Ministry Blackboard

27Sep/120

the BLACKBOARD: Some of the best contact work I’ve ever done

I know I've written about it before and I'm pretty adament about it, but last week I volunteered at my daughters school and literally, it was some of the best contact work I've ever done.  Here's why...

  • I got to see my girls.  Seeing your children in a different environment and setting is always enlightening because you get to see them interact with their friends and teachers in a way unlike any other time.  School is THEIR territory, not mine so seeing them in their own environment was great.
  • I ran into several students from the neighborhood that I know and they got to see a father (not a mother - mothers are always in the school helping) as a positive contributor to the school.  So many fathers are busy at work and don't have the flexibility in their schedules like ministers do.  Mothers are in the schools regularly so having a father in their contributing and involved is always nice.  And, just like seeing my own children, I get to see neighborhood kids in a different environment and see how they act at school.
  • I had good conversations with teachers and other administrators.  This wasn't my 1st time volunteering and it certainly won't be my last so going to school I got to connect with other teachers (all who know what I do for a living) and administrators and catch up on them and their families.  Developing those stronger bonds is always good in breaking down barriers between what they may think about ministers and churches.  The more I interact and get to know them, the more likely they will think of me and my church if/when something hurtful or tragic happens at the school or in their lives.
  • I saw other parents from around the neighborhood and got to talk to them.  As parents came in to volunteer and eat lunch with their own children, I got to say, "hi" and talk to them about life in general.  Simple conversations over and over again go a long way.

My hope is that times like these are not "wasted" time as I have "real" work to do in my office or out with teens.  Rather, it all fits into my plan to minister to families, especially families within my neighborhood which is about 5-7 minutes away from the Church.  As I did contact work with multiple groups of people, the more interaction I get with them, the more I earn the right to be heard by them.  And, the more I earn their trust and confidence as they begin to share and trust me with their lives.

Contact work is contact work as long as you continue to build new relationships, develop the relationships you currently have and continually earn the right to be heard with them all.  I can't wait to see how all these relationships I am developing with elementary school aged children now help the growth of my "ministry" when they get into middle school and high school.

So what do you think?  What has been some of your best contact work experience?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and post your best contact work you have ever done and why so that we can all learn and benefit.

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19Sep/120

Orange Week: Friendships that developed from OC ’12

There are so many conferences you can go to each year and there are a lot great ones where you can learn a TON of great things. But, if you can go away from a conference with not just learnings, but friendships, that is even better.

That is what I have appreciated about my Orange experiences. In fact, it's hard to identify just 1 relationship that has started at Orange that hasn't benefited me down the road. I started going to Orange just 2 years ago but I have developed relationships with quite a few people that I count myself blessed by. Whether it is through meeting random Orangites, discussing things with bloggers or picking a Presenter's brain, I have definitely benefitted from going to Orange.

Since I am a blogger, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of other bloggers and hang with them. Being able to meet other bloggers and process with them the information we were hearing in the main sessions and our breakouts was really important for me. It is through those initial conversations that started at Orange, that I was able to continue that over the course of the year by email, twitter, Facebook and other forms of communication.

I was able to talk to them about struggles I was having in ministry or other areas of my life and it was through those initial conversations that some of them have become friends that I look to talking with and meeting up with each year.

What about you? What is a relationship you started at Orange that continues to this day? TAKE A MINUTE right now and share your thoughts. I'd love to hear them.

If you have never been to the Orange Conference and want to join us this year, click here to sign up! I'd love to see you there and even pick your brain about life and ministry.

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30Jul/120

Are you really prepared?

So you show up at church and 45 minutes before service starts you hear that there was a mix up and the Children's Storyteller for the day is actually giving the adult sermon instead.  Oh.  What do you do?  Well, that is exactly what happened to me yesterday morning.

Here is 1 thing you can do to prevent this from happening and another to do in case this does ever happens to you.

  • Make sure this doesn't happen again.  Of course you can't always control all things, but a few things you could do leading up to the week that will ensure this doesn't happen often.  Make sure you touch base with the Storyteller during the week, making sure all things are good.  Now, on our part, our Children's Ministry Director did this.  The storyteller basically just had a "brain fart" and didn't connect the dots.  But, it always helps to touch base with the Storyteller earlier in the week to make sure he/she is ok and good for that coming Sunday.
  • Be prepared to step up.  Yesterday, of all days was the day I really didn't want to get up and Storytell to the children.  I've been swamped with leading different lessons and devotionals lately, so this past Sunday was a day I was looking forward to laying low.  Well, that wasn't the case.  I immediately grabbed the storytelling book and started reviewing the story to tell.  In situations likes these, someone has to be prepared to step up and lead on such short notice.  Thankfully, Orange, has all the material laid out nicely where I could grab it and start going over it.

Overall, this was a great lesson learned for us and I'm glad we were able to adapt and adjust.  But I really hope this never happens again.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Experiences?  Other Input?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and post so we can all benefit.

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16May/120

Trying something different this Summer: CAMP CREATE

This summer, New Life Christian Church's Family Ministry is doing something a little different.  It's not a new idea (others have done it rather successfully), but it is new to us and we are very excited about it. It's called Camp Create.

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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25Apr/120

What I’m hitting up for the OC12 Pre-conference

The OC12 Pre-conference begins this morning at 9:30 am!!  I'm really excited to be here after the great meet and greet.  By the way, check out my new friend...

Anyways, here are the Pre-conference seminars I'm gonna hit up and will be posting the notes later if you want to follow my blog today:

  1. HOW TO: Intentionally Connect to Your Community Through Sports.  I'm excited about this one because of the nZone back home and how New Life Christian Church can better use sports to minister our community.
  2. HOW TO: Prioritize Social Media in Your Ministry.  I am always looking for ways to get more social with our students and how to produce a great social media product so we can keep getting the word out to them.
  3. HOW TO: Creatively Tell Stories to Preschoolers.  Being the "Family Guy" at New Life (not just the Youth Guy), I have a vested interest in making sure ALL our students can hear about God and Christ in an effective way.  So I'm really excited about learning how to better communicate with these young children.
  4. HOW TO: Implement 252 Basics Over Multiple Service Times.  Having 3 services at New Life and being a new converter to 252 Basics, we are still learning so much.  So going to this seminar will help me understand 252 more and bring home more info for our Children's Ministry Director as she works through it as well.

I'll be posting notes on all these later today.

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