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.

What kind of phone do you carry?

With the launch of iPhone by Apple and their claim of reinventing the telephone I thought I would go into my theory of cell phones. Now I know that there is tons of info out there already on the iPhone and it has become an internet sounding board. So I am not going to try and tell you how great or not great the phone is, but I do want one just for the cool factor.

Anyway, on with the point. Right now in my pocket I am carrying the T-Mobile MDA. If you are not familiar with this phone it is a smart phone with a full version of Windows Mobile 5 on it. What does that mean? It means that my phone is a PDA, MP3 player, Bluetooth enabled, WiFi, Internet surfing small computer. It has word, excel, powerpoint, and will even open PDFs. Of course it has outlook for e-mail and will do instant messaging with a breeze. Here is the picture of the phone:

This is when the phone is open and on it's side. It also has a miniSD slot where I have a 2 gig card for all of the music I want to take with me. I got a pair of Bluetooth Headphones for Christmas that I use to run with and a Bluetooth Headset to make my calls with. The phone has Windows Media Player on it to keep up with my playlist. So I have the comfort of a slide-out keyboard, touchscreen with stylus, and the phone can be use in both landscape that you see above and Portrait with the keyboard slid underneath. In general, a small enough phone that I carry in my front pocket and does everything I need for it to do.

Now some of you are looking at the above list and saying one of three things right now.

1. I want that phone.

2. You are bragging about your phone, so who cares.

3. I don't have a clue what you just said.

Why did I tell you about my phone. Because I think it says a lot about who I am. It says that I like to have access to everything at my fingertips so that I can make decisions quickly. It says that I don't like to be tied to my office so that I can meet with people on their terms and still get work done. It says that I am an early adopter and I am not scared of technology. It says that I am up to date with trends and culture. It says that I like gadgets that can improve my everyday life and the way I communicate with the people around me.

Now here is my question to you... What does your phone say about you? You do know that it doesn't have to be just a phone. What kind of phone do you carry?

By the way, the iPhone comes out in June. It doesn't do anything that my phone won't already do but it is much cooler. Here is a picture:

If you don't like my phone or the new iPhone and you want something more designer, Prada just came out with a phone. This is for those people who are really into fashion. Here is a picture:

So there is phone talk for you. I could go on for days...

Building Buildings

We are building our first building as a church. We have bought 154 acres and are taking over a golf course. Yes, it is pretty cool and we are even thinking about keeping 9 holes. A matter of fact, you can go today and play on our property. It is in the mid 50's today so it is possible. Anyway, the hope is to break ground in September of 2007. We have picked an architect but have not yet settled on a look and feel. If you have ever built a building then you know that it comes with much excitement and even more stress. There are always more questions then there are answers. What is going to be best long term? How much do we plan to grow over the next 5, 10, and 20 years? How many phases are we talking? Gym or no Gym? Carpet or stained concrete? Sloped, flat, or stadium floor in the auditorium? Classrooms for children or auditoriums and breakout spaces? What do you do for a baptismal? How much should spend? Should we keep the existing lake or build a new one that fits the property better? What do you do with the rest of the land? These questions are just the ones that came to mind in the first 10 seconds of thought. Needless to say, there are tons more. This past Sunday and Monday I traveled to Dallas/Fort Worth and looked at some churches there. Seems like standard procedure to go look at what people are doing well and ask what mistakes they have made. Of course, no one is just like you and you want your building to be unique and inviting according to your community. So why am I going on and on about building a building? We don't want to make mistakes. We don't want to repeat anyone else. We do want inspiration. We do want great ideas. So here are some questions for you:

What is the most innovative children's space that you have seen in a church or outside of church?

What is the biggest mistake that we need to watch out for?

What church building has the best auditorium for adults?

What is the inspiration behind your building?

Please post in the comment section so that we all can learn together. Thanks.

Curriculum Review: Elevate

I worked at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX from 2000 until 2005. When I first started we were writing our own curriculum week to week with medium to mild success. We had potential so Lifeway Publishing picked us up and we started G-Force. G-Force is above average but we always had dreams for more. I left Fellowship to come to Cincinnati and after I left Fellowship Church came out with a new curriculum called Elevate. I have used the first 2 installments with my kids here in Cincy. I know the vision of this curriculum because I was still at Fellowship and helped in the dream phase. Knowing all of this now here is my assessment of Elevate.

Curriculum Review of Elevate:

Bible Content: (4) The first series, On the Trail, was great. One story per week that the kids really got into and learned. The second series, Heroes, is okay. There are 3 different Bible stories per week and kids can get them confused.

Age appropriate: (4) Elevate is written in an older and younger version and lends itself to both a 5th grader and a kindergarten. The place it could improve is having more of a focus of relationship building in the older grades. The younger is right on.

Ease of use for volunteers: (5+) This is where the curriculum will blow you away. There is a DVD with every week training on it for volunteers. It goes through every activity for that week and even gives examples of what kids might ask. This is the only curriculum to my knowledge who is doing this and has changed my volunteer’s effectiveness. This is a WOW!

Ease of Prep for staff: (4) This great for staff. They have an every week training video for the large group time that could be shown instead of performed if needed as a backup. I prefer live drama that is above average than recorded drama that is great. They provide almost everything on a CD-Rom for all activities. The place where this curriculum might be hard to prepare for is changing your set or environment every 8 weeks. It is well worth it but can be a challenge.

Bells and Whistles (graphics, music, and sound effects): (5+) Another WOW! They have the best graphics of any curriculum out. There are 2 songs that you get per 8 weeks but they are up-to-date and fun to sing. The eye candy on this is unbelievable and very engaging for the kids. The sound effects are second to none and add to the environment tremendously. The production value is top notch.
Parent Information: (2) There is a half page review for the parents that you can hand out at the end of your service. It goes over the main point, Bible verse and theme of the day. This is the one area that they could really improve on their curriculum. I would love to see some type of media, ie CD, for the parents to listen to in the car or some website that could be interactive for parents and kids to go over what they learned for that week.

Technology needed or provided: (5) 5 DVD’s, CD-Rom, and Sound Effects CD provided with curriculum. You will need a CD player, a DVD player, and a TV or projector.

Overall Score out of a possible 35 points is 31. It got a bonus point for every week training for volunteers and one bonus point for the Bells and Whistles.

Summery: This is a great large group/small group curriculum. The production quality is not matched by any other curriculum, including KidMO and Saddleback. The training is excellent for both volunteers and staff. The graphics are great. The transitions are funny and very appropriate. Elevate could really elevate its product with better parent resources. Right now North Pointe, or should I say The Rethink Group, is leading the way in that area. This is a must check out.

I hope this helps. Until next time and on to the next curriculum…

It's a Boy!

If you haven't noticed I have been a bit lacking in my post recently. The reason is right above. His name is Azlan David McKee and he was born on November 6th. He weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz and measured 21inches long. Of course the name comes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but we replaced the S with a Z. This was in hopes that if it gets shortened later in life he will be called AZZ not the other option. My wife is doing great and we are trying to catch as many ZZZZ's as possible right now so off I go to sleep. I hope to put up another curriculum review next week of Elevate the new curriculum from Fellowship Church. Check back and give me your thoughts about their new curriculum.

Distractions or so they seem

Distractions can be a wonderful thing or they can be the world's worst thing. As you can tell I have been distracted recently from writing blog entries. I do apologize to those of you who have come to expect more of me (Thanks Mom and Dad), and to the rest of you shame on you for expecting so much of me. Seriously, distractions are everyday occurrences. They are like taxes, red lights, and indigestion. You know that they are coming but how you deal with distractions makes all the difference in the world. Some leaders have decided to minimize distractions as much as possible. They have scheduled their days and weeks and months in such a way that a distraction is not possible to happen. They have delegated every possible thing that they could think of that could be a distraction so that they have the least amount of chance for this hatred occurrence. Other leaders strive when distractions happen. They have people in their lives that they know will be distractions on purpose. There is a sense of chaos in there world and they really like it this way. Hanging by a thread is the best way they lead. In both types of leaders, I believe, the distraction is only a distraction if it is not a priority. You have head the phrase that ministry would be great if it were not for the people. In children's ministry we say it would be great if there were not parents, but that is beside the point. My point is that many pastors I come across talk about how this person or that person is a distraction to what they really want to do. The problem is what pastors really want to do is to be lazy and not have to minister to people. People have problems. People are distractions if they are not apart of your purpose. If you say that your people are your priority and then turn around and say that their problems are distractions then your priority and your purpose do not line up. Please don't see people as a problem. Please don't see people as a distraction. Please get over the idea that your program is more important than people's problems. Start doing the dirty work and work with your distractions. Quit hiding behind your outlook, your blackberry, and your new ipod nano. Again I am sorry that I have been distracted over the last couple of weeks. I hope you to get distracted.