Last night’s Kidmin1124 radio show was another success.  We discussed dealing with difficult people and our questions ranged from dealing with kids, volunteers, and parents.  I’m once again embedding the audio at the end of this post in case you missed the show. 

As we talked about dealing with difficult people, I just can’t get out of my head how my God has constantly been patient in dealing with me.  I’m reminded of 2 Peter 3:9 which says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  What if we applied this to the way we deal with others.  If the drive to see people come to repentence overrode our desire to see them punished.  I especially think this would change how we deal with difficult kids in our ministries.

I firmly believe that grace is one of the greatest tools we have in children’s ministry.  Grace doesn’t excuse bad behavior:  it forgives it.  I don’t think grace says, “Oh, it’s no big deal.”  Grace, at least in my life, is the constant reminder that it is a big deal, but I’m a bigger deal.  God cares more about me than He does my sin, so much so that He sent His son to die for me.  God has been patient with me, even when I constantly fail Him.  How much more so should I be patient and show grace to a child? I’m committed to giving the kids in my ministry at least as many chances as God has given me, which means I should run out during about year 1,948,893,543 of eternity (assuming I’m perfect from here on out).

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…not a talent issue.

Last night on the Kidmin1124 radio show on CMConnect, I once again got into some passionate prose, but failed to remember that some listeners may not know me in the capacity that the panelists know me.  I felt the need to clarify what I mean when I say we should do all things with excellence.

As we discussed large group teaching, we were in a conversation about various methods.  I implored those serving in children’s ministry that whatever method they chose to incorporate into their large group teaching, do it with excellence or don’t do it all.  Wayne brought some nice balance to that conversation, but I still felt that some loose ends were left.  (I’ve embedded the audio from the show tonight below.)

Serving with excellence is not to be equated with serving with talent.  There are many very talented people who do what seems to be a great job, but fail to serve with excellence.  I know, because I’ve been that person more times than I care to admit.  Because of a charming stage presence and some natural communication giftings, I have been known to appear to do well even with little preparation.  That will never be considered serving with excellence.

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Recently, my wife and I went through a rollercoaster of emotions as we dealt with many personal health struggles.  While this situation ended well for both of us, and also ended with news that we are expecting another child this fall, it was a long and personal struggle.  Because of the nature of some of it, we chose not to share it with anyone outside of our immediate families.  This meant that the people in our church, including the volunteers that serve with us, thought everything was fine.

I suspect that similar situations happen every day in churches across this country.  Pastors, for personal reasons, choose not to share every little detail of their life with church members and volunteers. 

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I know that this is not a secret, but I also know that it is an art.  The single greatest thing that I have done in order to keep myself productive is to batch my tasks.  Since I started doing this, I’ve learned more about why it works and have even seen ideas like the pomodoro technique that refine the idea, but batching is just something I started doing because it made sense.  Let me explain it to you a little (please keep in mind that I am not an expert in this by any means and I will share some expert links at the end of the post).

Batching is, quite simply, working on batches of similar tasks.  For example, rather than open up my curriculum website once a week and downloading the upcoming curriculum, I download the whole month’s curriculum at once.  I even try to edit as much of the month as possible in one sitting.  I use batching in my secular job all the time as well.  I even do it at home.

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Six AM waking up in the morning, gotta get dressed, gotta go to church. Gotta have my ‘bux, getting on a roll, Checking everything, the time is going. Tickin’ on and on, I’m the one rushing. I just don’t have the time to, stop. Service is a bust, when will it end?

(That kid’s) Kickin’ in the front seat. Pinching in the back seat. I’ve made my mind up, can I get a break?

It’s Sunday, Sunday, no time to rest on Sunday. I’m so busy on the weekends, weekends. Sunday, Sunday, no worship on Sunday. I’ve got too much ministry to do on the weekend.

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“We just do not have enough volunteers.”  Let’s face it, no matter how small or large your church is, finding quality volunteers is a chore.  Even the best children’s ministries have to be intentional about constantly recruiting and training volunteers.

In a small church, you are dealing with a much smaller pool of people to choose from and many people who would make great candidates are already up to their eyeballs in church work.  So what’s a person to do?

The answer is easy.  Beg.  Beg by sending emails.  Beg on your church’s website.  Beg on your church’s Facebook page and daily beg on the profiles of people in your church.  Put a plea in your bulletin.  Announce it from the stage, while crying, and with the cutest kid in the church there with you, also crying.  And once you realize that this method will never work, read the rest of this article.

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Monday (June 27, 2011)

• 1 Kings 17-19

Tuesday (June 28, 2011)

• 1 Kings 20, 21

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Monday (June 13, 2011)

• 1 Kings 8
• 2 Chronicles 5

Tuesday (June 14, 2011)

• 2 Chronicles 6, 7
• Psalm 136

Wednesday (June 15, 2011)

• Psalm 134, 146-150

Thursday (June 16, 2011)

• 1 Kings 9
• 2 Chronicles 8

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Monday (June 6, 2011)

• Proverbs 10-12

Tuesday (June 7, 2011)

• Proverbs 13-15

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If you missed last night’s Kidmin1124 radio show, you missed a good one.  It was a different kind of show with Wayne, Barbara, and Jared just chatting kids’ ministry.  There was no real agenda, just three people talking kidmin.

Some of the topics we talked about included midweek programming, preschool and nursery childcare versus ministry, (non) traditional families, and more.  Even if you didn’t get to hear it live, go ahead and listen in here.  And don’t forget to mark your calendar to join us in two weeks for our next show. 

Here’s a great tip for you.  If you really want the full experience, log in to the CMConnect chat while listening.  There is a whole conversation that happens there that never makes it to the radio.  Thanks for being a reader/listener and thanks for all you do for kidmin.

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