by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
One Saturday evening not too long ago, Molly decided her life would never be the same. For the first time, she was truly excited about God.
During an amazing weekend retreat Jesus seemed to be closer to her than ever before.
- She finally felt God’s love for her.
- She let go of her guilt over past decisions and embraced what Jesus did for her.
- She developed new friendships with strong Christians.
When she headed home, she was ready to make drastic changes in her life, friendships, and habits. But by midweek, she felt herself slipping away from Jesus.
Once full of hope and excitement about what Jesus could do in her life, Molly has now settled back into her old habits and friendships. She knows life can be different, but she has lost her excitement for God.
Have you ever met someone like Molly?
Perhaps you have had the same experience as Molly – during a retreat you experienced God like never before, but shortly after your passion seemed to slip away.
How to Stay Excited About God – Even When the Retreat is Over
Churches can leverage retreats and events to bring people closer to God, but there must be a plan for maintaining their spiritual passion when they return home.
- Discipleship is ongoing.
- Spiritual growth requires daily investment.
- Developing spiritual disciplines takes intentionality.
The bottom line: Event based discipleship does not develop disciples.
From my vantage point as a family pastor and former staff member at a Christian camp and retreat facility, I have seen tens of thousands of people draw near to Jesus.
My hope and prayer is that those same people will continue to draw near to God when they step back into their day-to-day lives.
Four Essential Habits to Build After a Retreat
Maintain Community with Believers
Retreats force you to journey with other people who are actually seeking Jesus. If you want to maintain your closeness with God when you return to your normal life, you’ve got to make friends with others who want to do the same.
How many people in your close circle of friends are excited about God?
Maintain a Spirit of Worship
When I worked at a camp, I did a lot of mundane and seemingly unspiritual things every day. I mowed fields, used a weed eater for hours, gathered supplies, and did safety checks. But I was also continually reminded that by doing all of those things, kids would be able to hear about Jesus. And that allowed me to take an attitude of worship into tasks that were not directly related to sharing about Jesus.
How can you develop a lifestyle of worship in your workplace, class, or family?
Maintain Daily Spiritual Disciplines
Retreats have Bible study time scheduled for you. Your typical schedule is not that kind. Everything and everybody wants your time. You have to make time for prayer, Bible study, worship, and service.
What spiritual discipline comes to mind as your biggest struggle? What steps can you take to change?
Maintain a “God is Going to Show Up” Mentality
For someone who is already a Christian, you usually go to a retreat knowing that God is going to do something. Significant time, money, energy, and planning go into every aspect of the event – it is structured to allow the time and space for participants to practice spiritual disciplines, be surrounded by people who also want to grow closer to God, and bring worship to God.
Do you usually approach life hopeful and expectant for God to work in you and use you?
It’s your turn now. What changes do you need to make in your daily routine and/or attitude to bring back your excitement for God?
by Chase | How To, Leadership
Chances are, if you’re reading this, that you are a leader of some kind. Maybe you’re the one in charge of your ministry, maybe you hold a leadership role within it, or maybe you are one of several core volunteers. No matter your position within a team, it is critical to understand how your team is wired so that you (and all the other team members) can align yourselves for maximum success.
All teams – including ministry teams – lose traction when they have the wrong personalities in the wrong positions.
Your mission is too important to lose traction. It’s important. It’s eternal.
Is your team experiencing bumps? Do team members seem frustrated? If people are constantly questioning others’ abilities, intentions, and love for your organization/team/church, then you have lost traction. When your team hits this low, it is hard for things to rebound without some realignment.Â
Many of these frustrations can be avoided by placing team members in their sweet spots of service.
While I am not an expert in this area, I have experience using several personality and mental makeup tools (such as Strength Finder, DISC, and Myers Briggs) and have spent the past decade participating in ministry teams. For my purposes, I have simplified team members into four separate categories.
Your assumptions may not be scientific, but with enough observation and experience, you too can understand the roles your volunteers and staff work best in.
The Four Types of Team Members
- Watcher
- Watchers are the ones who are sitting on the sidelines gazing upon the work being done by everyone else. While there are various reasons why they are unable to get involved, the bottom line is that they are not in a position to contribute. A watcher is not a team member – they are a passionate fan who doesn’t walk onto the playing field.
- Beware: Most complaints originate from the watchers! They confuse complaining as contributing.
- Doer
- Doers are the ones willing to do the grunt work. They don’t want to plan or make the decisions when they show up. A doer is content showing up, being assigned an area, and working diligently until the job is done.
- Manager
- Managers can delegate assignments to doers to ensure they are completed. These people are able to invest in others and oversee an area, department, or sub-ministry team. True managers thrive when they are able to effectively execute a plan by utilizing the doers around them.
- Leader
- When it comes to casting vision, charting the course, and keeping everyone focused on the task at hand, leaders take charge and invest into the lives of the managers and doers. While the leader will not spend as much time on the front lines of the work, his role is critical for maintaining focus, training the team, and ensuring organizational alignment.
How to Organize Your Team for Maximum Effectiveness
After you understand how each team member functions, start placing them into their sweet spots of service. They will be happier serving in their preferred area and the team will be more efficient once everyone works together.
- Pray for your team.Â
- If you’re reading this, you probably care deeply about whatever team you’re on. You want to see it succeed. Pray that God would help you see your ideal role and that others would see theirs too.
- Analyze the current makeup of your team.Â
- A team full of doers will lack direction and initiative. A team full of managers will experience power-struggles. A team full of leaders will only dream up how things could be without experiencing them in reality.
- Encourage team members to step into their true roles.
- Begin to embrace the role you best fit in, and don’t be shy about asking people to step into the roles they are best for. If someone is a natural planner, detail-oriented, and great at motivating others, go ahead and ask them to manage a project. If you notice an individual who is always faithful to do whatever is needed but doesn’t have the time or inclination to do the planning, don’t pressure them to lead an event! Get them to show up the day of and put them to work instead.
How do you need to reorganize your team?
by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
Family ministry leaders are constantly sharing the bigger vision with their volunteers.
No matter how you communicate it, many volunteers seem to miss the point.
Before you question their commitment, heart for the ministry, or intentions, answer this question:
What is the best way to make your vision stick?
While I have trained our leaders in a variety of ways (guest facilitators, email trainings, online discussions, and the most boring way – meetings) the best way for your leaders to capture vision is to see that vision working firsthand.
Firsthand experience is the BEST way to make your vision stick.
Now you may be wondering, “How do I get my team to experience my vision firsthand?”
I’m sure you can come up with some creative ways for your team to see, smell, touch, and experience the vision for your ministry. Good for you, but I’m not that creative.
One of the most humbling realizations is that you do not have everything figured out! Especially in church ministry, there are plenty of people who are more creative, more organized, and more administrative than you are.
Why not channel in some of their expertise and extend it to your volunteers?
Here is the easiest way for your leaders to catch your vision:
Take leaders to see other ministry spaces and meet other thinkers.
Seriously. Pick a day on the calendar, load your volunteers into a church van, and visit a few area churches that are great at certain aspects of your vision. This works for preschool, kids, student, college, and camping ministries!
Here is how I facilitate a ministry field trip:
- Pick a Field Trip Day
I try to see when the majority of my leaders can attend. I know that I will never have 100% attendance (and we have nearly 100 volunteers which would make this impossible). I take those who can attend knowing their excitement will be contagious for the rest.
- Schedule 2-3 Churches
Call 2-3 churches that you know of and respect and see if they would give your team an hour and a half to visit with the family pastor and tour the facilities. Plan your route before hand and make sure you leave in time to travel between churches.
- Load Up the Van and GO!
Make a big deal about the trip. Remember, you are taking them on a journey to see your vision in action. Most of your church members have not visited another church in YEARS because they have been serving at your church.
- Meet with the Family Pastor
Allow the family pastor at the church you visit to share their vision, mission, and schedule with your team. Let them ask some questions. When they see your ideas are being utilized around the area to reach people for Jesus, they will be less defensive when you implement change.
- Tour the Facilities
Look in the classrooms, check out the worship center, take some promotional materials, and snap some pictures. You never know what ideas your team will come up with as you tour another facility.
- Eat Lunch Together
I use this time to laugh, hang out, and debrief. Remember, this might be the first church your volunteer has visited in 5 years! Get their thoughts and make sure to plant the ministry’s vision in their minds and heart.
- Send a “Thank You” Note to the Church
Express your appreciation and fill them in on the highlights of your field trip. Let them know how beneficial their hospitality is to the ministry of your church.
- Get to Work
What action items do you have from your field trip? Make sure you communicate with everyone (including those who were not able to attend) and strike while the iron is hot!
Now What?Â
Have you taken any ministry field trips? How did it benefit your team?
by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
With TVs being inexpensive, many businesses are opting to use them to scroll announcements. Bulletin boards are a thing of the past. Printed flyers are becoming obsolete.
Setting a TV up to scroll announcements is easier than you would think. Most companies are not big enough to have a tech department and are trying to save money by having someone on staff set up the system. And if you are under the age of 35 then “tech consultant” is typically added to your job description.
Last year our church installed 5 flat screen TVs that scrolled announcements in strategic locations around our building. This was a major jump from the bulletin and bulletin-board driven culture that we had.
After a ton of conversations and Googling, we found a simple way to install the TVs so that we can utilize them for scrolling announcements.
What you will need
Here is how to set up an announcement TV
- Pick a High-Traffic Area
- If you are going to spend money on a new announcement system, make sure it is located in a high traffic area. For  a church this would be your welcome center, front entrance, nursery, kids ministry area, and student ministry area.
- Ensure Your Wifi Connection Is Strong
- Once you have picked your area, make sure that you have a strong enough wifi connection for that area. If your internet connection is weak you will need to run an additional hotspot to get a strong connection where you want to mount the TV. No internet = no announcements.
- Secure the TV Mount To The Wall
- When you are ready to mount your TV first figure out the height of your screen. Too high and it will be hard to read by people as they pass. Too low and you will constantly be clearing finger prints off of the screen.
- Once you secure the wall mount I suggest installing a receptacle directly behind the TV so power cables will be hidden from view. The area will look better and people will not accidentally unplug the cords.
- If this can’t be done, then there are some cable hiders online.
- Reminder: The power cord to the Apple TV isn’t long, so make sure the receptacle is close enough to plug it in.
- Attach Apple TV
- Once you take the Apple TV out of the box use some Command velcro strips to stick the Apple TV to the back of the TV.
- Use wire ties to tie up the power and HDMI cables to keep them from hanging down. Â
- Setup Apple TV
- Use the remote to set up your Apple TV. Tutorial here.
- Set your Apple TV up using a secured wifi network. If your Apple TV is on a guest account, anyone can access the Apple TV.
- Setup Flickr Account
- Flickr is an online photo album that will enable your team to upload and manage pictures and photo albums.
- Your announcements will simply be slides (JPEG) that you can create in your favorite design program and upload into Flickr.
- My suggestions is that you create an album for each TV so you are able to control which pictures show for different demographics (i.e. kids area, welcome center, front entrance).Â
- Connect Apple TV to Flickr Account
- Now that you have Apple TV setup and a Flickr account, you will need to open the Flickr App on the Apple TV.
- The screen will display a set code that you will need to type into your Flickr account.
- Simply go to the link (www.flickr.com/appletv) and input the code.
- Run Slideshow From An Album
- Congrats, you are connected!
- Using the Apple TV remote, click “albums” and then “start slideshow”
- The slideshow will give you the option to pick a variety of transitions. Remember, less is better. A simple fade to the next slide is sufficient.
Do you have another way of setting up announcement TVs?
by Chase | How To, Kid Min, Student Min
Is there anything better than playing games?
Games are an integral part of any ministry. Kids love running their energy out and students enjoy non-threatening moments to be goofy. If done well, games can bring Bible lessons to life and add an experiential element that most Bible studies lack.
While everyone plays games, there is definitely an art to lead effective games. Trust me, if the leader is not a strong communicator, fun, and willing to be crazy, the students and kids will not participate. Great game leaders are prepared to lead once the kids arrive.
I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but below are some tips I have picked up over the 10 years I was involved in camping/retreat ministry. By the way, these tips work for kid and student ministry. I use the word “kid” just to make the read easier.
8 Awesome Tips For Leading Games
Safety First
If all your kids end up in the hospital, no one gets to have fun. You go from having fun to sitting beside a sit old man in the ER who won’t stop coughing on you. But seriously, if a kid get hurt because of an oversight on your part, the parent will not let the kid come back. That means you have lost opportunities to share Jesus with that family. Safety is the most important aspect of game facilitation. Never play a game that will sacrifice safety.
Always “Look In” On a Game
Look at all games as if you were a parent/teacher/principal. “Head-lock Tag” might be fun, but it looks like all the kids are being bullied. (NEVER play “Head-lock Tag”) If the game looks like kids are ganging up on a few kids, odds are a parent might get upset. Best thing to do is to step back and ask, “What would a parent think if they walked in right now?”
Never Play the Same Game Twice
Keep variety in your planning.  Make sure the game is a positive spot in their mind, not the reoccurring norm. If you need some ideas, funninja.org is awesome.
Don’t Use Tons of  “Out” Games
The more games that you play were kids get “out” means the more kids you have standing around with nothing to do but get in trouble. Try to involve as many kids as you can as long as you can.
Be Creative
Relate games to your theme. Change up the supplies needed to bring a theme alive in the games.
Participate, Participate, Participate
If you don’t think the game is fun or worth while, why would the kids?
Practice Leading the Game
Make sure your volunteers know the rules/explanation of the game before kids arrive.  That way you can ensure directions are clear and concise for everyone. “Without clear game instructions, the children perish.” I’m pretty sure that is in the Bible somewhere.
Excitement/Energy/Enthusiasm
They are all contagious! At the very least, you should enjoy yourself. If YOU are having fun, I promise that the kids will enjoy themselves.
Now What?
What are some other tips you have for leading awesome games?
by Chase | How To, Leadership
Your Favorite Word: Delegation.
If you have had a job more than three seconds, you are all too familiar with this elusive concept. At times it may seem easier to collect compelling evidence for the existence of Bigfoot than to develop a practical strategy to delegate.
As a leader, your primary job is to keep everyone working toward the vision. Ministry leaders are trying to work on the ministry (administration, vision, and tweaking processes) while they are simultaneously working in the ministry (doing the day-to-day operations).
Everyone knows they should delegate, but few figure out how to get ahead of the curve.
Here are six steps that I have picked up over the years that help me decide what I can delegate and who needs to help.
Six-Step Process to Delegate More Effectively
1. Plan ahead
You cannot delegate until you know what in the world you are doing! Planning ahead doesn’t have to be a stressful endeavor. Typically, I begin Mondays with a 30-minute weekly review. During this time, I confirm any appointments I have, plan when I am going to accomplish specific tasks, and see where I am on long-term projects.
By coming up with a weekly review, your brain will be trained to think through your tasks and deadlines.
Also, without advance planning, you cannot ethically ask someone to help you with work.
My mom has always said, “Your lack of planning is not my emergency.”
If you have waited until the last minute, YOU need to complete the task. Don’t pawn it off on a volunteer or employee. That is a surefire way to lose good workers.
2. Establish the essentials
Many of the tasks we stress about are not the essentials. After you have surveyed the work, ask yourself what is absolutely necessary. This doesn’t mean that you cut the creative elements. Trust me, those are of the utmost importance! Simply cut out the areas, steps, and processes that will cause you to spin your wheels.
3. Are you the ONLY person who can complete the task?
If the answer is “Yes,” then you need to schedule time to complete it.Â
If the answer is “No,” then you need to delegate it.
This is typically where leaders get in trouble. For instance, if there is a problem that needs to be addressed, the leader, not an administrative assistant, needs to pick up the phone and work it out. Don’t forget to weigh the importance of each task, including the ones you don’t want to do.
4. Choose the best person for each task
When you find a task to delegate, the next step is to find out who will complete it. Remember to match tasks with people’s skills and abilities when you are able.
Another consideration is time. Can the bookkeeper run the report by noon if he is responsible for payroll that morning?
Many tasks can be outsourced to companies or contract workers for pennies on the dollar. Logos, videos, and website design will be done correctly by experts instead of by a church administrative assistant who can barely use Microsoft Word.
5. Set clear expectations and deadlines
Tasks will be completed to your standards when you effectively communicate your standards. Don’t drop a project off and run for the hills!
Send written instructions (preferably in e-mail) so your worker knows what he is responsible for and when he should have it done. This will also give the worker an opportunity to communicate if he is unable to take on the assignment.
6. Follow–up on the project
No one needs a micromanager, but leaders must ensure tasks are completed. Checking in on the assignment is necessary to ensure YOU will not be completing the task last minute! It also gives the worker a chance to ask questions, get clarification, and feel connected to the bigger picture.
If you get ahead of the curve and start delegating, you will create space for the tasks only you can accomplish.
How do you pull other staff members and church volunteers into the ministry projects you have going on?Â
