Camp Create is an action-packed week of intense fine arts training and Bible study.  The five fine arts included are dance, drama, music, sign-language, and visual art.  Each session touches on the five arts, a Bible study, refreshments, and a rockin' opening session.

It is a week long camp that culminates with a Friday night production for the parents.  Each day will start at 1 and run til 5.  The theme for this year is Safari So Good: The Goodness of ONE.  Verse for the week is Psalm 136:1. "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.  His steadfast love endures forever."

This why I love that New Life is doing Camp Create:

1. Provides an opportunity to serve. If you are in high school or college and looking for something different and fun to help out with this summer, then this is a great opportunity to invest in children in a unique format while sharing the love of Christ with them.
2. It's not centered around sports.  Let's be honest, the nZone IS sports.  So for New Life and the nZone to be offering this camp for the "fine arts" is a great way to reach out to all different kinds of children who have a lot more interest in things other than sports.
3. It presents us with another opportunity to reach the community.  As I said above, the nZone screams sports.  Camp Create is none of that and it allows New Life to reach even more people so that they can discover of God is.

So, I'm really excited about this opportunity and I think it'll be a great opportunity for our entire community.

If Camp Create sounds interesting to you and you either want to sign up, click here or want to help out, email me.  We would love for you to be involved in some way this year!

If you are not local (Northern Virginia) and have thoughts, comments or experiences about doing events like Camp Create, post them so that we can all benefit.

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• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Orange ’12 Recap

The posting goes on to say that there is so much Android compared to just 2 Apple products.  To some people that may seem like a good thing for Android. But this article goes on the point out that in order for you, a developer, to get your Android based app out, you have to test it against some 400 based devices because every device runs a slightly different version of Android.  That is compared to just 2 iOS devices in the iPhone and iPad.  The concluding statement was that they support iOS because it is "A little simpler, if you ask us."

So what?  So how does this relate to ministry at all?

Simple really...Simplify your life.  Simplify your ministry.  Android is all over the place but it is fragmented.  There is so much that the product it is hard for programmers to develop for them because each product is just a little different.  On the other hand, it is easy for programmers to develop of Apple since there are only 2 main devices.

In our lives and ministry we can dilute our time with unnecessary things and programs. We do this thing and that program and we have made ourselves so busy because we believe that the more busy we are the more production we are having.  But the reality is that sometimes we do, do, do and then forget why we actually do certain things.  It had a purpose early on, but maybe now that purpose is no longer relevant or valid.  All these "things" do is clutter our life with more and more unnecessary stuff.

So my encouragement for all of us today is to TAKE A MINUTE and think through what we are doing (both in our personal lives and our ministry).  Is something you need to cut out?  If so, what do you need to eliminate, not to make your life "easier" but to simplify it so you stay focused on the main things in life and ministry?

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Experiences?  Post a comment and let the discussion begin so that we can all benefit from it.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Orange ’12 Recap

Let me explain my question.  Just last week my girls school was honoring their volunteers by providing them a Volunteer Brunch from 8:30 – 11:30 am at the school.  In addition, they gave them all travel mugs with the school name on it.  Now, as nice as the spread was for breakfast, I had to abstain because I was getting ready to have an All-You-Can-Eat Sushi lunch with another youth minister friend.  But I was happy to take the travel mug.

This was a very nice, simple appreciation - brunch and a travel mug.  But how do you think this made made the volunteers feel?  It made me feel appreciated and valued.  It made me want to do this again next year.  And that's the point.  The volunteers were recognized, honored and appreciated and it went a long way to retention for next year.

TAKE A MINUTE right now and brainstorm some thoughts on the BLACKBOARD about what you are doing to honor and appreciate your volunteers.  Is there something new that you have done recently that went over well?  Is there something NOT to do?  Throw out some ideas and thoughts so that we can all benefit.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Orange ’12 Recap

How does this apply to ministry?

Do you ever sit back and reflect on the fruit of your labor?  This isn't meant to be in a boastful, prideful way of "look what I've done".  But it is a way to look at say, "look what God has done".

In ministry it can be so easy to look at all you aren't doing and all you should be doing and forget about all that God has done.  This summer I will have performed 5 weddings.  Of those 5, 4 are from former students who I have connected with.  To be asked to perform weddings for former students is such an honor for me.  In many ways it shows me that God allowed me to make an impact in their lives for the kingdom of Heaven.  What a great honor.

So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and just reflect on the fruits of your labor.  What has God done in your ministry?  My mentor once told me that he tells volunteer leaders when they leave ministry that if they impacted just 1 life, they have made a difference.  In the same way, I tell you, no matter how many or how few people you have impacted, if you have impacted just 1 person, you have made a difference.

Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions? Post something so that we can all learn from each other and benefit.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Orange ’12 Recap

Each week there will be a different sport that the kids will learn about, practice, and then play a game using the skills they learned. For instance the next for weeks for us looks like:

May 6: Kickball
May 13: Lacrosse
May 20: Flag Football
May 27: Soccer

During each week, the coach(es) leading the sport will provide the plan for the sport part of the service. The KidZone leaders will assist the coaches with the sports and will lead the Huddle Up portion if the coach wants this.

Below is a “sample” timeline of a typical session. These times are subject to change as needed by the coaches leading the sport:

• 11:50-12:00 - Welcome (coaches will introduce themselves). Warm Up and Stretch: Kids will be led in warm up and stretching exercises.
• 12:00–12:10 - Skill Session 1: Kids will be taught skills for the day’s sport
• 12:10–12:20 - Skill Session 2: Kids will be taught another skill for the day’s sport.
• 12:25–12:50 - Sport Time: Play a game or something using the skill learned earlier
• 12:50–1:05 - Huddle Up: Devotion and lesson time.

So this is what we are trying. Something new and different. What do you think? TAKE A MINUTE and...

1. post your thoughts. What do you think of this new style of programming for Sunday morning?
2. Also, if you are a Children's Minister or Volunteer, take some time to brainstorm new ideas for you and your children's ministry. What can you do and how can you try something that is fresh that could possibly draw more children and families to your ministry.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Orange ’12 Recap

Here are my notes from the Main Session Speakers:

• Main Session Message by Doug Fields
• Main Session Message by Kara Powell
• Main Session Message by Andy Stanley
• Main Session Message by Craig Groeschel
• Main Session Message by Reggie Joiner

• Notes on Navigating the 5th/6th Grade Transition
• Notes on Leading an Inclusion Initiative 
• Notes on How to Creatively tell Stories to Preschoolers
• Notes on How to Prioritize Social Media in your Ministry
• Notes on How to Intentionally Connect to your Community through Sports

If you weren't able to go to Orange this year, I hope these notes help you out and hopefully you can learn something new as I did.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming

3 Sunlamps that blind you:

1. Numbers and focusing on your numbers can cause you to lose focus
2. The pace of life can be hard.  In fact, being with people for fun and refreshment was rare when he was in youth ministry.  He was always with others for "ministry".
3. Comparing yourself to others and their programs can overtake you and damage you.  It . matter how good you are, there are always going to be people who don't like you

In most ministry settings, those sunlamps are being focused on by a lot of leaders.  You are the majority but don't know it because no one admits it.

1. How do you turn the lamp off?
2. How do you get back to living again?

1. He's learned that bigger isn't better.  Better is better.  Bigger is overrated.
2. Hurry is the enemy of depth.  Slow down!
3. He replaced comparison with effectiveness.  God created Doug Fields to be Doug Fields.  He needed to stop comparing and start abiding.

He just needed God to work on him.

Are you paying attention deeply for the things Jesus cares about and wants you to be doing?  You have to turn off the articifical lights that are blinding you and focus on God.

Quit being impressed by the busy-ness of others.  Busy-ness leads to brokeness.  Work hard but don't find your identity in your task.

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• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
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Adult tables with Pastors, Kid tables with Student and Children's ministry people.  We segregate the church.

Segregation in America is over but it is still our churches.  Not over color, but over children and adults.  This is a far cry from Christ experienced as a child.

Luke 2:41-47

Imagine what would happen in our country if the graduates we had who were making choices with Christ as the center.

Intergenerational ministry is a great way to keep students engaged in Christ for the long haul.  It may not be easy but the question we have is to ask is "What does God want for our Church?"

Christ brings us all together, to bring us around the same table talking and living.  Does that mean we should end children's and youth ministry?

Worship time is a great time to do intergenerational ministry together.  As good as this can be the key is to have adults, children and students working together is ideal.  They are worshipping together, serving together, ushering together, playing in the band together.

The game-changer in this when they are doing this all together.  You don't have to start new programs.  You just have to add a multi/inter-generational component to it.

Our older generations are looking for ways to connect with the younger generation.  It's an untapped resource.

It doesn't matter what age you are, any of us can play a part in gathering folks around the table and help people get sticky faith.

If we want our children to have any chance of being game-changers, they need all of us to play apart in them.  There can be a 5-1 web where 5 adults invest in 1 child.

Do you want to help end the segregation that hurts young people and hurts your church.  There are children in your church who need to hear the older generation's story.  So when we gather everyone around the same table, it can be a game-changer for their lives.

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His main focus today is how we work together in the local Church.  This should be the safest, healthiest place for people to work.

He decided that he wanted to keep great people so he worked hard on Staff Culture.  In the City of Atlanta, North Point Ministries, Inc. came in 3rd as best workplace.  He.wanted to be the best place for people to work at.

The one thing that Andy believes that if the staff culture takes hold of it, it will be transformational.  It comes directly from scripture.

Mark 10:32-45

• Jesus telling them he was going to die
• So what do the disciples do?  Try to decide who is the greatest
• v. 42-44 - Not so with you, instead whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all.
• v. 45 - for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Healthy and productive staff cultures are characterized by mutual submission. I am here to facilitate your success regardless of where either of us show up on the ORG chart.

This is not bottom up, but top down.  Not top down orders but top down facilitation.  We are both essential to the success of this mission.  While our responsibilities differ, everyone is essential.

The question mutual submission asks is :HOW CAN I HELP?  That's the game-changer!

Where this is problematic is the idea the preacher is specially anointed. The only anointed one is Jesus.  We are all essential to church ministry.  If that is your church structure, you will never have a mutually submissive Church.

Even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Even if YOU ARE anointed, you should be the best server in your congregation!  Christ modeled it.  Everywhere in the New Testament is a mutually submissive model.

Best Practices:

1. Do for 1 what you which you cold do for everyone - do not buy into the myth of I can't do it for one, so I won't do it for anyone.  When you can say "yes" say "yes".  Do not try to be fair, be engaged.
2. Systemize Top Down Service. How can you serve the people who work for me?  How can I leverage what I'm good at help support the people who work for me?
3. Create and Maintain a sustainable pace.  A lack of sustainable pace squeezes time from everyone.
4. Celebrate and reward mutual submission when you see it.  What is rewarded is repeated.
5. Confront your ego.
6. Drop the term loyalty from your vocabulary.  Anyone who demands loyalty has a loyalty problem.  Good leaders don't need to talk about loyalty.

The starting point is this question: HOW CAN I HELP?

If you allow a "greater than you" culture around you it will corrupt you and destroy you.  Establish a culture of "How can I help?" mutual submission culture.  Christ modeled it.  So let's follow His example.

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• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
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Generation Z:

• Born between 1994-2010
• Over 16 million 9-12 in the US alone!
• This years' 5th/6th graders (1999-2001)

Most are growing up in a a Post 9/11 world.  That is important because it changed the way parents operated with their children (a lot of over-protection and over-parented)

Tween-Agers: Do they even exist?

• Term showed up in the late '90s from a marketing company wanting to brand to the 7-12 year olds.
• Tweens spend $30 billion a year on clothes, music, toys and entertainment
• The youngest mom in 2011 was 11 years old
• THE PROBLEM: our culture is redefining the word kid

Tween-Agers: What do they face?

• Home: Untraditional
• Currently 6 living generations:
• Seniors: 1900-1928
• Builders: 1929-1945
• Baby Boomers: 1946-1964
• Baby Busters: 1965-1980
• Millennials: 1981-1993
• Generation Z: 1994-2010

School is unconventional. More students are home schooled than ever before.  Co-Ops are popping up as well.  Unschooling is becoming popular as well.

Culture is unprecedented.  Never before in history has culture so targeted this demographic.  From TV shows to magazines to the mall, culture is focused on raising your kids a certain way.

The Church

What Culture can't do:  bring in leaders who authentically care for the FULL development of kids and students.

Church can provide Leadership

• If you don't have a common end in mind, you will each have your own end, which will ultimately confuse your kids.

What does the same page look like?  It means you agree about the most important things.  What's happening in your department is as imporatnt to my department as what is happening in my department.

2 Ideas to do that:

1. Weekly Prayer Meeting where you all pray together.  Create and environment that builds and cultivates staff relationships.
2. Quarterly Team Meetings (Celebrate Wins, Present Status Updates, Review and Set Goals)

Where do we need alignment?

1. Salvation Discussions
2. Basic Truths
3. Unified Scope and Cycle

Church: Programming

Transitions are not a one-time event, but years of preparation in the life of your ministry. The question is not "how do we get them to stay?"  The question is "How do we get them to engage?"

5th Graders:

• Relevant does not mean "cool".  It means you present content in a way that it makes sens to their personal story and connect with their life.
• Elevate Community: 2 > 1 + 1
• We have never had a generation so relationally connected to a greater community yet so unable to co communicate.
• Refine the message with the Power of the Story.  Kids learn when there is a gap in their knowledge and when there is a conflict between what they knew to be true and what they're being taught.

Bloom's Taxonomy:

1. Dictionary: Virtues
2. Encyclopedia: The Bottom Line
3. How-To Manual: Applications
4. Sorting Tray: Analysis
5. Debate: Seeing Both Sides
6. Einstein: Self

The Transition to 6th Grade

We need to build bridges with transitional events. This event should be influenced by the kid's department but thrown by the student department!

How do we get 6th grader to engage: the power of experience.  Embracing the story of the gospel is not hte same as experiencing the mission of the gospel.

Home: We want the parents help.

How do parents win?  Parents don't partner with church.  The church parents with parents.

CUE: Connect them to something about God (Wonder). Uncover something that matters about life (Discovery). Experience something together (Passion)

Possibly Related Posts:

• Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE
• the Monday Morning Debrief: Quit Overdoing
• the BLACKBOARD: Honoring & Appreciating our Volunteers
• the Monday Morning Debrief: reflecting on the fruit
• Sports-Centered Sunday Morning Programming