by Chase | Kid Min, Leadership, Student Min
Staying connected to great thinkers is essential for church leaders. Church and ministry hashtags allow you to build a tribe of thinkers.Â
In the olden days, the only opportunities you had to glean from respected leaders was to read books, have meetings, or enroll in classes. Conferences were few. Communication was expensive. Opportunities were limited.
For today’s church leaders, social media has opened opportunities that were never possible before the internet. Now church leaders can stay connect with their tribe for encouragement, ideas, and development. While sitting down at a coffee shop with leaders is necessary, utilizing twitter list, Pinterest boards, and connecting with leaders on Facebook bring relevant conversations straight to your phone with little effort or energy.
To aide in your search for a tribe, here are the top ministry hashtags.
Top Ministry Hashtags:Â
MinistryÂ
Childrenâs Ministry
#ThinkOrange (The Orange group is awesome! This is a great hashtag for all family ministries.)
Student Ministry
Pastors
Church Technology/Media
Discipleship
Missions
Trying to search for each of these hashtags would be a major undertaking. My suggestion would be to follow some key leaders in each of these areas and add them to a custom made twitter list. That way, you will see the activity on your timeline without having so search through hundreds of tweets.
What other hashtags would you add to this list?Â
by Chase | Kid Min, Leadership, Student Min
In the hustle of getting things done in ministry, it’s easy to overlook one of the most important tasks: encouraging volunteers.
As a leader, the tasks at hand will want to consume every second of your attention. Â There are always more customers to please, more products to sell, more deals to close, and more people to reach. Being successful directly depends on how effectively you lead.
Without encouragement you will not develop your team.
Without a robust team, you will not succeed.
Everyone needs vision, hope, and empowerment. Taking time to encourage your team, volunteers, co-workers or employees develops confidence and energy.
I have found that the best encouragement is three-dimensional.
- Individual – Encouragement is gentle and up-lifting. Make sure that you are praising individuals in unique ways. An all-call “Thank-You” after an event is ok, but make sure your leaders are getting personal encouragements.
- Public – Praising someone in front of others has a lasting impact. When you see quality work, creative ideas, or longevity of service, publicly praise those people. It will encourage them to continue in the ministry and also provide an example that others can follow.
- Habitual – Once a year or once a quarter when crunch time hits isn’t enough. You have to create a habit of regularly sending cards, posts, and recognizing great workers. Â While some encouragements can creative, it is hard to beat a phone call and handwritten card.
So take some time to encourage those around you who are laboring with you or for you.
How you encourage is up to you, but make sure everyone feels appreciated for the energy and effort that they have given to help you out.
What are some ways you encourage your leaders and volunteers?
by Chase | How To, Kid Min
We all experience it at some point – “that” kid who wants nothing more than to destroy your soul during the kid’s activities. Paul had a thorn in his flesh. You have this kid.
It is hard to figure out how your team can minister to a kid who is consistently a trouble maker. Not to say this kid is a bad kid, but he is the one who is the spark plug to the group’s behavior problems.
Here is an unpopular truth I have learned over the years:
You might have to pick between having kids who behave or kids who learn about Jesus.Â
With that said, here are 5 ways we can help make sure our kids are put in a position to listen better, participate, and stay engaged with the lesson.
1. Be PrayerfulÂ
This is the most important preparation we do as leaders. An athlete doesn’t show up to a game dehydrated. Leaders must be praying for their personal spiritual state and those in their class.
2. Be Prepared
Nothing will spark the crazy-factor in kids faster than lag time. Make sure you have a plan and are prepared to execute the plan when the kids arrive.
3. Be Proactive
Sitting with the kids, participating in the games/songs, and asking them how their week heads off many problems long before they start.
4. Involve the Parents
Inevitably, we will have a kid who is being disruptive. When that happens we will involve the parent. Empty threats do not work (nor convey the love of Jesus) but a sweet conversation with a parent typically motivates a child more so than we can.
5. Involve More People
Many times our leaders are simply outnumbered. For on-campus activities, our goal is to maintain a 1-6 ratio (leaders to kids) and off-campus we would like to have a 1-4 ratio.
Hope this helps!
