I am excited today to let you, our readers, know about some very exciting changes at Kidmin1124.  Beginning immediately, Matt Norman will be taking over as chief editor here on Kidmin1124.  Matt will introduce himself more fully in a coming post and share his ideas and vision for Kidmin1124 moving forward.  If we’re lucky, he may even include a more recent picture of himself in that post.

Today marks both a very exciting and very sad day for me in the history of Kidmin1124.  I am excited to hand the reigns of Kidmin1124 off to Matt, and I trust that God will lead him and this ministry in the right direction.  For me personally, that is very exciting.  Without going into all of the details, I believe this transition is a “God thing,” and I am excited to see what that means for the future of Kidmin1124. 

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Cue the power ballad.  All together now:

We’re #16!

We’re #16!

Seriously though, at Kidmin1124.com, we are excited to have claimed the #16 spot in Tony Kummer’s annual list of the top 100 children’s ministry blogs.  Last year, just a few months after our launch, we were excited to come in 44th, and it is exciting to move up this year.  It is exciting to move, not because it feeds some need to be recognized, but because it is a reflection that people are actually finding the blog useful.

I’m a little biased, but I think one of the things that really sets Kidmin1124 apart is our writers.  I have never known a more talented group of individuals who are so willing to give of themselves to help others.  Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised because our writing team consists of volunteers and bi-vocational children’s ministers to begin with.  They make a habit of giving of themselves until it hurts (and then giving some more).

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We need your help.  Those of you who read Kidmin1124 on a regular basis may have noticed over the last couple of months that our posts have been fewer and far between.  Our team of writers has dwindled as people have gotten busy and taken on other tasks.  We are currently looking for people who work in children’s ministry who have something to share about their experience and wisdom with the readers of Kidmin1124.  In short,

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

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Some of you may remember me. I did some writing for Kidmin1124 last year. My last post was on December 30 of last year. Since then things have gotten really crazy in my life and I had to set aside the writing for a time. I know that many of the people that read this blog are either part-time, or volunteers in children’s ministry. Because of this I know that you can relate.

I have greatly missed writing for Kidmin1124 and I am very excited to say that I AM BACK! Things have changed in my schedule and I think I will have time to do a little writing again. I look forward to writing about my journey in children’s ministry and, hopefully, helping you in your journey.  I look forward to interacting with our readers. I look forward to hearing from you, and learning your thoughts on what I write and hearing your stories about what God is doing in your ministry.

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Dear reader,

We appreciate your support and look forward to providing great articles and resources to you in the future.  Right now, we could really use your help.

Our blog is currently involved in a very intense and high stakes battle with other kids’ ministry blogs (the preceding sentence was majorly exaggerated for effect).  While we recognize there are many excellent blogs included in the competition, we would certainly like to be one of the sixteen blogs that advance into the second round.  Currently, the top four blogs in each region will advance.

If you would take a quick thirty seconds and stop over and vote for Kidmin1124 in the West Regional, you can help us advance.  Right now we are in a close race for the fourth spot in our regional and every vote really counts.

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Last year, Tony Kummer at Ministry-to-children started the Kidmin Blog Madness competition.  It’s a fun way to get exposure to some exciting kidmin blogs, as well as reward the ones that have benefitted you the most.  The competition is bracket style a la March Madness and there are currently four divisions with seventeen blogs in each.  In round one, you can vote for up to four blogs in each division.  The top four blogs from each division advance to round two.

Now, I’m not going to tell you who you should vote for, but you should definitely vote for Kidmin1124 in the West Regional.  And if you really want to support this blog, some of our authors have personal blogs listed as well and you might want to vote for them too.

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Way back in the day, Kidmin1124 was born out of a vision that started with a facebook page.  These days, we are promoting the facebook page related to this site, and we hope you will take just a minute to “like” our facebook page by visiting it and clicking on the LIKE button or clicking the LIKE button on the upper hand portion of this page. 

Here is why we are shamelessly promoting this page!

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Mark your calendars kids.  Tomorrow marks the dawn of a whole new day when it comes to internet radio, well, not really, but tomorrow is the very first show for the kids (and by kids I mean panel of writers) here at Kidmin1124.com.  Tomorrow, Thursday, January 13, 2011 from 9:00 PM EST until 10:00 PM EST, we will launch the Kidmin Volunteer Show on CMConnect Radio.

The bi-weekly show will feature a panel of authors from right here on Kidmin1124.com who will discuss issues related to volunteers and volunteering, answer audience questions and most importantly have a good time.  We have some characters amongst us here, so I have no doubt that the show will be fun if nothing else.  Over the course of the next year, we will tackle a variety of issues of interest to volunteers and those who lead them.  We will talk about a calling, recruiting, interviewing, training, promoting, replicating, evaluating and even firing volunteers and much much more.

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Hello there Kidmin1124!

I am so happy to be included in a great team of kidmin authors! As a introduction I thought it would be good to let you know a little more about me than what my bio says.

My family and I live in Cadillac, MI. It is north of Grand Rapids by about an hour. We are just outside what most people call the “snow belt” the area that receives lots of lake effect snow (think cold north winds blowing over warmer lake waters). Both my wife and I grew up just north of here where our families still live. Close to home, but far enough away.

We have 4 kids, 3 boys (14,12,10) and a girl (8). We enjoy our 5 acres, animals and all the beauty of MI. It really is a blast to be a dad and live where we do!

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Well, we made the big Unofficial announcement in last weekend’s free e-mail newsletter, and now is the time for the

BIG OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

We at Kidmin1124 are pleased to announce that:

In partnership with CMConnect.org (the leading online site for collaboration amongst children’s ministry professionals), Kidmin1124 will be launching a new radio program dedicated to issues relevant to volunteers and those who lead them.

We’re still ironing out all of the details, but here is what we know so far:

• The show will likely be a weekly or bi-weekly show.
• The show will likely be 1/2 hour or one hour long.
• It will feature a panel of your favorite authors from Kidmin1124.
• Our panel will discuss and answer questions from our radio audience.
• There will be a call in number for questions
• We will also take questions via e-mail and other forms.
• In addition to listening live, the radio show will be recorded and available for future download.

And, here is where we need your help.  We have some decisions to make and could use your input.  Leave a comment below letting us know your thoughts!

1. How long should the show be?  Our options are 30 or 60 minutes.
2. Would you prefer a weekly show or one show every other week?
3. What is the best day of the week for you to listen?
4. What is the best time of day for you to listen?
5. What topics would like to see us address?
6. Are there any guests you would like us to try to schedule?

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