Jott Yourself

5 years ago I bought a voice recorder. I was inspired by my boss at the time. He would walk around the church and remind himself of all the things that needed to improve or simply change by speaking into a nice little compact device. He would then have his assistant or himself type out all his notes from the recorder. I saw this as a manager and thought it was a good idea. I tried it for a while and found it very underwhelming but loved the idea. Last week I was introduced to Jott. Jott is a voice recognition web based software that you call with your cell phone and it turns your call into a written e-mail and sends it for you. It attaches the voicemail to the e-mail in case the software does not understand your words. The voice recognition is very nice though so I haven't had to check the voicemail yet. Why is this important? Well, I can Jott myself reminders and have copies of those reminders in my e-mail. I can put groups together and send them all an e-mail by speaking into my cell phone. I can send an e-mail and not be near a computer or have to use my thumbs on my PDA phone. The best part about this service is that it is FREE, at least for now. I am in love with this service. So much so, that I have told everyone in every meeting about it over the last week. I am now what they call a "Citizen Marketer" for Jott. I hope to get Jotts from many of you now. As someone else wrote: Voicemail and E-Mail are now one. Enjoy and go to Jott.

Using Twitter for Ministry

I love to ask the question, "How can this new technology help me minister to kids and parents?" I believe that if we aren't willing to explore then we will be settling for something less and God deserves the best. So as you can read from my post a couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to Twitter.com. Twitter is a new way of mini-blogging that goes to your group of friends instantly through Text Message, Instant Messanger, and through Twitter.com. Twitter simply asks the question "What are you doing?. Believe me when I say that it is huge right now. So how can this new technology be used to minister? I think it could be used by getting Sunday's material in the hands of parents throughout the week. Here is how I am going to use it and how you could use it too:

1. Set up a Twitter account that is for your ministry. Make sure it is not a personal account

2. Let every family know that you are now using Twitter as a ministry tool and invite them to become your friend.

3. On Monday send out a "Tweet" about what the Main Point was on Sunday.

4. On Wednesday send out a Tweet about this week's Bible Verse

5. On Thursday send out a Tweet with the reference of the Bible Story that you used on Sunday.

6. On Friday give them a heads up of what is coming this weekend.

All of this is free for you and depending on how they receive their Tweets is free for them. It gets your message out on days besides Sunday and is far more effective than just a parent piece. The only thing that I would make sure and do is not to send your parents and kids any junk. Make sure it is very intentional with reminders about the lesson and ideas for parents to connect with their kids. This is just one idea. I will let you know how it goes for our church. I know that our parents may not be the most tech savvy but I am going to pick a couple of families to start with this weekend. Do you have any more ideas?

A Children's Curriculum Idea

I had an idea almost 3 years ago about a curriculum for Children's Ministry that still has not come true. My thought was, "Why don't the major players of Children's Curriculum come together and make one resource that is out of this world?" I mean think about it. It is not like we are talking about competing businesses or even platforms with different agendas and different goals. It can't be that we are worried about the government saying that this couldn't happen because of the fear of a monopoly. I even pitched this idea to Keith Johnson who was working at Group Publishing at the time. Keith was the Children's Director for Billy Graham and I worked under him back in 1999. I thought now that he was working for a publishing house that was successful in almost all denominations throughout the country that they could bring the major players together and let each work on what they were passionate and successful at. For example, can you imagine a Children's Curriculum that had Fellowship Church working on technology and training volunteers on a weekly basis, Willowcreek working on dramas, North Point working on involving and resourcing families, Saddleback working on videos, and Kidmo working on energy and hype? All could bring their budgets, teams, and leadership to the table and then Group could publish it. So why haven't they? Don't they all have the same mission? Is it a technology issue? Is it a lack of vision? Tell me that it is not a pride deal... Tell me that it is not a money deal...Tell me that it is not a personal deal... Aren't we talking about the future of the church? Aren't we talking about kids bringing their parents to church? Aren't we talking about giving every church a tool that they wouldn't have to worry about being excellent so that they could focus more of their time on building relationships? What is the excuse? We have the idea now. I don't even need the credit or work on the project, but if someone needs to step up and coordinate it then let me do it. Isn't this just getting the right people on the bus and then getting them in the right seat. To me it is a no brain idea that would help the local church better serve its kids and their families. So let's do it. Let us come together like no other industry has in the past and do something incredible for the kingdom of God and for the lives of millions of children everywhere. If you hear me yelling it is because this should be done. So here is who I invite to be on the bus: Mike Johnson, Sue Miller, Reggie Joiner, Craig Jutila, Johnny Rogers, and Thom Schultz. Let's sit down and figure this out.

Staying Current

I had the following questions on my blog recently:

What resources do you use to find out about the various curriculum? How about knowing what is cutting edge out there?

These 2 questions are excellent questions. By the way, I do believe in the theory that if you ask the right people the right questions then and only then will you get the right answers. Now I don't consider myself the ultimate expert of what is cutting edge in Children's Ministry but I do try and stay as current as possible. How do I do that? Well, here is the process.

1. Look to large churches with successful programs.
-- I consider there to be 4 highly successful churches in America when it comes to Children's Ministry. These 4 are Fellowship Church, North Point, Willow Creek, and Saddleback. Why these 4? All four thrive in their community but go beyond that and have created resources that help everyone else be successful. Fellowship has Elevate, North Point has created their own company called The Rethink Group, Willow Creek has Promiseland, and Saddleback has Empowering Kids or Purpose Driven Kids, whichever one Craig is promoting at the time. These resources are great because the church is already using and tweaking them for their success. They are also great because they have staffs that can do what myself or any other Children's Minister can't do alone.

2. Look at Disney, Nickelodeon, and any theme park you can find.

3. Look at Curriculum companies next.
-- I consider Group Publishing to be the best curriculum company for Children's Ministry. There are others but all of them seem to watch the larger churches first and then see what they can come up with sell to churches. Right now, if you are doing VBS then curriculum companies are the only way to go. They put mega bucks behind there product and do things that even larger churches have trouble doing for VBS.

4. Go to conferences that aren't just product pushers
-- For example there is a new one coming up put on by the Rethink Group called Orange. It should be very good. Reggie Joiner is great about not pushing his stuff to much but having incredible stuff that you want to buy. The Children's Ministry International Conferences feel more like pushers then real purpose. It almost feels like you just sold a used car. Group's regional one day conferences are nice to take your team too and get training. Willow's is nice if you need a pump me up. Saddleback's is great if you are looking for philosophy, alliteration, and a nice time in California.

5. Search Children's Ministry Websites
-- Just for fun I put "Children's Ministry" into Google and 1,570,000 entries came back in 0.12 seconds. As you can probably tell, most are a waste of time. I am not a big fan of most children's ministry sites, including Kidology.org. It seems like it takes longer to take their ideas or products and change them to fit then it does just to create my own stuff.

There are my Children's Ministry insights for you. I do of course have 47 blogs that I try to keep up with on a daily basis. Most are not Children's Ministry related but it does help to see what other industries are doing to see how they can be applied. I hope this has helped.

Do you Twitter?

There is a new rage that is being blogged about all over the internet. It is called Twitter. Read the buzz here. Here is what Twitter says it is...

What is Twitter?

Twitter is for staying in touch and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing. For some friends you might want instant mobile updates—for others, you can just check the web. Invite your friends to Twitter and decide how connected you want you to be.

It simply asks the question. What are you doing?

I think this could be a very useful tool for ministry but I want to see if you think so. What ways could you use Twitter? Is it a waste of time? Is it possibly the next MySpace.com or YouTube.com?

I have a twitter account and if you want to be my friend you are more than welcome. My e-mail is remixkids@gmail.com.

Right now I am blogging on www.mckeelive.com.

8 Things I can't believe haven't happened yet

Can you tell me why someone hasn't...

1. Put a good sermon on YouTube?

2. Made a witnessing tool for kids who own a PSP?

3. Put Toby Mac in charge of Children's Music for their church?

4. Paired their Children's curriculum up with a theme park for family fun and learning?

5. Written a great small group study for families where parents teach their kids instead of having babysitters?

6. Convinced Seth Godin to join their church staff and let us all benefit?

7. Talked Google into speaking at their church conference

8. Taken the idea of Webkins and applied to the weekend lessons and Bible verse memory?

The Auto Expo and Jack Hanna

This past Friday I went to the Auto Expo here in Cincinnati. It was a great deal because they had a 2 for 1 special for adults and kids got in free if you got there on Friday before 6:00pm. We ended up going with another couple and their kids and kids they were babysitting. All in all there were 4 adults and 7 kids under the age of 4. Not the perfect recipe for success but I am a Children's Minister so I thought I had everything under control. It took us forever to get in with all the kids but we made it and I was totally underwhelmed. Now I am a car guy and I love going to car shows because they are known for their creativity and innovation. Normally there are concept cars all over the place and other out of this world cars that I may never afford. This was like going to a local indoor car lot and I had to give them $10 to look around. Now don't get me wrong. There were two concept cars there. One was the Chrysler Imperial. Here is a photo:

This was a sharp car but it came out as a concept last year. At least they had it spinning on a platform. The second concept car was the Dodge Kahuna. Here are 2 photos:

They didn't even have it spinning. Of course they came out with this back in 2003. I can tell you right now that the auto industry is hurting. Why do I say that? The environment of the expo stunk. It was lousy. So what did I learn from the Auto Expo. If my environment stinks then people are going to think that my ministry is lacking. Believe me when I say that is the last thing I want.

Tuesday of this week I went to a local elementary school and saw a show put on by Jack Hanna. He is the animal guy who shows up on David Letterman and brings 18 animals on stage at once. Here is a photo:

I got to talk to Jack before the show and ask him some questions. I asked him how long he had been doing his job. He quickly came back with, "Since 1969 when the only people working at the zoo were prison inmates." He went on to say that when he started his T.V. show that he was only 1 of 2 shows about animals on the air. Today there are channels dedicated to animals. He also said that if there was an unpaid intership opening at the local zoo that they would get 500 applications today and back then no one cared. Then it was time for the show and I went out to help bring the animals in from a van. Now I will say this...Jack is passionate about animals. He is a bit on the goofy side but he still has the passion. That passion is what made him start when no one else was doing it. That same passion is what keeps him going today. What did I learn from Jack Hanna? Sometimes you don't have to be the best to make a huge impact. Sometimes you have to be willing to do what others won't and stick with it because you are passionate about it.

Believe it or not, but I think these are 2 of the biggest struggles for Children's Ministry across the nation. I hate going to churches that don't do squat in their ministry areas. The lack of attention to the environment is showing parents that your ministry is lacking in general. The second struggle is a lack of leadership from Children's Ministers that are passionate about what they do. Don't get me wrong. There are maybe a handful out there that are good leaders but most see Children's Ministry as the work that no one else wants to do. How do I know this? Because most churches are handing this off to the youth minister who doesn't care about it. Who blames them? No one because they are stuck in a basement or across the street from the main building trying not to drown and actually get students in the doors. So here are my suggestions for all the Senior Pastors out there.

1. Pay attention to all environments in your church, especially your children's area. Young families will give more and grow your church faster than anything else you do.

2. Hire the most passionate person you can find in every area. Pay them the way you want to get paid and get out of there way. Then maybe if you have an opening you too will get 500 applications to fill an intern position.

Family Fun Night

This past Saturday night I put together a Family Fun Night. It ran from 6:00pm-8:00pm and we had an incredible turn out. The whole deal was Dinner and a Show. Dinner was catered by a famous local catering company called Funky's Catering. Most of the people in our target use them for both corporate and personal events. The show was put on by Mad Science. Since this is the first year that I am using Mad Science during our summer program called Smash Camp, I wanted to give the kids a teaser. I also wanted to see what kind of response I would have to them. I knew they had a good reputation in the community but was impressed how many families brought friends and neighbors. This event was all about promoting Smash Camp. It was also about getting building community. So how do you measure success from an event like this besides just the number of people that came? For me it is the 5 new families that don't go to our church who have already contacted me to sign up their kids for Smash Camp. It is the excitement that I have received from volunteers about not only looking forward to the summer but about the overall ministry. Lastly, it was a simple note from the Senior Pastor that said "Great Work. Great Event." I would encourage you to also be intentional when doing your next event. Don't just bring in anybody because they are cheap or because they are convenient. Make sure it is a spring board to something else. Make sure in builds excitement about another event or ministry. Make sure there is a purpose.

Re: Alternative to VBS

Here is my attempt at answering all of the questions in the comment about Alternative to VBS. Enjoy.

1. How did you go about lining up the help from the outside companies? I met OnGoal, the soccer professionals that are doing Smash camp for me, through one of our staff members. She worked for them in the off season when she was playing professional soccer. She is now our High School and Middle School Girl's Director for our church. I met Mad Science by picking up the telephone and asking if they would be willing to partner with me on a camp. I had done a lot of research on them before calling and knew that they had worked with Christian Home School networks in the area. I also asked them for references before agreeing to the partnership. We of course made guidelines in which we both have to follow but the big one for us is that they not teach evolution. I don't know where your church stands on this issue.

2. Are there any sort of "minimum attendance" type requirements that a smaller church would have to consider? Companies like OnGoal and Mad Science are more prepared to work with small numbers then they are large ones. I worked at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX where we would have 4,000 for our Adventure Week or VBS on steroids. Very few companies are not ready to take on larger numbers such as that, but are willing to work with churches that have smaller numbers. The reason is they can send fewer staff and don't have to shut down their whole operation to accommodate one church.

3. This sounds really cool, but I'm concerned we wouldn't be able to pull this off very well with our staff and volunteer assistance. (Can I do this?) Know that the church I am at now runs about 600 TWA. When you make this a priority as a church and give the right vision to your volunteers then it is surprisingly easy to do this event. You do have to have support from the leadership of your church or it will be difficult not matter what size church you are.

4. Did you run any sort of pilot program or did you just jump in? Pilot programs are not necessary if you have chosen the right need for your community. There is something your community wants their kids to enjoy that is not being offered in an excellent way. If you do the research then success will follow.

5.What did church members think about the need to pay for a week of camp? Was there a lot of opposition or was everyone really excited? People will pay for excellence. If I said that I was going out and teaching science to their kids then they would want to know why they needed to pay. When you partner with an outside company that parents want their kids to be in anyway their will not be opposition. Not everything at church should be free. It sends the message that what we do is not worth paying for and that is the wrong message.

6. How did you handle day care for church volunteers? Was that factored in to the cost? Was it even applicable? For people who volunteer we let their kids go to camp for 1/2 the price. If they have kids who are younger than three then we have a child care team that is paid to keep those kids. The child care team is taken out of the overall camp budget.

7. How much of the camp was run by the companies and how much help was needed from volunteers during the camp? (Trying to get an estimate for the ration of children to volunteers here.) The companies biggest responsibility is the teaching and our volunteers biggest responsibility is to build relationships with the kids an families. So OnGoal provides one soccer coach for every 15-18 kids. We provide 2 adult volunteers for 15-18 kids when it comes to soccer. Mad Science provides one teacher for every 25-30 kids. We provide 3 volunteers per science class. I also have a team of volunteers that help do everything from registration to lunch to volunteer appreciation.

8.Lastly, do you have recommendations for getting the word out to the surrounding community so that this doesn't sound like a churchy event but something that the kids would like to take part in? Did your partner companies help with that at all? Last Saturday I went to a camp fair at a local school. There were 60 camps from around the nation with booths set up promoting their camp. It ranged from Christian camps to yachting camps that you could send your kids away for 8 weeks on a boat. I wanted to go on the yachting camp. I made sure I had one of the nicest looking booths in the room. I gave out color changing pencils with Smash Camp and our website on them. I promote the camp as a soccer camp and a science camp. I get literature from the companies and hand it out with our registration form. Our registration form does say that all kids will go through a large group Bible Time. We don't hide that we are a church. The goal is for us to put on the best soccer and science camp in Cincinnati, OH and if we do that then kids will bring their parents back to the place where they had the best camp. The best camp just happen to be at a church where lives are changed for eternity.

I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask. I love sharing my passion for kids bring their parents to church.

Alternative to VBS

I get this question all time... What are you doing for VBS this year? My answer is that I am not doing VBS. At first glance the person asking is very shocked. Questions of how did you manage that and how did you become the most blessed Children's Pastor in America come to their mouths. This is correct though. I don't do VBS. I don't even do a wanna be, revamped, call it something different VBS. So what do I do during the summer? I do what we call SMASH Camp. SMASH Camp is a half day camp for both preschool and elementary kids. This year SMASH Camp is a soccer camp, a science camp, and a preschool camp. Why do I say this year? Because last year it was a soccer camp, a video camp, a journalism camp, and a preschool camp. My soccer camp is run by a national Christian soccer camp group called OnGoal. They have camps all of the U.S. but just happen to be based here in Cincinnati, OH. My science camp is run by Mad Science. Mad Science is a national company that does everything from after school programs to school assemblies to their own summer camps. What I have basically done is enlisted 2 professional companies to come in and provide excellent teaching in their field but before and after they can do their thing I get to do my thing. Each day we start off with a large group presentation with a live band and end the day with a large group Bible time that is taught by me. How did I come up with soccer and science? I asked my parents what their kids would like to learn. I asked my kids what they thought would be cool. I did some dirty work called asking and it came out that the most popular things that I could offer in a camp for my area is soccer and science. I went out and found the best respected and knowledgeable people for those two fields and began a partnership. No I don't do VBS. I do something totally different because I don't think that VBS meets a need for my community. I don't think VBS brings non-churched kids into my doors like Mad Science. I know your next question. How much do you I charge? Elementary kids are $100 per kid and preschool kids are $50 per kid. If you are talking in terms of VBS, I would be one of the most expensive in the nation. Know this though... I didn't have as many come to VBS when it was free then I do to a camp that cost $100. There is something to be said about meeting a need. What need can you be reaching for your community? I am sure that if you did some dirty work then you would find out that VBS is not meeting that need. Now all you have to do is convince your Senior Pastor that meeting needs is better than meeting tradition.