Children’s Ministry Insights

The New DickGruber.com

My good friend Dick Gruber has revamped his website and it is now live at dickgruber.com.There you’ll continue to find a host of resources, helps, articles, and links related to children’s ministry.

In addition, Dick’s blog is now combined with the site, making it easier to be notified when he posts new updates as well as to post comments on items you find to be a blessing. His new site is also searchable, so if there’s something in particular you are looking for, you can just give the search a try! There’s a bunch other new features that I’ve added, but you’ll just need to take a look for yourself.

Take a moment to stop by Dick’s new site and leave him a comment. I know he’d love to hear from you.

Children’s Ministry Appreciation Video

Here’s a great little video thanking children’s ministry volunteers for their service to the children of your church.

What effective approaches have you found for encouraging and appreciating the children’s ministry leaders of your church?

Tags: appreciation, volunteers

Webcast Reminder: Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children’s Church

One final reminder…you can join Dick Gruber and me for this first-of-its-kind 3 hour interactive online workshop where you’ll discover the practical steps to Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children’s Church.

Despite the fact that my flight to Little Rock out of O’Hare today was canceled, we’ll still be offering a free webcast of the pre-conference session that is being offered conjunction with the National Children’s Ministries Leadership Conference, this pre-conference workshop offered face-to-face at the conference will be webcast live online on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT) and then repeated later that day from 1:00pm-4:00pm. View the FREE session online and interact with the presenters and other participants live online during the session!

Two identical sessions will be offered:

• Session 1: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT)
• Session 2: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 1:00pm-4:00pm (CDT)

Both sessions will be webcast live online using Ustream. You can click here to register for a free Ustream account. Then, 10-15 minutes before the session begins, click here to login to participate live online!

For those unable to participate live, the sessions will be recorded and archives made available afterwards at www.cmuo.com/workshops/kidschurch. Links to additional resource materials and the slides referenced during the sessions will also be posted.

FREE Webcast: Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children’s Church

Join Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode for this first-of-its-kind 3 hour interactive online workshop where you’ll discover the practical steps to Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children’s Church.

In conjunction with the National Children’s Ministries Leadership Conference, this pre-conference workshop offered face-to-face at the conference will be webcast live online on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT) and then repeated later that day from 1:00pm-4:00pm. View the FREE session online and interact with the presenters and other participants live online during the session!

Two identical sessions will be offered:

• Session 1: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT)
• Session 2: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 1:00pm-4:00pm (CDT)

Both sessions will be webcast live online using Ustream. To participate in the chat room to ask questions and post comments during the workshop, you need to login to Ustream. If you do not have a Ustream account yet, click here to register for free. Then, 10-15 mins before the session begins, click here to login to participate live online!

For those unable to participate live, the sessions will be recorded and archives made available afterwards at www.cmuo.com/workshops/kidschurch. Links to additional resource materials and the slides referenced during the sessions will also be posted.

Twitter in Plain English

CommonCraft has released yet another wonderful video explaining a technology in plain english. In their latest video, they explain Twitter in Plain English.

How might Twitter be used in a children’s ministry context? I’m looking for examples of how children’s ministry leaders are currently using Twitter. If you have an example, comment with your ideas.

Tags: twitter

Easter Outreaches and Security Ideas

Dick Gruber and I discuss the topics of Easter outreaches and CM safety. Specific links mentioned include: A&A Global Industries | Jason’s Collection of Policies & Procedures | VolunteerSelect | Safe Place by Marv Parker

In our next episode of Children’s Ministry Talk, we’ll continue discussing child safety issues, including: administration, facilities, and emergencies. What steps to do take to protect children in your ministry? What questions do you have? Drop us an
email, leave a comment here on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook or Twitter.
We’d love to include your comments and questions in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Tags: easter, outreaches, safety, security

Gruber’s Evangel Art: FREE Reproducible Art for Children’s Ministries

Spread the word…Dick Gruber is offering his Evangel Art: Reproducible Art for Children’s Ministries for FREE! This incredible resource includes:

• over 40 evangel pages
• 385 picture words
• 124 scripture pictures

All artwork is provided in .jpg format and can be easily incorporated into any word processing, desktop publishing, or presentation software. To request a free download of Dick Gruber’s Evangel Art, simply complete the download request form at http://www.cmuo.com/resources/evangelart. You will then receive an email with more details for downloading your free copy.

Looking for more free resources? Dick has also written a song entitled, “The Children’s Pastor’s Prayer” that can be downloaded for free from http://www.cmuo.com/freesong.

Tags: art, scripturepics

Conferences and Training Events

Dick Gruber and I discuss the topic conferences and training events. Dick shares the following acrostic in outlining his reasons for attending children’s ministry conferences and other training events:

Lifelong learner
Investing in future education always brings a return
Friendships are made and renewed
Enthusiasm is generated

The following conferences were mentioned during the episode.

• Kidsreach Australia
• National Children’s Ministry Leadership Conference
• CMUO LITE (Live International Training Experience)
• Children’s Pastor’s Conference (CPC)
• One Way Street Puppet Festivals and Other Training
• International Fellowship of Christian Magicians Convention

If you know of other children’s ministry training events that you’d like to recommend, leave a comment for more details!

In our next episode, we’ll be discussing children’s ministry conferences and training events. What children’s ministry conference do you recommend for others to attend? Why should children’s ministry leaders consider attending conferences or other training events? Drop us an email, leave a comment on the blog, or visit us over on Facebook. We’d love to include your comments in our next episode.

Keep the feedback coming! Send your questions, comments, or ideas to childrensministrytalk@gmail.com. As always, you can find complete details about this podcast at childrensministrytalk.com.

Tags: conferences, events, Training

Online Photo Sharing in Plain English

Looking for an efficient way to share photos of your latest children’s ministry event with parents, volunteers, or the children of your ministry? Give online photo sharing a try. If you take digital pictures, you need to watch this 3 minute video that explains the value of posting photos on a service like Flickr for sharing or safe keeping.

Looking for more ideas on how to communicate effectively using the Web? Consider signing-up for the “Advanced Web Communications” course that I teach through Children’s Ministries University Online. More details about this course are available here.

Tags: photos

What They Play: Video Games Guide for Parents

Thanks to Mike George for passing along a great site offering information for parents regarding the different video games that kids are playing: http://www.whattheyplay.com. Check out the site and pass it along!

Tags: sites