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my changing paradigm

God has a sense of humor...

We all know it’s true!

Yesterday I blogged about getting involved in the ‘messy’ side of ministry. Working an event at the church tonight. A woman randomely walks in. The event was not advertised publicly so I’m confident she did not know something was happening that night. I believe she saw the lights on and figured it was a safe place to stop. We fed her, gave her hot coffee and spent a few minutes talking with her. No heroic moves by any standard… but nice to stop and chat with someone that I might otherwise overlook.

I wonder where she is right now… God, protect her.

Dirty Ministry

Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by a very clean, pretty ministry. It's easy to keep it clean... play it safe... keep the pose.

Tired of that. Longing to get involved where things aren't so neat and tidy. Where I don't have all the answers... maybe not any of the answers. Deep within me is a longing to take my LifeGroup, get out of our living room, and get involved in the midst of someone's messy life. Help a single mom with repairs to her home or serve an invalid by bringing them groceries.

There is no process for that. No policy and procedures manual. No ordering form to complete by a certain date. Just a bunch of people pitching in to help someone that isn't able to help themselves.

Check out this video. It speaks volumes.

How Full Is Your Bucket?

Here's a great synopsis of leadership traits/skills that pertain directly to Kids Ministry written by Tammy Melchien, the Executive Director of Kids' City (the Children's Ministry of Community Christian Church).

Interesting to see another multi-site perspective.

"The average person suffers from three delusions: (1) that he is a good driver, (2) that he has a good sense of humor, and (3) that he is a good listener." Stephen Sample, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership

I find that funny... and true.

My best leadership maneuver...

Maneuver - to manipulate or manage with skill(z)

My best leadership maneuver? Ask myself daily... "What am I avoiding?".

It's usually the hard stuff. The tough conversation. The uncomfortable scenario. The stuff I wish I didn't have to go through, but once I'm done I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

A productive day is when I look at my task list, choose the tasks I'd rather avoid and do them first.

2nd Life

There's a reason I am not the Digerati star at LC. Am amazed by this 2nd Life concept. A virtual world where people explore, live in community... whatever else you can imagine. And we have a campus there!?! It's just crazy enough to sound like LifeChurch.tv. I mean... why not?

Want to know more? Read Bobby G's post.

Thoughts from the weekend...

• Petting Zoo at church?!?... Great idea! Maybe not 4 weekends in a row! Feeling very removed from the general happenings within the kids area for the past several weeks. HOWEVER, had so many great opps to engage one-on-one with kids for more than 30 seconds. Probably a more productive 4 weekends than I think.
• I'm still not an animal person.
  
• Effective training... feeling the pressure (again) to push forward with more effective training systems. With additional campuses come more send outs. The amount of time we have with a volunteer could decrease before we send them to another campus. Not as much time to get them 'seasoned'. Not to mention... our kids 'feel' the bump in the road when a veteran volunteer hands the reigns to one less experienced.
• Need to reserve some energy on Saturday nights for ice cream with my kids.
  
• I love my team. I've never seen a more committed group. And I do not mean 'straight-jacket' committed. I mean no-holds-barred, make-it-happen, stay-late-to-get-it-done committed.
• I love our volunteers! They rock my face off. They work circles around me.
  
• They hang onto the 'crying-not-gonna'-stop-til'-I-see-my-mom' kiddos just so mom/dad can receive a life-changing message in Big Church.
• They serve multiple worship experiences just because they have the time and we have the need
• They encourage me the entire time
• My job is stinking cool
  

The boldness of Paul

Reading through Galatians, right now. Paul's boldness amazes me. I can't say how many times I've read through Galatians 2 and yet the more I develop as a leader the more I appreciate his willingness to call a spade a spade. Despite Peter's boldness in the Spirit post-Pentecost, he obviously continued to struggle some with the 'people-pleaser' side of him. Paul stepped up to let him know that his actions contradicted his theology.

How many times do my actions contradict my theology? More often than I think... I'm sure. Like Peter... I know what is right but it's easier to do what is accepted.

In the Fast Lane

Okay, so maybe I was in the 'granny' lane... the way I kept getting passed!

My team and I went to Pole Position (an indoor karting joint) in the city last Thursday. Still paying for it. Apparently those little race cars generate a lot of vibration and my shoulders took the brunt.

But it was amazing to go that fast!

So it IS all about me...

I recently read a post by Kem Meyers taking an interesting twist on the well known phrase, "Church is not about you!". Although Kem's idea is designed for a capital campaign, easily the concept translates to the ongoing challenge of recruiting volunteers to serve within the ministry.
Try this on for size...
"It's my story, it's my decision, it's my chance to make a difference..." http://kemmeyer.typepad.com/less_clutter_noise/2007/02/theming_a_capit.html

Is there a better approach to recruiting? A more effective way of communicating that a well-placed volunteer is not just filling a hole but is rather fulfilling a God-given opportunity to change someone's world.

Even as a ministry leader, I find myself trying to figure out how ministry fits into my life rather than how my life fits into this ministry. If I need to be reminded of the reality that it's 'my story, my decision, my chance to make difference...', then why am I surprised when a volunteer needs it?

It's my blog and I'll change if I want to...

So I made a few changes...

I like the idea of making this my personal blog rather than a representation of LifeKIDS or LifeChurch.tv. More freedom when you don't have to make it 'look' right.

I'll continue to communicate thoughts, challenges, and ideas regarding OKC LifeKIDS and kids ministry in general. I encourage you to participate in the conversation.

More than that... continue to search for other sources that challenge your thinking. When you find something... share with the team. Happy hunting...

KONNECT Attendance... Where are the kids?

60%? What's up with that?

Justin and I took a close look at the Sunday KONNECT Attendance Trackers today. We noticed a direct correlation between the group attendance and the attendance of their leader. If the kids in a Circle Group had poor attendance we looked at the attendance of the group leader. Turns out if the kids in the group were 'on again/off again', the Circle Group leader had the same attendance record.

Now, which one is the cause? The group's poor attendance brings about a group leader that is less committed b/c they feel less effective/needed, etc? Or vice-versa? Probably just another 'chicken vs. egg' story. Doesn't matter in the end. I'm sure one feeds the other only to perpetuate the situation.

The real question is how do we reverse the trend in these groups with sporadic group leaders? We start one group at a time.

Justin is speaking to his leaders this week about the number of weeks we have left in this semester. The limited amount of time before the '06-'07 year ends. Justin will be rallying the troops this week, motivating them to refocus and remember the goal... changed lives.

Pray for the leaders. Pray for the kids. Pray for a dramatic shift in attendance. Pray for one kid on the bubble to make a personal connection with their group leader this week.

Credit where credit is due...

Okay... a little celebration, here. Speaking of small steps:

• How do we increase the 5:30 CM team by 5%? Well, this week the CM 'Needed vs. Present' is 81%! Bringing our overall total average for the week (KONNECT included) to 98%! That's phenominal! Great job, Toni!

We're seeing a direct result of a great recruiting drive. A few things can be tweaked... done a little differently... but overall, it was a very simple and effective method of drawing attention to serving in LifeKIDS.

The momentum was great! Now comes the challenge of keeping them. Don't get me wrong. I'm not interested in white knuckling someone, begging them to hang on just to fill a hole. But I'm very interested in becoming experts at fostering an environment that allows a Cast Member to really be effective in their role. It seems that when a Cast Members 'feels' effective then they tend to stick through all the ups and downs. What does that look like?

Where are we going? How will we get there?

In this week's team meeting, Chris talked about measurables. Achieving some measurables may be easier than others. For example...

• 75% KONNECT registration from the average Toon Town and Studio 45 weekend attendance... isn't all that difficult to achieve. Yet of all those kids registered 75% attendance at KONNECT is a little more challenging
• 90% 'Needed vs. Present' Cast Member numbers for 10:00am isn't a problem. But the 5:30? Different story
• 1,564 LifeKIDS weekend attendance sounds GREAT! Until you're trying to reach it and simply unsure of how we can directly impact the attendance of a 5 year old!

So... let's share some ideas. Mudsling. The sky is the limit. This week...

• What small steps can we take to raise our KONNECT attendance from 50% to 55%?
• What random thing can we throw out to inspire 3 more people to serve at the 5:30?
• Where do we go to find another 15 kids to come to church?

Let's have it...