CM Conference 2016

Last year, my friend and I attended the CM Conference in Louisville, KY and it was an amazing experience.  So this year, I was doing all I could to spread the word so that more people I knew would be able to attend.  This year, I attended with 4 other people and we had a spectacular time.  Not only is the conference extremely well done, but it is affordable.

No, really...it is actually affordable.   This conference does everything it can to be accessible to people from all church sizes.  They start with a low price and then if that is still too much, they have scholarships that you can apply for to cover part or sometimes even all of the cost.  The way the leadership at the CM Conference genuinely care about under served churches is a blessing that is hard to describe.

So, what is attending the conference like?  Well, it's 4 days, includes 4 amazing and inspiring worship services, 12 Workshop opportunities (with over 90 workshops to choose from), has a cool exhibit area that gives you the opportunity to learn about and/or buy helpful ministry tools, and to top it off, it allows you to connect with people who work with children from around the world. There were folks there from Canada, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, and India...and those are just the ones I saw or connected with.  What a blessing to hear/see how God is moving all around the world!

I was given the opportunity to present a workshop at the conference this year and what an honor that was.  Mine was "Children's Ministry on a Shoestring Budget" and I thoroughly enjoyed leading it.  If you would like the handout, I'd be glad to send it to you, just send me a note.  I also attended some  amazing workshops including, "Handling Trauma filled Children in your Kids Ministry" (full of wonderfully useful information and led by Darren Washausen), "Gospel-Based Entertainment: How to use Crazy Games and Skits to Share Jesus" (led by Jon Wicks and very very well done), two workshops led by Tim Cleary titled "Why the Church Needs Digital Disruption" and "As You Wish - Recapturing the Power of Storytelling in Children's Ministry" both of which were great and gave me much to think about, and Trisha Peach led an incredible one called "Standing up to Bullying in the Church." I could go on and on.  All of the workshops I attended gave me something to think about and helped me grow in my ministry.  There were literally workshops about just about every aspect of Children's Ministry.

If you missed this year's conference, all is not lost.  The workshops were recorded and you can purchase them through the CM Connect website for just $2 a piece!  There are in process of being added so it may take a few days for them to all be there, but I'm excited about that because there were several workshops that I wanted to attend, but had to choose between onsite.  I'm looking forward to purchasing them soon.

So, do yourself a favor, check out a couple of the workshops from this year and then sign up to attend next year.  You will be so glad you did.

Until next week! 

Never Stop Learning

One thing all Children's Pastors have in common is that we are busy.  We can easily get lost in all that needs to be done.  However, if we want to be effective in our ministries, we need to keep learning.  There are always new techniques for teaching, new musical groups to check out, and more training to be had.  We may not be able to stay on top of everything, but it is important that we do what we can to stay current.  Here are a few ways to keep up without overloading your schedule even more than it is already.

Subscribe to a Magazine 
There are some great Children's Ministry Magazines out there.  I highly suggest you subscribe to one and then when it comes, take a couple hours to check it out.  It's an easy way to learn about things that are bombarding our kids, find out about a new VBS, or even get some needed encouragement.  You might check out KidzMatter Magazine or Children's Ministry Magazine.   Both are just full of great information!

Attend a Conference or Workshop
There are lots of Children's Ministry Conferences...in fact there are so many it can be a bit overwhelming.  Especially when you start looking at the price of the conferences.  However, there are are some great ones that you can attend that won't break your budget.

CMConference.  This is the most affordable national conference I have ever found.  Even if you register late, it is less than $200 and it is AMAZING.  There are scholarships available so it really is affordable for everyone.

If you are Nazarene (like me), you should watch to see if there will be a SPARK in your area.  This is an amazing 3 day conference and full of awesome workshops and lots of fun.  It is growing across the country, so check out the Equip to Engage website to see if there is one near you.

Group also offers a variety of training you can check out.

If you keep your eyes open, you are bound to find a conference or workshop that fits your needs and your budget.

Blogs and Books
There are lots of blogs and books out there that you can easily access.  I like to check out blogs because they are bite size pieces of information and easily accessible.  But if someone tells you they enjoyed a certain book, check it out.  Personally, I am looking forward to reading "I Blew It" by Brian Dollar because I believe we learn more from things that didn't work than we do the things that go smoothly.   I've also heard great things about "Sticky Faith" by Dr. Kara Powell and Dr. Chap Clark and it too is on my "to read" list.

As for blogs, I am partial to the Imagine Family Ministries blog by Rev. Jill Waltz.  She always has wonderful articles as well as really useful resources.  I also enjoy checking out Children's Ministry Blog Daily Journal put out by GJ Farmer, the Children's Ministry Daily Paper put out by Commander Bill, and the blog journal by Corey Ray Jones.  All three of those blogs are set up like daily newspapers and are full of awesome content.

Choose what works for you, but keep learning.  If we let ourselves get stale, we will no longer be the effective ministers that God expects us to be.

Until next week!

Safety First...

You probably already know this, but when you are working with children, safety must be your top priority.  Sometimes making an area safe can be a daunting task.  So daunting, in fact, that people would rather just go on as they always have, rather than even try to implement something new.  But, in this day an age, you simply can not be lax in this area.  If parents feel that their children are not being well cared for, they will not bring their children to your department.  So, if you are new at setting up safety procedures for your department, here are a couple of basic things that you probably should start with.

Sign In, Sign Out Sheet
There are lots of expensive software that you can purchase to facilitate the check in/check out area for your children's department, but if money is an issue, then create a simple sign-in/sign-out sheet for the children in your area.  At my church it has basically four columns: Child's Name (We have these already listed alphabetically by last name), Sign-In, Sign-Out, (parents put their initials or name in these columns if when dropping off or picking up their child) and a column for the name of anyone not allowed to pick up the child.  Generally that fourth column isn't used, but it is a good reminder for us to ask if we know of a custody issue within the family.

Once a child is signed in, they can not leave our area until they are signed out.  This will be the most difficult thing you will implement, because so many people are very trusting of those within their church.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but the Sign Out part of the procedure is much more that just making sure the child leaves with the right person.  After they have signed into your area, you are responsible for that child until they are signed out.  You must know where they are until a parent or guardian signs them out.  This is the best way to make sure that they are not hurt or taken by the wrong people.  Parents do not always want to come back to pick up their children, so you may receive some push back about this at first...especially if the children grew up in the church and feel comfortable there, but be vigilant about this.  The children's safety is more important than the parent's inconvenience.  Our job is to keep them safe. 

There are lots of ways to do Check-In/Out, but this is a simple way to start. 

Background Checks and Training  
Background checks are quite simply a must for anyone who works with children.  This is not just a suggestion.  This should be a requirement and is some cases your church insurance may indeed require it of you.  Also, the law in many places also requires it.  So, if you have not done so already, PLEASE start getting background checks on everyone.  Even those who have been working in your children's department "forever" need to have this done.  It is key to making sure that the children's area is a safe one.  

Also, if you can, you need to offer training for your volunteers and staff in how to spot and how to prevent abuse of those in your care.  Ministry Safe is a fantastic and economical way to do this.  Your volunteers can go through the training in their own homes at their own speed (though it only takes around an hour if you go straight through the videos).  Then they complete a quiz that you will immediately get the results of for your records.   You can also go through the company to get your background checks and all sorts of great tips to keep your children and your volunteers safe.  I highly HIGHLY recommend it.

Never Ever Be Alone With A Child
I really can not stress this enough.  We live in an age where not only do we need to protect our children, but also our volunteers.  Never being alone with a child protects both.  There can be no question of impropriety if you are never alone with a child.  If at all possible, have two adults in every class, or at the very least have glass windows in all the doors of the rooms where you meet with children so that people can always see what is going on.  But never have less than three in a room ever.  Last week another Children's Pastor posted a blog about how this rule literally saved her ministry.  I highly encourage you to read her story HERE.
 

Safety of our children and our volunteers needs to be a priority in your department.  After all, we can not have the opportunity to teach the children about Jesus, if they are not first safe in our care.