You give of your time selflessly to reach the children with the love of Jesus each week and sometimes it is hard. We know it is hard for you, because it is hard for us in leadership at times as well.

Bi-Vocational pastors, like myself, work their FT jobs and minister what seems continually. Full-time staff are often at the church for up to 60 hours per week in ministry and administration so we understand tired and we know that you are as well.

You will have those rough days where you may not “feel” like going to church and serving. I often tell people during Awana trainings that if you have a rough day, then it will be a rough night of ministry. I want to give you some ideas to help you when you during those times you grow weary:

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The folks over at Only144.com are at it again.  This time, they have accumulated over $1,200 worth of kidmin resources and are offering it at a price of only $97.   But, you only have until Noon on Thursday, March 24th to place your offer.  Here is what is included in the package:

• 1-year subscription to K-Magazine
• High-Voltage Kids Curriculum
• High-Voltage Collection
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So you’ve signed on to be a small group leader in children’s ministry. You’ve met with your director and know the expectations and basics for service on Sunday. They’ve shared the vision for the ministry and what the lesson will be for the series coming up. You  have your t-shirt and are ready to serve next weekend.

Then it hits you…the kids might ask you questions…questions you might not know the answers to!

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Hey all.  Sorry for the lack of introduction the last couple weeks.  Sadly, I keep forgetting these are going to post on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Trying to find my groove now.

After Tuesday, we will have successfully finished the Pentateuch, which are the first five books and are traditionally Moses is credited as the author.  That being said, do you think Moses wrote chapter 34?  I mean, how would you like to write about your own death?  I guess I figure someone added that section after he died, but no one really knows.

The mantle passes from Moses to Joshua this week and from wandering to conquering.  Gonna be sweet.

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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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Welcome to the Kidmin1124.com Volunteer Champion of the Week. There are thousands and thousands of volunteers who turn out each weekend and selflessly serve children in churches around the globe. They do not do what they do for recognition or accolades, but at Kidmin1124 we would like to shine a light on some of these volunteers as a way to say “Thank You!” So, each week we recognize one volunteer from the world of kidmin who goes above and beyond in their service to God’s kids. Our hope is that this segment will provide some well deserved recognition to individual volunteers. More importantly though, we have asked these Volunteer Champions to share some of their insights and experiences with us so that we can all learn from their wisdom.

This week’s recipients, based on a nomination from Darcy Stelzer, is (drum roll please):

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You’re a volunteer.  You’ve been serving for some amount of time in your current position and ministry.  No doubt, some things have been as you expected them to be in your ministry, and some things may have been quite different than you expected.  But no matter what your expectation level was, you now are in a place of serving.  Don’t get to comfortable, though.  It may well be time to take the next step.

Step forward:

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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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Communication is key when it comes to volunteers and leadership in children’s ministry.  Typically, many of these conversations happen at church on a Sunday morning and more often than not are completely spontaneous.  However, trying to have a conversation before service, between services, or after service can be a challenge, and trying to effectively communicate your thoughts in those times can be darn near impossible.   From welcoming new families to passing out takehome papers, there are so many activities that can disrupt conversations during these times. Here are a few things you can do to help these spontaneous Sunday morning conversations be more effective:

• Have a wing man – have someone available to take over what you are doing at the time to free you up for talks right away.
• Carry a notepad – no matter how good your memory, you won’t remember everything someone tells you on a hectic Sunday morning.  Right it down for future reference.
• Make a date – let the person know that you would like to continue talking at a later time either by phone or in person.
• Keep it short – even those conversations you do have on Sunday morning should be kept short.  Tell the person that you only have three minutes, and stick to it.  If it’s going to take longer, see the prior suggestion.

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Hi, how are you?  I’m not much of a warm tea person, so why don’t we have a glass of iced tea (sweetened of course) and get started!

1. Good afternoon. Why don’t you start by sharing your name and where you live?

Wayne Stocks. Pataskala, Ohio.

2. Tell us a little bit about the church you attend.

I attend New Life Church in Gahanna, Ohio. It is a non-denominational church with a membership of around 1,000.

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