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In 5 questions

5 questions – jeremy echols

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    jeremy, j.e., is a walking handbook for leadership. his large stature may lend you to think he leads with an iron fist, but in my observations i see him more as a gentle giant. i have had the privilege of sitting in several meetings where the centrikid theme was being brainstormed or the spiritual direction was be formulated. i prepped with fun ideas, and was convicted and challenged as j.e. led the meeting with one thing being the goal – kids seeing Jesus. i have loved centrikid for decades (dern, am i that old?) and i see the Gospel-centered camp up close each summer, but to know the planning behind it is just as Christ-centered is encouraging for a ministry leader. much of this foundation in centrikid is because of j.e.’s humble leadership.
     not only does j.e. plan camp, he trains hundreds of young adults to minister to kids and chaperones each summer. through many summers of camp he has had to almost see it all and that is why i wanted his take on the 5 questions. check out his answers and centrikid camp.
1 – what do you see kidmin and family ministry leaders doing right? 
Almost everybody I talk to is walking closely with a church family through a difficult stage or journey right now.
2 – what do you see as the greatest need in kidmin and family ministry right now? 
One of the greatest needs is help. Too many (myself included) won’t ask for it.
3 – if you could have coffee with every kidmin/fammin leader, what would you want to make sure you shared with them? 
What you are doing in ministry matters. I know some days it feels like you accomplish nothing… But your ministry makes a difference.
4 – what word of encouragement do you have for today’s kidmin/fammin leaders? 
Kids are so ready to hear the gospel. They don’t have an awkward filter like adults so just talk to them about the things of God!
5 – why are you passionate about children’s and family ministry? 
2 reasons….Leaders poured into me & I care greatly about the leaders influencing my child who is in Kidman right now.
Jeremy  leads the CentriKid Camps team and manages the LifeWay Kids events. His wife Emily, and their daughter love the church, our neighborhood, and spending time together. Jeremy loves to read, watch sports, and grill burgers!
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In kidmin

5 questions – dale hudson

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    dale hudson is a legend. one would think with his expertise and experience, he might be too busy, un-approchable, and proud. those three things could not be further from the truth when it comes to describing dale hudson. what a brilliant and equally humble leader he is. i served on a panel with him at cpc this past january and i kept thinking, why doesn’t he jump in with every answer. he knows all the answers. he would wait patiently for his turn even allowing peons like me to comment.
     when i am scheduling articles for the children’s page at churchleaders.com, there is one blog i can always count on to provide timely, Christ-centered, and practical content. that may be why i post him more than any other blog. you can check out his blog here – building children’s ministry.
     he has been in the trenches and he does it all: writes, coaches, speaks, and more. that’s why i had to make sure his insight was part of this 5 questions series. enjoy and take notes.
 
1 – what do you see kidmin and family ministry leaders doing right? 
Taking steps to make sure every child is personally known and discipled by a caring leader.
2 – what do you see as the greatest need in kidmin and family ministry right now? 
To get serious about teaching kids why we believe what we believe. We’ve got to help kids develop a solid faith foundation that will last when they are faced with the hard questions. This starts by helping them grapple with and work through the hard questions now, so they can get the right answers before they hear and accept the wrong answers.
3 – if you could have coffee with every kidmin/fammin leader, what would you want to make sure you shared with them? 
Spend more time equipping than doing. The success of your ministry rises and falls on the strength of the volunteer team you build.
4 – what word of encouragement do you have for today’s kidmin/fammin leaders? 
The Gospel is just as powerful as ever. Unleash it and lives will be changed.
5 – why are you passionate about children’s and family ministry? 
The future of the church depends on it.
Building Children’s Ministry was founded by Dale Hudson to help churches build
thriving, growing children and family ministries. With over 29 years of experience, Dale’s passion and calling is to equip, encourage and empower churches to reach and disciple kids and families. He is a wealth of knowledge in children and family ministry in the local church. Churches and ministries both nationally and internationally look to him for children and family ministry ideas, insight and strategies. He invests in thousands of ministry leaders each year.
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Dale is a ministry builder. As a Children’s Pastor, he has helped build some of the largest and fastest growing children’s ministries in the country. At Cross Church, he lead the children’s ministry to double in size. At Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, he helped the church grow from 8,000 to 16,000 in four years with the majority of the growth coming from reaching unchurched families.At Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida, Dale helped the church grow from 12,000 to 28,000 in eight years, where
once again, much of the growth came from reaching unchurched families. Dale and his team saw 430 kids and hundreds
of parents baptized in one year. During those eight years, he also built the children’s ministry volunteer team from 400 to 2,600 and helped the children’s ministry expand from 3 campuses to 9 campuses. He personally invested in many of the volunteers and saw them step into staff roles. He oversaw a children’s ministry staff team of over 70.
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Dale is a much in demand speaker for conferences and training. He shares with passion and enthusiasm, inspiring leaders to reach their full potential and see their ministries go to the next level.

Dale is also a prolific writer. He is the co-author of seven ministry books and has been published in dozens of magazines. His blog is read by over 50,000 people each month and his articles are featured at sites like churchleaders.com and ministrytodaymag.com.
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Dale is considered a thought leader in children and family ministry. He was voted by Children’s Ministry magazine as one
of the top 20 Most Influential Voices in Children’s Ministry and was awarded the Outstanding Servant’s Award at the national Children’s Pastor’s Conference. His ministry has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles including Time Magazine and Christianity Today. His ministry was featured in an ABC national television special called
“The Changing Face of Worship.”
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Dale’s greatest joy is his family. He and his wife, Pamela, have been married for 28 years and have two sons. Josh is married and is a successful businessman. He and his wife, Jenni, serve in their local church. Caleb is 23 and attends college in Gainesville, Florida where he is pursuing a medical degree.
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Simply put…Dale’s heart is to serve leaders in the local church and help them build a great ministry for God’s glory.

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In kidmin

C.L.A.P – a Bible study method for families

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no one, other than Jesus Himself, has taught me more about falling in love with Jesus through His Word than anne graham lotz. billy graham’s daughter, anne, is hands down my favorite Bible teacher, mainly because she stands on the truth of God’s Word alone. her personal stories are few, her opinions are kept to herself, and her goal is to simply make much of Jesus.

i have attended her workshops around the country and spent a long quality weekend with her at the billy graham training center, the cove. it is through her Holy Spirit inspired teaching that i developed my version of reading and studying God’s Word. (you can find out more about her method here.)

it was after leaving my last session with her at the cover i thought, why do we wait for adults to learn this. why don’t we teach this method to kids. the questions i get second to what Bible a parent should buy their child, is what devotional book i think is best. well, my answer these days is God’s Word alone, and the C.L.A.P. method.

anne totally doesn’t call it that, she calls it three questions (because she is classier than me), but as i began to teach it to a senior high small group of girls, these are the abbreviation letter i gave and instantly one of them said “CLAP.” it was such an amazing time of digging into God’s Word with the senior high girls, i knew it is something i wanted to teach families. so, i have been doing so for years now.

i schedule this as a two week class where families attend together. they bring their Bible and i provide the practice sheets which i have attached below. i walk through step “C” and “L” in week one and step “A” and “P” in the last class. we usually do a passage together and then the other sheets are for them to practice at home.

as i lead this class i am constantly amazed afresh about the living nature and personal power of God’s Word. i am also blown away by how he can speak so specifically different to each family all while staying true to the passage. i think i get more from teaching this class than others do attending. it is a mini reveal each time.

i am attaching the sheet that explains how i teach C.L.A.P. and then two practice sheets i give families. i print these sheets on 11×17 paper (front side only) and fold them in half and put them in a 3 brad pocket folder. this gives them plenty of room to word.

 

C.L.A.P. explanation worksheet
practice worksheet #1
practice worksheet #2

 

i hope this is helpful. i would love to know how you help families study God’s Word. share in the comment section.

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In 5 questions

5 questions – sam luce

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     there are people you have conversations with and you walk away either encouraged, challenged, or inspired. well, whenever i leave a conversation with sam i leave feeling all three. i don’t think i have ever met a more humble ministry leader more passionate about the Gospel and making sure it is central to all we do in ministry. sam makes no apologies for his desire to see Christ at the center of our personal and ministry lives. don’t believe me? just check out his blog at samluce.com. just a warning, if you want some light ministry reading or some easy ministry ideas, his site isn’t for you. sometimes i have to chew on an article for a couple of days and let it marinate in my soul. but never does one of his articles leave me unchanged.
     i am thankful to be serving on the gospelatcenter.com team with sam. even through texts, conference calls, and video chats he is all about one thing – the Gospel. (well and that yankees team.) i am thankful he took time to answer these five questions.
 
1 – what do you see kidmin and family ministry leaders doing right? 
I see almost all of them asking how can we engage with moms and dads. How can we encourage and equip parents to spiritually lead their kids. That is super encouraging. One of the marks of the Great Awakening was the intentionality and widespread nature of family worship.
2 – what do you see as the greatest need in kidmin and family ministry right now? 
Men leading at home and at church.
3 – if you could have coffee with every kidmin/fammin leader, what would you want to make sure you shared with them? 
1. The importance of communicating and transmitting to kids a love and reverence for God’s word over relevance and fun. 2. The need for a greater awareness of the supremacy of Christ in all things.
3. Remember Jesus builds the church.
4 – what word of encouragement do you have for today’s kidmin/fammin leaders? 
I would encourage Family ministry leaders to live lives of Active-Passivity. We work as hard as we can and trust as much as we can never forgetting that Jesus not only builds the church but loves the church and gave his life for her. What a privilege and responsibility to represent her to the world and to the next generation. Do it well with the strength God supplies not the strength that you muster.
5 – why are you passionate about children’s and family ministry? 
Because children are who Christ says we are to be like and Marriage and family is his idea to demonstrate to a watching world what his love is like.
Sam Luce has been a pastor at Redeemer Church in Utica NY for the past 18 years. 14 of those years serving as children’s pastor. Currently, he is serving as the Utica Campus Children’s Pastor and the Global Pastor to Families. Same blogs at samluce.com and it is focused on Leadership, Family Ministry, and Theology.
Sam attended Portland Bible College in Portland Oregon where he graduated in 1997 with a BA in Theology, upon graduation he became the children’s pastor at the same church for over 18 years. Sam has done children’s ministry for the last 20 years. In those years, he has seen kids ministry grow and change tremendously.

Sam is currently a contributing editor to K! magazine, has served as chairman of  INCM, co-authored “The Eric Trap”,  has been involved in several book projects, and been blogging since 2007. Sam has spoken at conferences and have done some consulting and coaching. His real passion lies in preaching the gospel, building and strengthening the local church in any way possible because he believes in creating environments where life change can take place. Sam truly believes that the local church is the hope of the world.

Sam has been married to my beautiful wife for 15 years together they have 4 beautiful children ages 11, 9, 6 and 3 years. They currently live in Upstate New York.

When not writing on his blog or working at the church, Sam enjoy reading, racquetball, writing, photography, watching movies with the family.

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