RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Time is one of your most precious commodities and there is never a shortage of things clamoring for it.

How you choose to spend your time will determine your effectiveness.  As I have watched and learned from successful children's ministry leaders, I have found that they focus their time on four key areas.

Personal Growth
Ministry is an outward expression of the inward workings of God in your life.

Effective leaders know that who they are is more important than what they do.  They know if they will be who they are supposed to be it will enable them to do what they are supposed to do. 

Effective children's ministry leaders spend time working on their...

• relationship with God
• spiritual growth
• leadership
• people skills
• blind spots
• strengths

The discipline of spending time working on yourself is not always easy.  If you're like me, it's easier to drive a car than it is to wait patiently by the gas pump while it's filling up.  I don't have time to sit and wait for the car to fill up...I've got places to go...things to do.  But remember, you can only skip the gas pump for so long before you run out of gas and come to a screeching halt.

The same applies to personal growth.  You can skip it and be effective...but it will be very short-lived.  Neglect filling up personally and your ministry will come to a screeching halt.

You may be reading this right now and you've been so busy working on the ministry that you haven't been working on yourself.  You know you're running on fumes.  Is it time to move personal growth back to where it should be on your time list?

Don't let the lid on the ministry be you.

Family
Effective children's ministry leaders know that their first ministry is their family.  They make sure they invest first in their own marriage before they try to help other people's marriages.  They make sure they invest first in their own kids before they try to help other people's kids.

The health of your family is more important than the health of your ministry.  Healthy ministry flows out of a healthy family.  

Take a look at your time allocations.  What does it reflect?  Where you spend your time tells what your priorities are.  Is your family a priority?

Team Building
Effective children's ministry leaders know that success in ministry is not in what you can do but it's in what you can empower others to do.  They spend more time equipping others to do ministry than they spend doing the ministry themselves.

Look at their week and you will see a big chunk allocated to enlisting, equipping, encouraging and empowering leaders.  Look at their budget and it will reflect the same.

Time spent building leaders is never time wasted.

Ministry improvement
The most effective children's ministry leaders spend lots of time perfecting the ministry through evaluation, feedback, adjustments and changes.  They spend time making things better rather than just letting it coast.

They are constantly asking questions like...

• What's working?
• What's not working?
• What needs changed?
• What do we need to focus on?
• How can we improve?
• What are we missing?

They spend time looking through a microscope that's laser focused on the ministry and how to improve it.

How much time are you allocating for these 4 key areas?   Below is a tool you can download and use to evaluate.  Make every week...every day...every hour...every minute...every second count.  What you do matters...a lot...so be wise in how you invest your time.




If you'd like a copy of this infograph, feel free to email me at dalehudsoncm2@gmail.com.

I'm often asked, "What's the most important thing to focus on in children's ministry?" 

Surprisingly, it is not communicating with kids...it's not putting together great lessons...it's not creating cool environments...it's not leading great events.

All of those things are important, but I believe the one thing you must focus on to succeed in children's ministry is building a volunteer team.

The success of your ministry hinges on the strength of the volunteer team you build.  Read everything you can about building and leading volunteer teams.  Connect with leaders who have built great volunteer teams and glean from them.  Spend the biggest percentage of your time building a volunteer team. 

Here's the bottom line.  Your success in children's ministry will not based on what you do, but on what you empower others to do. 

Need some tips on building a volunteer team?  If you haven't read it, here's 10 Simple Secrets to Building a Great Volunteer Team.

If you're like me, there are always more tasks than there is time, so I look for ways to be more productive.

Recently I read an article in Business Insider that shared some of the ways great leaders get more done in a day.

Dustin Moskovitz, one of the co-founders of Facebook and CEO of Asana, doesn't schedule any meetings on Wednesdays.  He says it's an invaluable tool for ensuring he has some contiguous space to do project work.

Beth Doane, founder of an apparel line called Raintees, let's all of her non-scheduled calls go to voice mail.  She sets aside time at the end of the day to sort through the calls and return the ones that are needed.

Jamie Wong, founder of a travel firm called Vayable, schedules three non-work-related activities each week that nothing can interfere with.  She commits to one activity in each of the catergories, "Create," "Love," and "Grow."

Joe Silverman, founder of New York Computer Help, has his own rewards system for achieving goals that he sets.  An example would be to complete a sales goal and get a coffee from Starbucks.

Tracy DiNunzio, founder and CEO of Tradesy, works from home one day a week.  She carves out time blocks throughout the day to focus on whatever is at the top of her to-do-list.

Bobby Harris, founder and president of BlueGrace Logistics, keeps meetings as short as possible.  He never accepts a meeting without a clear agenda and then asks how long they need.  Then he cuts the amount of time in half.  He says to start and stop your meeting on time, every time.
James Borow, co-founder and CEO of Shift, sets aside emails that aren't related to his to-do list.  He says to  treat your email as a to-do list as opposed to just reacting all of the time.

What kind of children's ministry leader do you want to be?  What's the gap between where you are and where you want to be?

No matter how big the gap,  here are steps you can take to get where you want to be as a leader.

KNOW IT
To get where you want to be, you have to be self aware.  Take a hard, honest look in the mirror.  Dig deep into your personality and current leadership skills. 

DEFINE IT
What qualities do you want to improve?  What new skills do you want to acquire?  What strengths do you want to capitalize on?  What people skills do you want to get better at?  Define where you want to be.

MAP IT
Write down specific steps you're going to take to get there.  What books do you need to read?  What courses do you need to take?  What leader do you need to spend time with?  What conference do you need to attend?

REQUEST IT
You've heard the old saying...if you see a turtle on top of a fence post, he had help getting there.  You won't get where you want to be by yourself.  You'll have to request help.  Ask people who know you to give you honest feedback.  Do a 360 review.  Ask friends to point out your blind spots.  You'll never see them alone.  Don't let your insecurities stop you from doing this or you'll never get to where you want to be. 

CONTINUE IT
It takes time, tears and tenacity to improve as a leader.  It will be painful and joyful at the same time.  You will gain ground and then feel like you've lost ground.  Don't give up.  You will improve and you will get better.  

Like never before, we need strong, passionate leaders who are pressing for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!  Be that leader! 

Time is one of your most precious commodities.  And it seems there's never enough of it to accomplish everything God has placed in your heart.

Ephesians 5:16 tells us to "make the most of our time."  Though we can't add hours to the clock, we can have a plan that will help us make the most of the time we do have.  Here's 10 tips to help you get the most out of your time.

1.  Keep a "do not do" list.
What you don't do is just as important as what you do.  Do what only you can do and say no thanks to everything else.  This list should constantly be growing.

2.  Focus on being "productive" instead of "busy."
Make a list of things that will enable you to have the biggest impact and spend your time there.  It's not how much you get done, it's what you get done.

3.  Don't strive for perfection. 
Most of the time, 85% is good enough.  It's the last 15% that eats up all your time.

4. Spend the best time of your day on your most important task.  
Are you a morning person?  Focus on your most important task in the morning.  Do you do your best work at night?  Spend that time on your priority.

5.  Have one priority task each day. 
You may have several tasks to accomplish each day, but decide what your most important task for the day is and complete it for sure.

6.  Tackle one task at a time. 
Research shows that multi-tasking can be counter-productive.  List your tasks and then knock them out one at a time.

7.  Block your time each day.  
Allot a specific time for each task.  This includes starting and stopping times for meetings.

8.  Watch out for people who are time grabbers.
People must be our first priority and I'm not saying don't make time for them...but I am saying be careful with someone who constantly wants to stop by and just "shoot the breeze."

9.  Remember energy translates into time.
You can work when you are tired, but you won't get as much done.  The temptation is to keep going when you've hit your limit, thinking you will get more done.  But in the end, you'll get more done by stopping to rest and refuel.

10.  Schedule time to think and plan.  
Don't fall into the trap of leaving no margin for thinking and planning.  Block time for this just like you would any other task.

11.  Have specific times to check your email.  
If you check email throughout the day, you will get sidetracked from priority tasks.  Block times to check your email and resist the urge to check it all the time.

12.  Balance your life.
When you spend all your time working, it will hurt your creativity...and most importantly your personal life and family.

The floor is yours.  What other tips do you have for time management?  Share with us in the comment section below.  

Everyone wants to be more productive.  Getting more work done is very appealing, but how to do it is not always clear.  This infographic will help you optimize your time by following your body's natural time clock.

Ever find yourself wishing there were more hours in a day?

You're not alone...we all struggle at times with being so busy with the "ministry minutia,"  that what should be our main focus, gets crowded out.

As a children's ministry leader, our day job should be...

• Seeking God and casting His vision for our children's ministry.

• Creating strategies to more effectively reach and disciples kids and families.

• Evaluating the effectiveness of current programs and processes and making changes and adjustments as needed.

• Pouring into people and raising up leaders of leaders.

But don't these things often get replaced with small tasks, issues that suddenly rise, meetings, preparation for special events, trips to pick up supplies, standing in front of a copier, etc.?

The big question is...how can you free up significant time....so you can focus on what should be your day job...the responsibilities that really matter the most.

Here's some tips that will help you focus on what should be your "day job."

• Keep track of how you spend your time.  Spend a week writing down what you do every hour of your work day.  This is the first step in choosing effectiveness or busyness.

• Eliminate or delegate smaller tasks and replace them with value adding ones.  Delegating work is easier said than done.  We instinctively cling to tasks that make us feel busy and thus important...even when they should not be our primary focus.  Studies show that the average leader spends about 41% of their time on work that could be handled competently by others.  

• Cut some of those meetings.  Don't meet just to be meeting.

Your turn.  What are some other ways we can focus on what should be our primary "day job?"  Share your comments with us below.

Have you ever been around an inspiring leader?  After talking with them or listening to them, you were ready to go conquer any mountain.

As a children's ministry leader, it's vital that you have the ability to inspire others.

When we talk about being "inspiring" you may be thinking it has to be someone who is extremely gifted, has a charismatic personality, is a people magnet or can give dynamic, soul-stirring speeches.

If that's not you, don't worry.  That's not what being inspiring is really all about anyways.  Anyone can be inspiring if they take the right steps and work at it.

Here's 10 key steps you can take to become an inspiring children's ministry leader.

Inspiring leaders collaborate.
Do you want to inspire people?  Then include them.  Inspiring leaders don't bark down orders.  They gather people and create something together.  When people have a part in creating something instead of just being handed something, they are inspired.

Inspiring leaders develop people.
When you are intentional about pouring into people...when people know you are committed to helping them become a better person and leader...when you call people up instead of calling them out...it inspires them.  They will be drawn to you. 

Inspiring leaders empower people and then get out of the way.
Inspiring leadership and micromanaging aren't compatible.  Inspiring leaders empower people and then give them room to lead, fail, and learn from their failures.

Inspiring leaders ask the right questions.
You don't always need to have the best answer.  Just learn to ask the right questions to draw out the best answer from the team.  Lead with questions just as much or more than you do with answers.

Inspiring leaders admit their mistakes.
Be quick to admit your mistakes.  Be the first one to apologize.  Humility and transparency inspires others.

Inspiring leaders lead by example.
Go the second mile and when you ask your team to go the second mile, go the third mile.  Inspiration is caught by example more than it is taught by words.

Inspiring leaders build relationships.
Inspiring leaders don't lead by title or position...they lead by relationships.  Love people for who they are instead of for what they can do.  When people know you really care about them, their hearts will be drawn to you.  Inspiration is created through relationship.

Inspiring leaders give away the credit for wins and take the blame for failures.
It inspires people when you put them in the spotlight instead of yourself.  It also inspires people when they know you've got their back and when something goes wrong, you take the ultimate responsibility. 

Inspiring leaders continually fill people's vision tank.
Constantly share the "why" of what your team does.  Realize that vision leaks, so keep the vision front and center.  And you don't have to be an "inspirational" speaker to do this.  This is done just as effectively in small gatherings or individually. 

Inspiring leaders are faithful.
There is something about long term faithfulness that inspires people.  You will find the longer you are in ministry, the more inspiration potential you will have.  Time and experience are two of your best inspiration allies.  Stay the course. 

What are some other traits of inspiring leaders?
What are some traits in leaders that have personally inspired you?

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.