Elemental Children's Ministry

(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by Kenny Møller)

A while back, I hear Erwin McManus talk about a time he was speaking at a leadership conference. The speaker before him mentioned that a good leadership strategy was to be one step behind early adopters. The speaker compared it to discovering edible mushrooms. The mushroom tester dies when eating a poisonous mushroom, while the person who comes behind learns from the mushroom tester’s mistakes and improves on them. McManus tells the story that he walked on stage following that speaker and stated he wanted to be the mushroom tester because that’s where the edge of innovation and creativity is. I agree!

A month or so ago I posted this about being “innovative” in children’s ministry. That post was followed by a series on being dynamic, which started with this post. Recently, I ran across this article from the Harvard Business Review (one of the people I follow on Twitter mentioned it… unfortunately, I don’t remember who). It states that many times innovation can be killed by asking too many questions, especially questions precipitated by the phrase, “What about…”

The premise is that most of the time if we want to be innovative, we simply have to jump in and experiment and change as we go. We can get so caught up in analyzing possible scenarios that we never do anything. We don’t want something to fail, but we fail to do anything.

What’s keeping you from taking that next step in ministry to children? What questions do you need to simply put to rest and leap? Yes, there is something to be said about being strategic, but you never find out if something works unless you try it. What are you waiting for? Someone else to do it? Go ahead… eat the mushroom. What’s the worst that can happen? Death? Is that so bad? :)

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(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by me’nthedogs)

For those of you who might not know, the title of this post is also the title of a very funny Monty Python movie… that is if you “get” Monty Python humor. I was going to post the trailer for the movie off of YouTube, but ruled against it :)

A little while back, I was headed to the district office for the Central District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada (wow, that’s a mouthful!). I had my handy GPS because I have a reputation for taking the scenic route. So, if you ever travel with me then you better have an adventurous spirit and be willing to leave early to get anywhere. Anyway, I had put in the address of the district office. When I got to the road I was supposed to turn on, there was MAJOR construction. I tried following the signs for the detour but ended up in the middle of what seemed like a secret base or something… maybe the Canadian version of Area 51… Needless to say, I got out of there quickly, called the district office and found my way to the office for my meeting.

Life seems to do that to me a lot… OK, GOD seems to do that to me a lot. I am happily going down my path, a path that I know God has me on, and all of a sudden there is a HUGE detour sign. The only thing is that the detour does not lead back to the path I was on… I end up someplace completely different! And that’s what has happened in the lives of the Zonios recently.

Let me go back a year… (cue the flashback sequence music) I was in southern California having attended the Idea Camp. I was on my way to the Pasadena gathering of Mosaic when all of a sudden I had the thought, “I could live in California again.” Immediately, my sub conscience retorted, “Uh, NO I CAN’T!” You see, I grew up in northern CA. When I got married and moved away, both my wife and I said that we really never wanted to live in CA again. That’s just how we felt. Well, ten years later and now I had this random thought that came out of nowhere… OK, maybe it wasn’t nowhere, but I wasn’t all too happy about having the thought.

When I got back to my hotel, I called Erin and told here about the thought. She said something like this, “Um, yeah…” Now, when your wife starts a sentence like that when you’ve told her about a crazy idea you’ve had, then you should immediately stop the conversation and return to your happy life! Well, that’s not what I did… I listened. “Um, yeah… I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I’ve been having the same thoughts.” GREAT!

Well, it’s been a year of praying, listening, seeking out wisdom and looking for what God might be up to. This past Sunday, we announced to the congregation that we will be finishing up our time at Redwood and moving to Northern California as the end of June. (Don’t worry, I told my senior pastor two weeks previous.)

The obvious question, at least if it was me hearing this news, is, “So, what will you be doing?” In short, we’re still figuring that out. And the answer to your next question: “Yes, we are crazy.”

OK, there IS more to it than that. As we’ve been seeking out God in all of this, one of the things that has come up is my desire to go back to school. The plan is to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology with an emphasis on children, families and religion. With my growing passion in looking at the mutual interaction between culture and children’s ministry, I’ve found that I really need to dive head first into it. Ultimately, it’s my desire to teach at the university level, do research concerning children and families as related to the religious landscape here in North America as well as in other areas of the world. I would also like to enter more into the different conversations happening about what a missional or third way of doing church and christianity looks like.

Now, this move is more than just about me. God has speaking to my wife and children as well about what this move means for them and the story he is writing for our entire family.

In the meantime, we have MANY unknowns. We are definitely taking huge step of faith in doing this. We have to find a place to live (we’re sensing a call to live in the San Francisco East Bay Area), jobs (for both Erin and I not on a pastoral staff), acceptance into school… and that’s just the beginning! We are sad to leave here, excited about what God has for us, and scared out of our minds about the details. It’s an interesting mix of emotions. Please pray for us in the next few months as now we can begin working through the logistics of moving back into the US from Canada and to an area where we have to start from scratch.

I look forward to seeing what God is going to do. I know that it’s going to be a challenging path, but it’s definitely going to be an adventure!

As for this blog, this move really doesn’t change anything. I’ll still be connected into the CM world just from a different vantage point. And I think CM needs people seeing things from as many vantage points as possible.

Here’s to “chasing The Goose!” (You’ll have to read Mark Batterson’s Wild Goose Chase.)

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(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by Torley)

A few days ago I put up a post about saying something is new and innovative when it really isn’t. I thought I would follow up that post with this series called Staying Dynamic in Children’s Ministry. I like the word dynamic better than innovative because dynamic refers to something that continually interacts, changes and progresses. That’s exactly what I believe children’s ministry must do: interact with the culture and context it is in, change as needed to best minister to that context and move forward.

In no particular order, I will talk about eight things that I think are needed for a children’s ministry to remain dynamic.

1. Creative Space

Creativity isn’t something that just happens. Creativity is active not passive. Since creativity is active, then space needs to be made for creativity. I know what you’re saying. “Sunday comes every week, and summer activities are just around the corner! Don’t even get me started on Easter and Mothers’ Day!!! In between, I have to recruit and train volunteers, gather and adapt curriculum, and spend time with my family.”

I know it’s hard, but if you want to stay dynamic, then you have to make space to be creative.

You might be thinking, “Creative? What do you mean be creative?”

Make space to create something… it doesn’t even have to be work realated! Write an essay or story, paint a picture, doodle, plant a garden, create some cool graphics, photograph something. Do something to work out those creative muscles God gave you. “I’m not creative,” you might say. Nonsense! We are all creative. God created us in His image, and part of that image is creativity. You don’t have to create masterpieces. You just have to create.

You don’t have to set aside a lot of time for creativity. I try to give myself a couple hours a week to do something creative. I’m not always successful in carving out that time, but more often than not I try to give myself some time for creativity.

If we don’t set aside time to create, then we diminish our ability to do so. Creativity is like a muscle. It has to be used and exercised. You must work it out regularly. If you haven’t been allowing yourself time to create, it will be hard to do so at first. Maybe start with a pen and a blank sheet of paper. Start by doodling or writing random thoughts. Allow those doodles or random thoughts to take shape into a picture or narrative. It doesn’t have to look good or flow well. My doodles will never make their way into any art galleries… or on my fridge :) See what you come up with. Try different types of creative things. The point is not to produce something. The point is to create.

As you allow yourself time to create, you will find yourself being more creative with thoughts and situations related to children’s ministry. You will be able to take situations, tasks, curriculum and turn them into something new. You will be more willing to take risks and see beyond what children’s ministry is right now to what it can be.

How many of you already set aside time to be creative? When do you do it? What do you do to work out those creative muscles? How has it helped you remain dynamic?

You can check out the other parts to this series:
#2. Cross-Train
#3. Question Everything
#4. Be Involved in Your Community
#5. Futurecast
#6. When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Grape Juice!
#7. It’s Not About You
#8. The Holy Spirit is Your Friend

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(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by tonystl)

Recently, Ed Stetzer had an article in SermonCentral.com on not getting caught up in the cluttering of the Christmas. He makes a very good point:

“The very word ‘advent’ essentially means the arrival of something. So, as we celebrate Christmas, we supposedly celebrate the arrival of God into human form. The Incarnation is a moment to savor. All of our presents and lights and parties ought to have a better meaning. But usually, they don’t. So, in a bid to create a more relevant/helpful/meaningful advent season, the church of late has sought to delineate itself from the commercialization of our country’s Christmas culture. Oddly enough, we have done so by simply offering Christianized versions of what they were already doing—Christmas dinners, Christmas plays, Christmas musicals, and Christmas events in every size and shape. But alas, we have done no better than my neighbor. The church has cluttered the advent season with our own set of lawn décor.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by Eleaf)

A few months ago, Seth Godin had this post on his blog:

“If you’re in a meeting with smart people and they start discussing a term or concept you don’t understand, what do you do?

Do you know what recombinant DNA is? Analytics? Chapter 7? Fair use? RSS? The Long Tail?

If smart people in your industry are talking about an issue you don’t know cold, it’s very important that you don’t just sit there and nod your head sagely. I think there are two constructive paths. The first is to ask. “Wait, I was with you until a second ago. What does that mean?” You’ll be amazed at how smart and engaging this makes you seem if you say it at the right time.

The second approach is to write it down and not go to bed that night until you know the topic better than the person who brought it up. How else, precisely, are you going to become one of the smart people?”

The tendency for many of us when we hear a term or concept we don’t understand is to simply nod our heads as if we know what is being said, to not say anything at all, or to zone out. We don’t want to be perceived as stupid or we are frustrated that we don’t know what’s being talked about. If we follow through with advice like that of Seth Godin, though, we show that we want to learn, and learners aren’t stupid.

It’s not easy to ask questions when you don’t understand what’s being said. It’s scary at first. I quickly learned to do it, though, in university because I had one professor who would point-blank ask you if you understood what he was saying and have you tell him back in your own words what he was talking about if you never engaged and asked questions. Boy was it embarrassing to be caught nodding your head as if you understood what was being said and then put on the spot revealing you were clueless. If I stopped, though, and asked questions of this professor when I didn’t understand what he was saying, he was more than happy to explain.

Over the years, I’ve found this to be very helpful, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been able to learn from many different disciplines and learn many things I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

As leaders, we need to keep learning. We don’t have to know everything, and we shouldn’t pretend that we do.

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(image taken from Indexed)

I thought the above picture was interesting. In children’s ministry we can get lonely and isolated really fast. I’m sure that’s true with life in general. The thing is, though, that we forget there is a large crowd of people who do care that we don’t know and sometimes are unaware about.

That’s where social networks come in handy! Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. are great places to find new people who are in the same boat as you are and who care. If you are feeling lonely and isolated, I encourage you to check out some children’s ministry blogs. There are a few of them in my links section you can check out. I also encourage you to get a Twitter account and follow the #kidmin hashtag if you don’t already. (If what I just wrote sounds like jibberish, check out my quick post about Twitter here.)

There are some new social tools like Google Wave that are showing up where you can even collaborate with likeminded people and receive encouragement and not feel so lonely.

You are not alone! Sometimes it takes work, though, to discover that.

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(photo originally uploaded to Flickr by fonso)

As part of our daily staff prayer time, we’ve been following the liturgical calendar for our Bible readings. Today we read Psalm 127. Verse 1 is great. It talks about allowing God to build and protect because if we do it on our own it’s no good. Yes!

I, then, got to verse 2:

“It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” Psalm 127:2 (NLT)

Wait a minute! Did I just read that right? It’s useless to work hard, being anxious? “…for God gives rest…” Rest? What’s that? Sometimes I can feel so busy “being used by God” doing what I think is essential for “the Kingdom” that I don’t feel rested. Could it be that I am not really being used by God? Could it be that what I am doing is not essential for the Kingdom?

If God truly gives us rest, and we aren’t receiving that rest, then we are not allowing God to do the building and protecting. We are doing it on our own strength. We are uselessly working hard.

If what I’ve noticed in blogs and tweets from fellow workers in children’s ministry recently is any indication, many of us are REALLY busy. When things get busy, it REALLY easy for us to rely on our own God-given gifts and talents to get things done. When that happens, we quickly get overwhelmed, tired, and burnt. In times like that we need to pause and make room for God to step in and take over. Only then can we have that rest God gives to his loved ones.

Now, I’m not saying that we need to stop what we are doing. We very well may need to keep doing all that we are doing. What I am saying is that we stop doing what we are doing IN OUR OWN STRENGTH. We need to do all that we do IN GOD’S STRENGTH. And that isn’t something that just happens. It’s something that we need to intentionally ask God for, which takes putting time in our daily schedule to pause (even for a short moment) to commune with God and allow him to fill us with His Spirit to do all that he has called us to do from day to day.

• What do you do when you start feeling overwhelmed?
• How do you keep from relying on just your talents and gifts to do the work of ministry?
• What are some ways you make space for God to fill you with his rest and strength when things get busy and sometimes crazy?

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(picture originally uploaded to Flickr by Merry~Blues)

It seems that everyone and their mother who is involved in ministry is always looking for the next leadership book by the next leadership guru.

While I do enjoy reading books on leadership, I think that we miss out on a well-rounded leadership development when we narrow what we read to what we find in the leadership section of the bookstore. In fact, I think we miss out when we resign ourselves to any kind of reading niche. We need to be well rounded, reading those things that are contemporary and ancient, easy and hard, fiction and non-fiction.

With that being said, Out of Ur has a post from Scot McKnight listing his top 10 Leadership Books. You can read the post yourself for his reasoning behind his books, but here is the list (BTW, he had more than 10 books listed):

• Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
• The Aeneid by Virgil
• Divine Comedy by Dante
• Confessions by Augustine
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• On Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Dymer by C.S. Lewis
• Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
• Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkein
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
• I and Thou by Martin Buber

Now that is a pretty hefty list! I like it, though… partly because I’ve read a number of those already (albeit some required in high school and university)… mostly because these works develop different aspects of a person seeking to be a more well-rounded individual as well as a leader that is able to think beyond her immediate paradigms and context.

Anyway, what do you think of that list? Why would anyone in leadership even bother reading those, let alone someone in children’s ministry leadership?

If you aren’t into reading books like the ones above, what are some other ways to be a well-rounded leader? What are some other ways to be a well rounded person?

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