I had the unique opportunity late last year to contribute to a special project that combines the best of Family Ministry pioneers with little ol’ me.  It’s bizarre to see my name mixed in with the other pros on this book.  People like this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and even this guy!

Collaborate: Family + Church

Ministers Label publishes one book per year that has significant impact on ministry organizational leadership. Collaborate: Family + Church by Michael Chanley is the 2010 release.  However, Michael Chanley in his infinite collaborative genius, has done something unique this time around.  Michael grabbed a group of 33 quite different authors to be a part of it all.  And, that’s the kicker.  It’s quite an eclectic group of 33.  There are youth pastors, senior pastors, children’s pastors, and those that do a little bit of both.  We all contribute one chapter on different ways to engage the families in your church. I’m so looking forward to reading what everyone has added to this cool project!

Stay tuned for more details soon…

Become a fan of the Collaborate page on Facebook.

It will be available from Amazon for pre-release on March 8th, and will officially release on Monday, April 26th (the first day of the Orange conference).

UPDATE:

I want to bring attention to the first comment.  If you’d like a free copy, and are willing to do a chapter review then contact Henry at www.elementalcm.com sign up to be a part of the Collaborate + Blog Tour.

Happy Valentines to my Valentine.

I met my wife when I was 17 years old and she was just 15 years old.  This Valentines day will be our 17th Valentines together.  Some Valentines have been dynamite celebrations of our love.  Other Valentines have been spent cleaning up sick kids, and me bringing home Sonic Cherry Limeades.  But every Valentine’s Day for the last 17 years I have been with the one person I most want to be with.

Every. Single. Time.

I’ve been absent from this site for a few weeks.  But I’m still here!  No worries.  Today I’d like to share some of what’s been going on in and around my reading over the past few weeks.  From books to blogs to magazines:

BLOG: If you’ve ever worked with curriculum of any sorts (good or bad), then you need to add your two cents to the discussion happening at www.childrensministryonline.com Listen as Kenny rails against the system, or the man, or the whatever you want to call it… It’s blogging at it’s best.  An Open letter to Curriculum Publishers. In true Kenny Conley fashion, it’s about 10 posts long; but worth every minute of reading.

BOOK: I’m not sure how this has slipped my reading over the years, but somehow I’ve just now found myself reading through The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School by Aaron Reynolds.  This book is blowing my little teaching mind right now.   At risk of sounding like a total tool, I’ll say that I’m a pretty comfortable storyteller and public speaker; but Aaron’s book has been really challenging my setup and structure for teaching kids the Bible.  I’m reading through it right now with my Elementary Ministry Coordinator, and it’s really been fantastic!

BLOG: Sam Luce and I have a little ministry secret.  I’ll let the cat out of the bag…we’re both recovering Pentecostals.  That being said, he might have some Holy Spirit blogging gold on his hands with some new posts on the Holy Spirit this week.  Check it out:
The Role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Child
What is the Holy Spirit’s role in Children’s Ministry

MAGAZINE: I electronically opted out of the swimsuit issue in Sports Illustrated.  I didn’t tell my wife, but when she got the card telling us that we would be missing this issue; it turned into a great gift that she still talks about today.  Do it guys, just do it.

BOOK & BLOG: Henry has hosted a special Think Orange blogging tour over the past week.  Go to www.ElementalCM.com and see what everyone else is saying about what I’ve already said a ton about!

BLOG: Warning: Shameless Self-Promotion!!!!   My wife is the editor for our church’s women’s ministry blog.  Anyways, she wrote something nice about me and my daughter for Valentines Week.  The Love of a Father

I’m out.  Now go back to something more important.

What do you think when I offer you the chance to see the making of an Orange?  What if I change one of those words and offer you a chance to see the Making of The Orange Conference?  Trust me.  You do NOT want to watch this video on how to make an orange germinate and grow much faster.  Really.

You do however want to visit www.makingoforange.com

It’s MakingOfOrange.com and it’s a way for people to follow along and participate in the process of planning The Orange Conference.  They will be giving daily updates of what the teams are working on and asking for input along the way.  They will be putting up videos of meetings and posting pictures as well.

Then when the conference is happening, there will be interviews with the speakers streaming live from backstage on this site.  Lots of good stuff going on with this site!  Go check it out now!

At sometime in the first year of your first child’s life you will forget.  Trust me, it happened to me.  This kid, and the two that followed in the next few years have irrevocably changed my life.  There is no doubt that I am forever altered by them being here with me, but I still forget.

What will you forget?  You will forget how much you prayed for them to be here.  I know I did.  My wife and I had prayed for years that we would have children, and then that they would be healthy.  Then when we finally get what we’ve prayed for…we forgot.

I watched the following video on my iPhone while hanging out in the living room.  At the key moment when the entire video gets serious, my 6 year old and 4 year old come running into the living room squealing and throwing toys in laughter.  I could barely make out the audio, but I didn’t need to.  It helped me remember.

Check out www.ninetynineballoons.com for more information about Eliot.