Leaders define reality What’s really going on with your organization? Are you honest with yourself? Are things good, really? If someone were to ask the people who work for or with you these questions, what would they say about you and how things are going? These are questions any good leader should ask. It’s one […]
This past weekend, over one hundred middle school students descended upon the Hayward Wesleyan Church for the Spring Lock-In. I don’t know why they like doing this?! In order to organizationally survive 10 hours with middle school students, one needs to have a comprehensive plan for the time allotted. Preferably there needs to be more […]
When I was in college @ Multnomah University, I had a professor named, Dr. Steve Patty. In his class on Managing Church Ministries, Dr. Patty taught his students some proverbial wisdom he affectionately called: Patty Proverbs. Here they are: Leaders define reality Always lead people, not programs People are always down with what they are […]
“This resource is a super fun video-driven game that encourages lots of crowd interaction. There are 25 short video clips of athletes (skateboarders, bikers, snowboarders…) attempting some pretty cool jumps, flips, and tricks. To play the game, simply play the clips – they’ll pause at the pinnacle of each trick so your students can guess: […]
The Dot Game This is a classic game that we adapted for the stage and a crowd. It went great. The Main Street students especially liked beating me on the last round! source YouTube
How to Play “Bite the Bag” Game: You need a paper bag cut down to about 3-4 inches. The object of the game is to grab the paper bag with your mouth while bending down and balancing on one foot. Your hands or arms cannot touch the ground as well. Some people play this game […]
How to Play the “Man, Gun, Gorilla” Game: This is a life-sized version of the popular game: Paper, Rock, Scissors. Man – embodied by the showing of “muscles” Gun – embodied by, you guessed it, the showing of a “gun” Gorilla – embodied by the “beating of your chest” The contestants stand back-to-back. On the […]
I’m often asked by other churches or children’s ministry leaders what we do for an outreach during Easter and how we do it. Here’s my typical answer: Easter Eggstravaganza The Easter Eggstravaganza starts @ 11am on the Saturday before Easter. Everyone starts in the sanctuary where we put on a brief program for the kids […]
How to Play the Wreath Relay Game: Form teams based on the number of participants who want to play. We broke the group into 5 teams of 5 each. Then you pit two teams against each other with a Christmas wreath for each group. The participants may not use their hands (have them clasp them […]
Notes from: Creative Attention Getters Breakout Session @ CPC 2012 Orlando by John Tasch People make a decision in 8 seconds whether or not they are going to listen to you. If you don’t put on a program for the kids, they will put one on for you! If you’re not exhausted after your ministry, you’re […]
This is really gross when viewed like this… but it’s probably true! HT More Than Dodgeball Picture taken from a Group Magazine
Our lead pastor at Hayward Wesleyan Church, Mark Wilson, is a champion of small town church ministry. His calling is to encourage and resource small town pastors. Mark travels and speaks often to rural pastors and has a knack for understanding their situation (because he is in a small town) and seeks to “revitalize their […]
When I was at CPC in 2012, a man named John Tasch did a breakout session titled: “Creative Attention Getters” It was wild! The next week @ msy I stepped into the shoes of John Tasch… it was great! The students really paid attention! source YouTube
This is the third post in a series of reflections on a Children’s Ministry White Paper written by Doug Paul from Eikon Community (you can view the original document here). In the past 30 years of church work we’ve seen the rise of Consumer Christianity where people come to church to consume religious goods and […]
Starting on Saturday, January 21, 2012, a series of posts will go live on this blog over the course of 10 days (10 posts total). These posts are meant to start and sustain a discussion surrounding a white paper written by Doug Paul from Eikon Community Church called: CM White Paper | Why we do […]
I purchased a year’s worth of curriculum series through Simply Youth Ministry for msy on Wednesdays during 2011-2012. The third series was called “Tempting Stuff: Helping Teenagers Battle Everyday Temptations” Here’s the description for the series: “Temptation is something everyone experiences—even Jesus was tempted! And one of Satan’s most devious tricks is to use temptation not just […]
How to Play Four Corners: What you need is a somewhat symmetrical box that you can make a sort of “dice” out of. I used a box my sister sent recently that housed Christmas presents. I taped up the box, wrote the numbers 1 through 4 on four sides, then placed “Roll Again” on two […]
How to Play the “Snowball Fight” Game: Grab some scratch paper (or paper you are going to recycle), white and colored, and enough for every participant to have one (possibly two or three). Divide the group in half, one group on one side, and another group on the other side. Place a defined center line […]
How to Play the “Post It Note” Game: Simple. Decide on a time (i.e. 60 seconds) and see who can stick more “post it notes” on the board, one at a time. Count the notes at the end of the round and declare a winner. Want to take them down? Do the game in reverse. […]
How to Play the “Cup Stacking Race” Game: 21 plastic cups per person. Start with the cups in a column, and competitors must stack the cups in a pyramid, then unstack back into the column. First one done, wins. This could also be a single person game that is timed (i.e. Minute to Win It […]