Merry Christmas

Christian Reviews of Media Your Children Want

I wanted to pass along a resource that's been around a while, but you may not know about. There is a website and a magazine called "Plugged In." This website will allow you to read Christian reviews on things your children's are watching, listening to and playing. I'm often suprised to find what some innocently looking media contains once you've checked it out. But who has time to listen and watch everything? Not me.

With Plugged In, you can search for the music, movies, tv shows, video games that your kids are asking you to buy for Christmas and see if it's something you want your child to have.

"Oh be careful little eyes what you see. Oh be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above is looking down in love. Oh be careful little eyes what you see."

Remember, it's our job to help children guard their hearts. You can check out the Plugged In website at www.pluggedinonline.com. You can subsribe to the Plugged In magazine online or pick up a copy at your local Christian bookstore.

Christmas is a Coming

The Christmas Season is in full swing. It seems like there are one or two parties going on every week of December, right up to the day. The Children's Ministry is winding down for the Christmas season. We will not be meeting the Wednesday's of Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve, making next week the last Wednesday classes of 2008. Our Wednesday night boys and girls classes are going incredibly well. Our K-3rd grade boys and girls and our Sarah's Daughters classes are averaging between 14 and 20 kids each week, and many of these kids don't have families attending T&B. Our Christian Commandos (4th-6th boys) are a great classes, we just have less boys in those classes attending right now. We are looking for some men to help run this great program....if you know one or two.

The new year will bring with it many opportunities for kids at T&B with things like Bible Bowl, LTC and an area Preteen Prayer Retreat at the end of January. I am excited to see where the Lord will lead the Children's Ministry in 2009. With the selection of deacons this year, we have put in place a children's ministry team. I'm excited to see how the Lord will use this team to help make the ministry to kids and families better and better.

Well, that's all for now. Don't forget about the church Christmas party this Sunday night. See you there!
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Here are a couple of pictures from our K-3rd Grade Hayride last weekend in which some of our preteens helped with.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is just a quick post to say Happy Thanksgiving! I pray the Lord's blessings on you and your ministry this holiday season! If you haven't checked out Phil Vischer's (of Veggie Tales) newest venture, check out www.jellytelly.com!

Greg
the Kidminister

Coming Soon

Well, it's been a while since I've posted to this site and even longer since I've updated my pages. I've been working on a few other projects and they are moving along and it's time I put some time and energy here. I hope this site is still a blessing!

If you are a clown, come check out my new social network for clowns at www.bumpanose.org. It's like a MySpace for us greasepaint junkies. There are many Ministry Clowns on the site that you can connect with and learn from.

Well, that's it for today. Check back in the weeks to come to see what's new!

Greg

New Month, New Resource

Hello everyone! Can you believe July is here? I ended June with my Preteen Summer Camp session, and boy did we have a blast! With a great staff and one of the best group of campers I've had a chance to work with, we had an incredible week. We focused on the life of some ordinary men that God used to do some extraordinary things with...the apostles.

This year, we made trading cards of all our camp counselors, and on the back we had an apostles or other Bible character. Each day, campers had a chance to collect three or four of the cards. Each counselor required the camper to do something to get their card, like encourage someone, carry someone's tray at dinner or name four of the apostles we had been studying. Kids loved it and it was a great way to continue their learning once they got home and they had momentos of the counselors they had spent a week with. You will soon be able to find templates for the cards on this site.

Okay, if you haven't already, check out a new place online for children's ministers. It's called CM Connect and it's great! Think Myspace or Facebook for children's ministers and you'll get an idea of what it's like...only better. You can check it out at www.cmconnect.org or hit the CMConnect badge on the right side of Kidminister webpage. If you join up, be sure to request me as a friend. I'd love to get to know you and share ideas.

Well, guess I'll sign off! I pray the Lord's blessing on the remainder of your summer.
Greg

Hello Summer

Well, according to the hot Texas heat, summer is here. That means summer camps, VBS, play days, park trips, and water games.WhaHoo!

Actually, as crazy as summer can be, I find it's actually a time when some things stop for three months and I can take a breath and regroup. We end our children's church when school ends and spend the summer planning for the next year. My goal this summer is to get all the lesson's planned (I'd love it if I could get them all written, but that's just never happened and so, well...I'm not going to hold my breath). We are going with a new theme, again, so we'll get to do some building, prop making and costume gathering...which is something I enjoy.

Another goal for the summer is getting the content on this website updated. I promise....again...this time. :) Be sure to check out the Free software page by clicking the technology button. It's amazing how much stuff is out there, for free.

I pray the Lord's blessing on your ministry this summer! Drop me a line sometime, I'd love to hear what's going on in your ministry!

God Bless,
Greg

Soaking It Up

Well today finds me in Irving, Texas where I have been participating in Craig Jutila's Liquid Leadership Gathering for Children's Ministers. It really has been an excellent day of learning and visiting with other children's ministers. There's been some good building up and equipping, but as usual I'm reminded of all that I'm not doing that I need to be doing. Top of the list are getting mission, vision, values (that was a new one) that lead us in a direction, and then find curriculum, programs and such that help us get where we are going.

It's been a good night, and I'm looking forward to Craig's second and third talks on what it means to pour out leadership in the morning. Good stuff. If you get a chance to attend a Liquid Leadership gathering, be sure you do so. You can see more at www.liquidleadership.tv.

February is Here and March is Coming

Wow, I can't believe we are already so far into February. Not that February has been bad; definetly not, but boy is time a flying. There is so much I had hoped to get done on the Kidminister website - both additions and updates and yet, nothing. Sorry about that. One of the things I'm slowly learning to do as I work on my scheduling and time management, is carving out time for things that are important to me, like working on Kidminister.org. So, updates are coming. New articles are coming. The forum may or may not stick around. There are already so many great forums out there like the one on Kidology.org (if you aren't on it, you should be) that I may just be spinning my wheels. In the months ahead, I'm looking at refocusing or really narrowing my focus with this site so it is more useful.

So, please check back in the weeks and months to come as I do some house cleaning and remodeling. I pray your February has been blessed so far.

Greg

Live from the Children's Pastor's Conference in Orlando

This week I am attending the Children's Pastor's Conference in Orlando, Florida. So far it's been incredible. I spent the day listening to Jim Wideman in a conference on managing ministry, family and personal life. Let's just say things are changing when I get home. I really have realized how much I've been missing in my ministry. Things are about to change. More on that later.

The workshops have been great today and the worship was great. Tonight ended with a concert from Go Fish. If you haven't heard these guys and you work with kids then you really need to check 'em out. They're great!

Yeah, well so far I'm not in too much trouble with my purchases, although I don't know how I'm going to get my two pair of clown shoes home. Maybe one in the suitcase and I'll wear the other pair on the plane. That should be pretty funny at airport security...wonder if they have a sense of humor?

Well, guess I'm going to sign off. It's after midnight and I have hike back to my room and we'll start all over bright an early in the morning. I've got some great resource recommendations coming next week.

God bless,
Greg

Orlando & CPC here I come

Well, I'm just hours away from my flight to Orlando and this year's Children's Pastor's Conference. It's hard to believe, but this will be my seventh CPC. If you've never been, well, it's really hard to describe. Picture over a thousand people just like yourself, crazy enough to work with kids, passionate enough to love it. Throw in some great workshops, incredible speakers, and a vender room that will my your finance guy cry in his sleep and you've got CPC. Well, kinda.

It's my recharge for the year... I can't wait. Hey, it got me on an airplane. Infact, in less than a year, after 33 years of never flying I will have spanned the US from coast to coast...with a side trip to Houston for the Texas Clown Association Convention (yep, I'm a clown and I got the shoes to prove it!). Now I'm rambling. Anyway, hope you can make a CPC some year if you haven't. If you're heading to Orlando, look me up. I'll be drooling in the resource center. :)

Greg

CPC Orlando & Free Software Options

Well, it's mid January and I've not updated this blog since Christmas. I'm currently gearing up for my sixth or seventh Children's Pastor's Conference next week. CPC has become my annual recharge as I join hundreds and hundreds of Children's Ministry workers to learn, felloships, worship, recharge and relax together. Everyone has their favorite parts, but the workshops or classes are mine. I love hearing and seeing what others are doing and often I leave with an idea or a dream. This year I'm heading to the Orlando, FL conference. CPC is one of the greatest blessings I get from my congregation.

Are you going to CPC Orlando? If so drop me line.

A new area I'm adding in the Technology section is for free software. Yep, there's a ton of options to the expensive programs most of us are looking at and most work just as well...some maybe better. The area, like all of this site, is a work in progress. So be sure to keep checking the Free Office section for software options that might help you out.

I pray that God will use you to do something great in 2008.

Greg