

3 Summer Priorities for Pastors
t was my first summer as a full-time kids’ pastor. I was so excited to have time and the budget to do all the things I’d been dreaming about but couldn’t do. I took my Junior Bible Quiz team to Nationals in Orlando (with a stop at Disney), then took my kids to camp for a week. Then, I spent a week getting ready for VBS. Followed by a week of VBS. Oh, and a Father’s Day Car Show in between.
By the time June was over I was exhausted.

Busy Bag Essentials for Your Family Service
With the end of the year approaching fast, you’re probably looking at a few family services coming up. I’ve already written about how to have a great family service here. But in this post, I’m going to focus on one essential item for any family service, regardless of the time of year.
Busy bags.

4 Early Signs Your Church Might Be Missing Young Families
None of the indicators I’ll talk about today are a sure sign you’re in decline. Rather, they are a warning flag that maybe you’re not reaching the lost and unchurched. There are still things you can do to get your church back on track. I won’t talk about those strategies today, but rather focus on warning signs and how to find them.

5 Ideas to Celebrate Dad on Father's Day
Father’s Day is next week, and your church may be thinking of some ways to celebrate dad. In a lot of churches, this day is overlooked. Especially since so much time and resources were spent on Easter and Mother’s Day, this day gets the scraps. However, Father’s Day can be made just as special as these other two days with some intentionality and creativity.

How to Celebrate Easter When You’re in Ministry
It’s the Friday before Easter. You’ve been busy with all the marketing, event planning, service prep, and inviting. You’re probably a little tired and the light at the end of the tunnel that is Monday is looking better and better.
But you also have a family and obligations there too. If you’re like me, it’s far too easy to let work overtake the home. All the focus is on what the Church is doing, and your family gets the leftovers. It’s not fair to them, and it’s not fair to you.

6 Steps to a Great Family Service
Family services. Love them or hate them, they have their place. I'm an advocate for family services because I believe children’s ministry needs to be more than a ministry held in another room never to be seen or heard from. These services can be a great tool for emphasizing ministry to the next generation, highlight the great things that are happening, and give your volunteers a much needed week off.

The 3 Groups Every Next Gen Leader Leads
Recently, I was having a conversation with a new pastor and he was excitedly talking about all things he was planning to do with his kids. I asked him how he was planning to let parents know, and he said he was trusting the kids.
Rookie mistake.

4 Things I learned from Relaunching Children's Ministry
Churches all over are trying to figure out how to reopen and relaunch their services and specifically their children’s ministry. I’m no different. I’m eternally grateful to the leaders I’ve talked to over the last few months who have successfully (whatever that means these days) opened their children’s ministries.
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