Keys to being an effective leader

  I have learned the hard way over my short few years in Children's ministry that doing the job alone does not work like ever work. When I first got into ministry I did not realize what leadership is and was nor do I still get it :). I am someone who says I will do it myself because well nobody can do it the way i picture it. After all I am the Children's Pastor so no once could teach or do ministry the way I do. Well my friends it did not take me long at all to realize that I was really wrong with this way of thinking. I needed a team, I needed folks to come on board and use the tools and gifts that God have them. I needed to learn to delegate (still a big weakness for me at times). So here are a few keys if you will that I have learned over the past few years of what it takes to be an effective leader.

1. Look at what you need to be doing.
    Its important to learn to delegate and pass responsibly down to others, and the first step is to know what you need to be doing. As important as delegating is there are just some things that we need to be doing, but we don't need to do everything! Which leads me in to the next key.

2. Look at what others can do and let them do it.
    Again this is still a hard thing for me but I am learning to do more of this. How many times do I find myself doing the little details here and there while there is something more important I need to do, not saying little details are not important because they are. Some one once told me "if someone else can do it then let them do it". If there is something some else can do as well, let them take that and run with it. Figure out what you need to do and delegate the rest out.

3. Paint a clear picture on how you want it done.
    People are not a mind reader, when we delegate we need to be clear what is needed to be done or how it might look. When we define what we want done I have found it usually gets done just as described.

4.  Be Relational!
     Someone once told me 'if your not building relationships then your not ministering". We should be intentional in building relationships with our leaders and workers. Building relationships is a big key in leadership. When they get to know you as not just the Kids Pastor but the person, it makes it easier to get behind the vision and direction of the ministry.

5. Encourage. Encourage. Encourage
    We all know it can be easy to get burned out with in comes to the duties and work of the church, same goes with leaders and volunteers. They to can be burned out or loose focus, as Kid Pastors we should be their biggest fan. Encourage them, recognize publicly the great works they have been doing. Let em know how much you appreciate all they do. We should look to encourage and build up those who work and lead in our ministries.

Just a few leadership lessons I have learned through out he years and many more to come I am sure!! :)

    

Social Media... Get on Board

Whether you check your Facebook page five times a day or have never heard of Twitter, there's no denying it: we now live in a digital age. Social media and technology define not only the way we communicate but the way we live. In matter of fact many of the Kids in our ministry use social media, whether its facebook, twitter, instagram, snap chat, or any other of the many forms of social media.  If we want to be more effective in ministry we can not ignore this trend of social media. Just think of how many of the parents that are on social media, whether you like social media or use it or don't we need to get on board and use this to our advantage. How often are we quick to pull out our phone and check our social media networks because we are board and well its there and easy. Here are a few ideas about how we can use social media to our advantage. 1. Create a page just for you ministry.     Create a facebook, twitter, and instagram just for your ministry. Create an account that is all about the Children's ministry in your church. Then you can have parents like and follow these pages and you can use it to your advantage to get the word out! 2. We can advertise like crazy!     Do you have a big or small event coming up, well create an event of facebook and send it to all the parents and boom quick advertisement. Got a flyer made for the event, post it on instagram or twitter and encourage folks to retweet it. 3. Post scripture, a devotion, or even what is going on in Kids Church.     A great way to keep paretns informed of what their kids are learning about is to tweet it!!! Tweet our the verse for the week, or the bible lesson that is taught for the week, you can even tweet a link to a devotion or to your ministry webpage. 4. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!....Instagram     Of course with parent permission, post pictures. Post pictures of events from VBS, to camp, to messy games, to even the kids worshiping. Parents love to see pictures of what their kids are doing. Social media is not going to slow down anytime soon, so why not take advantage of it and use it to be more effective in ministry.

Min-to-win it

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with the game show "Minute to Win It", is a game show that contestants will compete at to win money, the games well just like the title says they have one minute to compete the task or it could result in elimination. I love watching the game show, not just because it is entertaining but the games they play are just perfect for Children's Ministry. Almost every game we do in Kids Church is some form or adaptation of a game on Min to Win it.

Minute to Win it Games are usually pretty easy to set up and play. Min to Win games are a great resource for Kid Min and leaders. Check out some of the games right here!

Take a look its in a book...Kid Ministry Books

  As a Kids Pastor its important that we never stop growing and learning, to be a student of the ministry if you will. Its important to stay on top of new trends, fresh ideas, and to learn from others who have done this way longer than I have! We can do this by reading (i know what your thinking, Chad you can read!) books related to Children's Ministry. Here is a short list of books I believe that every Kids Pastor should have on his/her shelf. 

1. Children's Ministry that works - by various authers

2. Children's Ministry leadership -by Jim Wideman

3. Making Children's Ministry the best hour of every kids week

4. I Blew it - By Brian Dollar

5. How to Lead a Child to Christ - By Daniel Smith

These are just a few books that I would recommend, although there are 100's of books out there that are just as good these are just some of my favorites. 

You can find them all on Amazon for cheap :)

What books do you recommend?

KidMin Websites

If you are like me you love to stay on top of the latest and greatest things going on in the life Children's ministry, and no way is better than that then checking out some great kidmin sites that allow you to connect with other Children Pastors. When you can network and connect with others it gives you a source to bounce ideas off of or to see what has worked or not worked for others. There are a few sites out there I would recommend.

One of my favorite places to visit is kidology! Love kidology, i like it so much its actually my home page on my laptop! Kidology is THE place to check out if you are involved in kids ministry. Tons of resources and tools to pull from and my favorite part is the discussion forums, you can post or comment on other posts and just network with other KidMin. You can check out Kidology here .

Another great site is CM Connect, its the facebook for Children Pastors, you can friend and follow other Children's Pastors as well as some the big names in the ministry. Another great tool for networking with other Kid Pastors. You can find CM Connect right here .

I would also encourage you to follow other KidMin blogs, such as GJ Farmer , Jim Wideman and more.

What sites or blogs do you enjoy.

Goals

Its been over a week since my last post, I was on "vacation" last week that ended up being Chad has strep week but that's how the ball bounces, at least I go rest right :)

I have been spending most of my day thinking about this past year of ministry and the new year (i consider august through august to stay on schedule with school). Thought about what was good and maybe not so good, looked back at the goals that I wanted to achieve and saw if we achieved them, then started looking at goals that we will set for the new year.
Its important to set goals for your ministry, goals give us something that we are shooting for whether that's an increase in numbers, or a new ministry you want to begin, or maybe just a complete makeover, the important thing is to have goals set.

Here are a few goals that I would like to see in this new ministry year, read them and share what your goals might be. Here are just a few goals I would like to reach.

1. Security
    Now we have security procedures in place, but this year my goal is to see us move from the old school check in style to going digital (i know i am behind, but those things expensive) and using the ACS check in systems for our kids. I would like to have the kiosk stations out form for easy access for us to check in and out quickly for all kids.

2. Family Ministry
    One of my plans for this year is to see the ministry become more family oriented and friendly, by being intentional by what we are doing. One way will be digital devotions the parents can download and spend time during the week with their kids in the word, after all we see in Deuteronomy 6 that its the parents who are the primary disciple makers in the lives of their kids.

3. Fill the Gaps
    We have a few age gaps in our church and one of the goals is to come up with a plan to reach more families for Jesus. I always say its not about numbers but that doesn't mean we cant still outreach.

What are some goals you have set for this year, this is just a few for the ministry in my church.