If we look back at our spiritual lives we can all see that there were certain times in our lives where things changed for us. Times when our spiritual maturity took a significant step forward. This session was about identifying those times. Led by Taka Iguchi, this session did a great job of laying out the things that happen to all of that at least have the potential to lead to spiritual growth.

As a Children’s Pastor I listened to this talk with two thoughts in mind

1. How do I identify these moments in the lives of the children and families in my ministry?
2. What can I do to create these moments.

To find out what these moments are you can heck out my notes here.

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Ok, below are my notes from this great session with Jim Wideman. Say tuned as I post my notes throughout the day.  Also check back tonight as I post a recap from the entire day.

How To: Staff For Growth

I’d love to here your thoughts on these notes.

Check back for a full post on this session.

I wanted to try the WordPress app on my phone so here is a test post. Stay tuned as I give live coverage of the Orange conference.

Ok, so I know what your thinking. What does a Fiat 500 have to do with kidmin, or with the Orange conference. Well, the answer is absolutely nothing. Except that this is the car they tried to give us at the airport. Now, I know that none of you know me, but trust me, this car would not have been a good fit. Frankly, I think that I weigh more than this car. Not to mention that Joe McAlpine is over 6 foot tall.

Anyways, had a great dinner with the rest of the Orange bloggers. Great opportunity to meet some of the other people that are blogging for Orange this week. Also had a chance to meet Tonya Langdon in person. Great to finally start meeting the other members of the Kidmin1124 team in person.

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I was baptized around nine or at least that’s what I was told by my entire life.  I even remember a preacher, a church and some water.   I had often wondered if that was my baptism or someone else’s.  Because if it was mine wouldn’t I remember more.

I will turn 33 Friday April 27^th and for 24 year I thought I was baptized until two weeks ago.   Two weeks ago a great friend of mine took a very big step to a journey filled with so much desire and a will to live a life with God by her side and in her heart.  She has lived a life of anger, judgment, sin and abuse.  She has witnessed this throughout her family tree for many many years.  Just four months ago she would not even hear of walking in a church and listening to a sermon.  She went kicking and screaming with a close family member pushing her.   Exactly two weeks ago a very nervous women walked up to the front of her church lead by her pastor and announced her baptism. This I promise you was one of the most emotional announcements you will ever see.  As she cried, sweated & smiled with tears of joy she made some awesome memories that Sunday.   She will forever remember the tears that fell to the floor, the people that lead her to this decision and the God that for better or worse will never leave her side.  She will remember this event that will change her life forever.

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This week is the Orange Conference. #OC12 for those of you on Twitter. When this post goes up I will actually be at my day job, no doubt struggling to concentrate on my work as I excitedly think about the conference.  Anyways, for our readers I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect this week.

Throughout the conference Tonya Langdon and myself will be posting about our experiences. Tonya will be mostly following the special needs track, and I will be doing a variety of sessions, based on the eclectic wanderings of my mind.

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“the week caught up with Eric as he buried his face in his hands and wept.”

With this one sentence I knew that his book was for me. Even though I was only a few lines into the book, I already identified with Eric Newman. With that simple sentence I realized, I AM ERIC NEWMAN.

The Eric trap follows a week in the life of Eric Newman; a young, talented, but somewhat misguided children’s pastor.  In fact we see Eric in what is probably the worst week of his life.  The book is written from the perspective of children’s ministry, but the principles that are covered apply to any pastor or ministry leader.

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Sabbath: a day of rest.

One of the questions I hear alot is “How in the world do you have a sabbath as a volunteer in children’s ministry?” Trying to fit in a day of rest when we have family, friends, work, and ministry requiring our time and attention each week can be a challenge.

But hear me say this…IT IS POSSIBLE. Not only is it possible…IT IS NECESSARY.

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Six months is a long time to let a series sit, but that is exactly what I’ve done.  You might recall that last year I started a series for children’s pastors called Things Your Volunteers Want To Tell You.  The series has been dormant for a while, but since I have 21 things left to share, I think it’s time to fire it back up again! If you are volunteer, I hope that you will read through this series as well.  As a volunteer myself, I have tried to capture the heart of the volunteer in this series, but we need to remember that the onus falls on us too.  If you aren’t willing to have these conversations with your children’s pastor or children’s ministry director, you should at least find ways the accomplish the goal. Previously, we had made our way through the first category of things under the title of Passion and started our second category: Service.  Here is what we’ve covered so far: PASSION

1. Your Volunteers Are Passionate About What They Do!
2. Your Volunteers Want You To Use Their Passion!
3. Share Your Vision With Your Volunteers
4. Give Your Volunteers Autonomy
5. Volunteers Need The Opportunity for Advancement

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