, "Images are the language of the 21st century...not words."

Major corporations know this.  They spend billions of dollars each year to find the right imagery to sell a product, service, or idea.  The United States Military spent $598 million on advertising to increase "brand identity" and meet their annual recruitment goals.  Nike spent $269 million on its image to sell their products.  Pepsi budgeted over $1 billion on its image.  Not to be out done, Coca-Cola budgeted $1.4 billion for its image.

Kids think using pictures.  John Berger writes in his book Ways of Seeing, "Seeing comes before words.  The child looks and recognizes before it can speak." 

Visual images help kids understand lessons.  Robert E. Horn, an award-winning scholar at Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information, said, "When words and visual elements are closely entwined, we create something new and we augment our communal intelligence ... visual language has the potential for increasing ‘human bandwidth'—the capacity to take in, comprehend, and more efficiently synthesize large amounts of new information." 

Visual images help kids remember lessons.  Dr. Lynell Burmark said, "...unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear.  Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about 7 bits of information (plus or minus 2).  This is why, by the way, that we have 7-digit phone numbers.  Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched."  Pictures get caught in our brains.

Visual images help kids apply the lesson.  A study at the University of Minnesota's School of Management found that presenters who use visual aids are 43% more effective in persuading audience members to take a desired course of action than presenters who don't use visuals.  Give kids a point for their head and an image for their heart.

Tips for using visual images in your Children's Ministry...
  • Use images on screen.
  • Use printed images or signs.
  • Balance words and images well.  
  • Use simple icons to represent key points / truths.
  • Give kids pictures related to a truth and ask them to discuss what they are seeing.
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