There certainly is no shortage of picture books about creation, but a new book from
Desmond Tutu, illustrated by Nancy Tillman, brings a wonder, delight and awe to this account which shares how; "In the very beginning, God's love bubbled over when there was nothing else - no trees, no birds, no animals, no sky, no sea - only darkness. Out of this love, God spoke. 'Let there be light.'" And this retelling of the creation account only gets more beautiful from there!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Safe Nurseries + Safe Equipment = Welcoming & Effective Ministry!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
I Have a Winner!

VeggieTales Veggies in Space - I'm Giving One Away!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Resources on Child Abuse
Child Safety - Severe Weather & Fire Policies
Fire safety requires some thought, action and communication. Consider the following . . .
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Safety - How Do We Have Parents Sign the Children In and Pick them Up?
Years ago when I served in a church in Northern California another church in town had a child abducted from their nursery by the child's grandparents. The grandparents showed up, the child identified them as their grandparents, so the nursery workers released the child. This church needed a policy and system for signing in children and picking them up.
At my church we had some grandparents who visited with their grandchild. These grandparents had custody of their grandchildren and were afraid the parents would come and try to take the children from our children's ministry. I explained our policy and showed them how we required adults to drop off and sign in their children. The adult received a copy of the form they filled out and we only released the child to the person who returned with the form and was listed as the person who was supposed to pick the child up. When they learned of our sign in/pick up policy they were relieved and began to regularly attend.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Safety - Policies Which Make Sense!
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Minion Inspired Thoughts About Recruiting!
I love recruiting . . . yes, I know you may think I'm crazy, but I love it because it means I'm inviting people to experience the amazing joy which comes from serving and besides, children's ministry is great fun! We play games, sing songs, make crafts, do science experiments, have dramas and most importantly, learn how we can know and walk with Jesus! What could possibly be better?
Saturday, February 22, 2014
More Thoughts About Burnout
This past summer I wrote about burnout - and was invited to also write an article for
kidzmatter about the same topic - The Truth About Burnout. When I wrote about burnout last summer, I said, "One word can bring feelings of frustration, fear and despair to people in children's ministry - especially those who recruit. This word is, 'burnout'. People leave children's ministry because of it and others do not join in because of it as well." I also said, "I have never experienced burnout. I was thinking about this in the past week and came to the conclusion the reason for this is because serving brings me so much joy and energy! It is a delight, joy and honor to serve so my focus is on these things and I have not experienced burnout."
It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are burned out and then quit serving. When we do this we pay a huge price . . . joy. I firmly believe when we become believers, God gives us gifts which He wants us to use in whatever church we are part of. He does not do this for them to be a burden, but rather for us to experience joy when we use them. God does not want us to feel "burned out"; He wants us to experience joy! Serving and using the gifts He gives us is one way we do this.
Using our gifts does not mean we will be burned out; this is a lie from the Devil. Using our gifts means we will experience an amazing joy! This is the truth! We must make the choice to believe the truth and take steps to help ourselves and those who serve in our ministries with us so we are not deceived into believing we are burned out. Check these links for ways to do this . . .
kidzmatter about the same topic - The Truth About Burnout. When I wrote about burnout last summer, I said, "One word can bring feelings of frustration, fear and despair to people in children's ministry - especially those who recruit. This word is, 'burnout'. People leave children's ministry because of it and others do not join in because of it as well." I also said, "I have never experienced burnout. I was thinking about this in the past week and came to the conclusion the reason for this is because serving brings me so much joy and energy! It is a delight, joy and honor to serve so my focus is on these things and I have not experienced burnout."
It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are burned out and then quit serving. When we do this we pay a huge price . . . joy. I firmly believe when we become believers, God gives us gifts which He wants us to use in whatever church we are part of. He does not do this for them to be a burden, but rather for us to experience joy when we use them. God does not want us to feel "burned out"; He wants us to experience joy! Serving and using the gifts He gives us is one way we do this.
Using our gifts does not mean we will be burned out; this is a lie from the Devil. Using our gifts means we will experience an amazing joy! This is the truth! We must make the choice to believe the truth and take steps to help ourselves and those who serve in our ministries with us so we are not deceived into believing we are burned out. Check these links for ways to do this . . .
Friday, February 21, 2014
Safety - Develop Child Safety Policies and Train Your Volunteers!
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Safety - Screen Your Volunteers . . . ALL of Them!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
FREE Resources from What's In the Bible?!!!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Safety - Our Top Priority!
Monday, February 17, 2014
How Does Your Children's Ministry Support Parents With Special Needs Children?

I Have a Winner!
sized.jpg)
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Don't Miss Out on the Blessings!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
EVERYONE Who Believes is Part of the Body & has Something to Offer!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Take God's Word Out the Doors of the Church!
My background is fairly conservative when it comes to church. I grew up in a
church where children sat and listened to their teachers, wrote in their student books and memorized Scripture. In High School I participated on a quiz team and loved everything about it. I wanted my children to experience the same "church" as I did, so when they were little I had them involved in a mid-week program with lots of Bible memorizing. My children excelled at Bible memory, moved through their books quickly and amassed their pins and badges. I was sure all of this was how it "should" be until something happened during one awards ceremony which began to completely change my opinion. All the little four year olds were waiting to receive their awards for the progress they made in their books . . . all except for one little boy. This boy had great difficulty memorizing. He did not receive an award that evening . . . and went home in tears. When I saw him crying I wondered what his "view" of God looked like. Did he see God as Someone Who would only be pleased with him if he were able to memorize Bible verses? Was this the view of God I wanted children to have? Of course it wasn't.
church where children sat and listened to their teachers, wrote in their student books and memorized Scripture. In High School I participated on a quiz team and loved everything about it. I wanted my children to experience the same "church" as I did, so when they were little I had them involved in a mid-week program with lots of Bible memorizing. My children excelled at Bible memory, moved through their books quickly and amassed their pins and badges. I was sure all of this was how it "should" be until something happened during one awards ceremony which began to completely change my opinion. All the little four year olds were waiting to receive their awards for the progress they made in their books . . . all except for one little boy. This boy had great difficulty memorizing. He did not receive an award that evening . . . and went home in tears. When I saw him crying I wondered what his "view" of God looked like. Did he see God as Someone Who would only be pleased with him if he were able to memorize Bible verses? Was this the view of God I wanted children to have? Of course it wasn't.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
VBS 2014 - FREE VBS - Abundance Orchard & a Mission Project Resource

Society of St. Andrew (endhunger.org) is a nationwide faith-based nonprofit which engages volunteers in hands-on mission and service, gleaning in fields to recover fresh fruits and vegetables which are shared with agencies feeding the hungry. Last year, their 36,848 volunteers distributed 96.5 million servings of nourishing food right here in the US. Their mission statement talks about nourishing souls as well as bodies, which they do through Lent and Advent devotional materials, a hunger focused Bible Study for youth and adults and a work/study mission retreat program, Harvest of Hope. They also create VBS resources every year, primarily for congregations wanting a mission emphasis to add on to their VBS using commercial curricula.
Sad Facts About Hunger in America
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
God Told Me
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Pay Attention!
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Truth vs Lies
While there are certainly many essential things we need to teach the children in our
ministries; there is one thing we do not tend to teach them which our failure to do so can leave them vulnerable to being deceived. What is this, "thing", you ask? Simply put; it is the truth of how the Devil is a liar.
Why is this an essential thing for us to teach the children in our ministries? Simply put; because children are so easily deceived by this Liar. The world is full of the Devil's lies; for example, so many children's books, movies and games involve magic. It is a lie from the Devil that this magic is something which would make our lives better, more interesting, fun and powerful. The truth is God is the One Who gives us better lives, makes them more interesting fun and true power comes from Him. However; far too often this message is not given to children, so they are deceived by the Liar to think they will find what they want apart from God.
ministries; there is one thing we do not tend to teach them which our failure to do so can leave them vulnerable to being deceived. What is this, "thing", you ask? Simply put; it is the truth of how the Devil is a liar.
Why is this an essential thing for us to teach the children in our ministries? Simply put; because children are so easily deceived by this Liar. The world is full of the Devil's lies; for example, so many children's books, movies and games involve magic. It is a lie from the Devil that this magic is something which would make our lives better, more interesting, fun and powerful. The truth is God is the One Who gives us better lives, makes them more interesting fun and true power comes from Him. However; far too often this message is not given to children, so they are deceived by the Liar to think they will find what they want apart from God.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Second Chance Give-Away . . . Rivet the Puppet
Puppets are something you can always use in your children's ministry and VBS
is a great opportunity to build your selection of puppets as several publishers offer beautiful, unique and fun puppets with their curriculum. These puppets are typically priced affordably, so take a look at the puppets which are available and add them all to your ministry resource room because if you have them, you are likely to use them!
is a great opportunity to build your selection of puppets as several publishers offer beautiful, unique and fun puppets with their curriculum. These puppets are typically priced affordably, so take a look at the puppets which are available and add them all to your ministry resource room because if you have them, you are likely to use them!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Mark your calendars for February 15th!!!
Before you do anything else today, mark your calendars for February 15th!!!
Grab a red pen and circle the date!!!! Why, you ask? Well, because it is the day after Valentine's Day!!!! So, you ask? Because the day after Valentine's Day all the heart-shaped Valentine's Day candies go on clearance!!!!
Why would you want to buy heart-shaped candies? Well, please allow me to share just a few of the many things you can do with heart-shaped candies in your children's ministry . . .
Grab a red pen and circle the date!!!! Why, you ask? Well, because it is the day after Valentine's Day!!!! So, you ask? Because the day after Valentine's Day all the heart-shaped Valentine's Day candies go on clearance!!!!
Why would you want to buy heart-shaped candies? Well, please allow me to share just a few of the many things you can do with heart-shaped candies in your children's ministry . . .
Friday, February 7, 2014
The Truth About Burnout
I was recently invited to write about burnout for K! Magazine/KidzMatters; so since they
posted the article on the KidzMatters site, I thought I'd share part of it with you and provide the link for the full post.
"I do not believe burnout is really a problem in children’s ministry. Stay with me for a minute as I explain. When we, or a volunteer, are tired from serving, instead of identifying it as, 'we are tired', we call it burn-out. Or, when one of us experiences frustration because we are serving on our own or took too much on for us to be able to handle, instead identifying it as we are doing too much on our own, we call it burnout.
There are other examples, but the point is, burnout is not really the problem. Misidentifying, or even not identifying, the problem is the problem. When we fail to correctly identify the problem, we can’t solve the problem and sadly, the end result is, people leave ministry and do not experience the joy God has for them when they serve. This is a true tragedy.
posted the article on the KidzMatters site, I thought I'd share part of it with you and provide the link for the full post.
"I do not believe burnout is really a problem in children’s ministry. Stay with me for a minute as I explain. When we, or a volunteer, are tired from serving, instead of identifying it as, 'we are tired', we call it burn-out. Or, when one of us experiences frustration because we are serving on our own or took too much on for us to be able to handle, instead identifying it as we are doing too much on our own, we call it burnout.
There are other examples, but the point is, burnout is not really the problem. Misidentifying, or even not identifying, the problem is the problem. When we fail to correctly identify the problem, we can’t solve the problem and sadly, the end result is, people leave ministry and do not experience the joy God has for them when they serve. This is a true tragedy.
I Have a Winner!

Thursday, February 6, 2014
The Other Part of Effective Children's Ministry - Part 2
VBS 2014 - Blast Off! from Group Publishing
I'm delighted for the opportunity to share Group's weekend VBS with you . . .
Blast Off! The idea with this resource is to provide two affordable 2 1/2 hour sessions, plus a one hour celebration which churches could use over one weekend . . . or over three weekends . . . or they might be able to spread it out for one Saturday a month for a Summer of fun!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Simple Valentine's Day Craft

The Other Part of Effective Children's Ministry
What does and should children's ministry look like in our churches? What is
the true, God given role for the church to fill in the area of training and teaching children? For many, many years we have mostly focused on the area of teaching in Sunday school, mid-week ministry and for special events like Vacation Bible School. While these are certainly areas the church can and should strive to be as effective as possible due to the tremendous way they allow us to reach in to the “church” kids and out to “community” kids, true, genuine and lasting effectiveness is achieved as the church fills it’s role in equipping and encouraging parents to fill their God-given role as the primary teachers of their children.
the true, God given role for the church to fill in the area of training and teaching children? For many, many years we have mostly focused on the area of teaching in Sunday school, mid-week ministry and for special events like Vacation Bible School. While these are certainly areas the church can and should strive to be as effective as possible due to the tremendous way they allow us to reach in to the “church” kids and out to “community” kids, true, genuine and lasting effectiveness is achieved as the church fills it’s role in equipping and encouraging parents to fill their God-given role as the primary teachers of their children.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
VBS Follow-Up Which Really Follows Up!
So . . . you've given thought to your goal for Vacation Bible School 2014, evaluated VBS
resources in light of their scope and theme then determined which one or two or more had the best "fit" for your unique ministry and made your selections. You recruited, trained, supported and appreciated your volunteers, but there is still one more thing to focus on . . . planning and implementing follow-up which really follows up!
For many churches VBS is their primary, and in some of those cases their only, outreach to their community for the year. It is so important you have a vision, passion and plan for your VBS which reaches beyond the five days of ministry. Along with having a goal for your VBS, be sure to think ahead and have a vision for what you will do after your VBS to reach out to the families touched by your VBS.
resources in light of their scope and theme then determined which one or two or more had the best "fit" for your unique ministry and made your selections. You recruited, trained, supported and appreciated your volunteers, but there is still one more thing to focus on . . . planning and implementing follow-up which really follows up!
For many churches VBS is their primary, and in some of those cases their only, outreach to their community for the year. It is so important you have a vision, passion and plan for your VBS which reaches beyond the five days of ministry. Along with having a goal for your VBS, be sure to think ahead and have a vision for what you will do after your VBS to reach out to the families touched by your VBS.
Monday, February 3, 2014
VBS 2014 - Shine! from Go Fish; Top Pick for Music & a Special Give-Away!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
After VBS is over . . . Follow-up!
Effective follow-up can be designed and accomplished without a large budget and without a large staff of volunteers if you focus on praying, evaluating and planning!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
I Have a Winner!
I'm happy to announce Werner is the winner of the Guardians Construction VBS kit (you'll
find the review at this link). Thank you Werner for reading About the Children's Department, (please message me your address so I can have it sent to you) and thank you Nourishing Faith for making this available for me to give away.
find the review at this link). Thank you Werner for reading About the Children's Department, (please message me your address so I can have it sent to you) and thank you Nourishing Faith for making this available for me to give away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)