I am always on the search for good music in our Children’s Ministry environments.  If you take me to lunch sometime I’ll tell you about all the ones I love and hate!  So when Bob Singleton from God’s Kids Worship asked me to review something new that is being put out for Children’s Ministry…I was all over it.  Thanks Bob for sending along something so fun to look through.

God’s Kids Worship is available in both CD Audio format and in the very popular DVD Video format.  I’ve looked through the Modern Worship Summer DVD and the Modern Worship CD Pack.  There is so much here, and I only have a small portion of all that GKW offers to churches, schools, and families!  Let’s talk about what we do have.

Here is what I liked:

• These DVD’s have everything!  Need service countdown videos? They got it!  Need background images for when you’re teaching? They got it!  Need high-energy songs complete with easy to read words to the worship songs? They got those too!  I can’t think of anything they forgot to include.
• The DVD’s are so easy to use.  They load super fast, and the menus are totally dummy proof.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for, then you have other issues. ;)  These DVD’s would be great with any knowledge level of sound and video guy helping you.  Trust me, this is so important when Sunday Morning rolls around.
• The music is familiar.  The music is all stuff we do in our Adult Worship Services, and many of the songs are heard on the local Christian radio stations.  (And I know that I’ve only looked at a very small portion of what GKW has available on their main website and in stores now!)
• It just looks cool!  GKW has taken the extra step to make everything packaging and visually related is a home run.  These are not your father’s Children’s Ministry songs!  Don’t underestimate the cool-factor when programming for children.
• There is a curriculum that follows along with everything.  Anytime you can work your music around what you are teaching for the Bible it’s a win-win.

Here is the only thing I didn’t like:

• I’m going to be guilty here of being nit-picky; but if I’m totally being honest I would say that I wish there were more adult vocals included on the audio.  The children’s choir that is recorded on all the audio is stellar and it’s really done well, but my experience tells me that when there is one adult focal voice on the track it helps keep my kids attention better when I use it as a worship product.  However, GKW has been designed to be kid-only and I totally undersand their position.

Summary:

• What we have here is a fantastic resource that is new, cutting-edge, modern and yet they still make some classic church music for those of you working in a more traditional environment.  I’m going to make it really easy for you to try out this new product, as God’s Kids Worship has graciously provided us with a giveaway.

I have one quarter of the Brand New Modern Worship DVD to giveaway.  People, this is a $60 value and it’s completely going to be free to one lucky reader!  This DVD has 3 easy-to-use Lyrics and Music DVD songs, countdowns, worship orders, and much more.  It is seriously over 42 tracks of Children’s Ministry worship gold!

What do you have to do to win? Easy, easy, easy!  There are two ways to win, and two ways to enter.  Yes, I said it.  You can enter twice.

1. Just leave a comment here for one easy entry for the give-away!
2. Tweet this: @jonathancliff is giving  away one FREE Worship DVD from God’s Kids Worship over @ jonathancliff.com  http://bit.ly/WorshipGiveaway #kidmin

I’m going to run this contest until Tuesday, September 7th and then throw all the entries into a random generator and pick our winner!  Only 7 days to enter twice!  Why not start today?

This weekend at Trinity Church we are kicking off a totally new way of doing check-in for our Elementary students.  I’m a HUGE advocate of self check-in, and this plan has worked for our Elementary areas for a few years now.  Due to our building setup this is NOT a security check-in system, it is a attendance check-in system.  We do not do any kind of check-out, and still rely on small group leaders and other leaders to help identify parents and others that have business in our Children’s areas.

What’s different?

• Families can check-in using a RFID key tag.  Each family is being given two key tags that they will then be able to use anytime they visit Kidsplace.  Previously we used name tags with magnetic stripes that kids “swiped” on a reader.
• After check-in for each child, there will be a name badge printed for them next to the kiosks.  Previously we used hard plastic name tags that had to be returned each week to be used again the next week.  Can you say time-intensive?
• All visitors are entered into our ARENA database program when they visit.  Using Family Registration, every visitor will be entered in, and subsequently checked-in to their appropriate location.  Previously we kept a running spreadsheet and didn’t enter a child until they had attended 3 times or more, and then we would create a permanent name tag for them.
• Visitors will be able to check-in using their phone number on there very next visit to church.  No more visitor line for them!  Previously, they continued to visit this visitor line until they had attended for a few weeks and were moved to a permanent name tag.  I’m so excited to be able to give our first-timers a real special experience!

I’m real excited, and mildly concerned about how easy this will all pull off this weekend.  I can tell you that I’m gonna love the RFID name tags, as we no longer have to deal with barcodes or magnetic stripes at check-in!  Here is a short video that was distributed to parents this week to prepare them for the transition.  Now…fire away with those questions in the comment area!

You might have noticed that there are a few business, and organizations that I would recommend; and therefore allow them the opportunity to sponsor space on this here website.  Today I would like to introduce you to the newest sponsor at www.jonathancliff.com.

I recently did an interview with ChildrensMinistryAcademy.com about ways that my team and I are transitioning our established church to be a more modern family-friendly environment.  When the interview was over I was given an opportunity to learn more about what Children’s Ministry Academy offers those of us out here in the world of Children’s Ministry.  I have walked away impressed!

Here is how www.childrensministryacademy.com would describe themselves:

The CHILDREN’S MINISTRY ACADEMY was created to aide leaders, pastors, teachers, volunteers, and parents in their efforts to nurture faith in youth. We are strong believers that faith doesn’t grow in a vacuum; instead it requires a community of support and encouragement. If you are in a position of authority in a Children’s Ministry program, it is your job to lead your community.

All too often, Children’s Ministry Leaders are tossed into a classroom with little else than a “good luck” pat on the back. Seventy one percent of the teacher’s we’ve certified received NO FORMAL TRAINING prior to enrolling in our program. This is a dangerous statistic. Children have little patience for “on the job training”. In this day and age, when Sunday School is competing with sports, video games, and violin lessons, can we afford to let teachers struggle along until they discover how to manage a class on their own?

It’s time for a change.

I took the class titled, “Secrets to Effective Classroom Management” and I must tell you that it was well worth my time.  The material was presented in a very real-world type of situation.  The entire class is taught while you pretend to be a Children’s Director at a fictitous church.  Your Senior Pastor even sends you emails with advice, and it’s through these that the lessons and materials are taught.  After reading through your Senior Pastor’s advice, you are then given a scenario of a situation happening in a classroom.  After observing (or more honestly reading) you take a quick 3 question test to see what you would recommend to your teachers.

After going through 7 different teaching segments (all outlined on the left), I took a 30 question test about all that I had learned.  I had to score 24 out of 30 correct to PASS the course!  (No worries, I passed.)

I must say that I had a recurring thought as I read through the materials and browsed through their website…I sure wish I had this when I started in Children’s Ministry!  I can think of three distinct Children’s Ministry Leaders that need to look into this resource:

1. NEW Children’s Pastors.  If you are new to what you’re doing, then take the time to invest in yourself by getting a subscription to CMA.  Just lock yourself in your office for a day and a half and learn, learn, learn!

2. Ministry Leaders. I think this material would be fantastic for the person leading others within my ministry.  I often struggle to find time for my leaders to learn, and this might be a great go-between.  It would be an answer for the question I get sometimes from my leaders, “How can I get better at what I’m doing?”

3. Part-Time Children’s Pastors.  I know you are out there!  There are 1,000′s of lay staff working with kids all across the country.  They struggle to have budgets to travel and learn, and CMA might be your fix.

So what’s next?  Children’s Ministry Academy is currently offering a $50 scholarship for sign-up, thereby reducing their enrollment fee to only $50.  After that you pay $20/per month to continue learning and taking new classes.  They will even send you a ton of free stuff just for signing up!  Go today and visit www.childrensministryacademy.com and see if it would be a fit for you and your ministry.

Last week I did a special interview with Children’s Ministry Academy.  They spoke with me at length about some of the things we are doing at Trinity Church in Lubbock to reach parents, kids, and our community.  It was a great conversation, and you can go right now and listen to a few minutes of our talk today.  If you sign up with Children’s Ministry Academy, then you’ll have the option to listen to the entire talk.

Visit http://bit.ly/CMA_Interview today to give it a listen!

Way back in May, I’m reading an article that Wayne Stocks wrote at www.ministry-to-children.com where he speaks about the Sunday upcoming for our volunteers is anything but a normal Sunday.  It really spoke to me, and I thought about it for a few days.  I then took his idea (with his permission) and worked it into my volunteer Kidsplace Unscripted video series that goes out to all our volunteers.  It was a hit.

Thanks to Wayne for the idea, and for his writing genius!