Tag Archive - Children’s Ministry

Dumb Things #3

November 4, 2010 in Ministry, Personal with 2 Comments

This week I’ll be covering some of the more dumb things I’ve ever done as a Children’s Pastor.  Be sure to visit www.jonathancliff.com/tags/dumbthings to keep up with all the dumb-ness happening here this week!

Today’s edition of “Dumb Things” is a more recent addition.  Many of the boys that we have in our ministry are products of a single-mom household.  They’re great kids, but many of these boys are in desperate need of some physical touch and tossing around.  These boys are growing up without wrestling matches, and tackle take-downs in the living room.  I know which boys are which and often times will greet them lightheartily with a fist punch to the arm, or maybe challenge them to an arm wrestling match.  Trust me, I don’t wrestle with other peoples kids; but I do the things I can do to bring some physicality to my relationships with boys that I know need it.  It’s a love language for 4th and 5th grade boys, and it helps me open them up during small group time.

So a few months ago I was leading a group of 5th grade boys in a small group environment.  I purposefully leaned into one of the boys as I sat down in the small group time, as I moved to sit on the floor.  This boy then thought I was really saying, “Bring it on, it’s wrestle time!”  He jumps on my back and starts pulling hair, yelling wrestling terms.  The entire time I’m yelling, “Whoa!  Whoa! Whoa!  It is not wrestle time!”  Horrified, I finally convinced him to stop and we did an arm wrestle match instead.

This is a safer alternative...

So what’s the lesson learned in this scenario?  The boys are anxious for physical contact, and want to wrestle…but I’m not the guy for the job.  Not in small group time, and not at church on a Sunday morning!

Dumb Things #2

November 3, 2010 in Ministry, Personal with 8 Comments

This week I’ll be covering some of the more dumb things I’ve ever done as a Children’s Pastor.  Be sure to visit www.jonathancliff.com/tags/dumbthings to keep up with all the dumb-ness happening here this week!

Again while in Dallas I pulled one of the most stupid stunts ever.  As a not-lover of puppets (is that a phrase?), I decided instead that it would be cool to have a costumed character visit the kids each week.  Great idea so far, right?  It all started when I saw this super great, and super cheap gorilla costume at Party City.  I lost you with the word gorilla, didn’t I?  All the costume consisted of was a pair of gorilla feet, gorilla hands, and a scary gorilla mask.  So easy to pull off, and makes for a super quick costume change.

So our friendly Kidmin gorilla makes his first apperance on Sunday morning.  I had some accompanying music that was light and cheery; and I prepared the kids beforehand that we had a gorilla friend making a visit.  Here is how it goes down:

  • The gorilla appears on stage.
  • Children scream hysterically.
  • Girl on the front row goes into a horror stage of shock.
  • That same girl pees on herself.
  • The volunteers in the room freeze and don’t know what to do.
  • I’m stuck with my friendly gorilla on stage, trying to carry on a conversation while children begin to cry and run from the room.
  • I finally tell the gorilla to leave stage, and have to yell at some volunteers to please help our peed-on girl up front.

Is this less scary?

I’m still so ashamed.  Can’t believe how stupid I was to think this was a good idea.  However, this gorilla costume did make a great scare toy for me to freak out my kids at home.  Score!

Dumb Things #1

November 2, 2010 in Ministry, Personal with 6 Comments

This week I’ll be covering some of the more dumb things I’ve ever done as a Children’s Pastor. Be sure to visit www.jonathancliff.com/tags/dumbthings to keep up with all the dumb-ness happening here this week!

Years ago I worked at a great church in Dallas, TX. Unfortunately for this church, I did many of my dumbest things while there…

We had planned a special Christmas outreach event. It included families in the most need, many free Christmas gifts, a Christmas lunch, Christmas songs, a huge Christmas tree, and last but not least a visit from Santa Clause. Now many of my more conservative Kidmin friends are already seeing the red flags here. I can feel your thoughts towards me, but trust me. Santa Clause was not the issue. The issue was the color of skin of this Santa Clause.

I had let myself be talked into allowing Santa Clause to make a visit. Now let me say that I in no way have a problem with a black santa. I endorse and fully appreciate the asian Santa’s, african-american Santa’s, and white rosy cheeked Santa’s; and in no way would I care one way or the other what color Santa’s skin was. So when we marched out Santa at the end and offered to let kids from the lower-income areas of town have their picture taken with him we ran into a problem. Nobody wanted pictures with “Black Santa.” Let me be clear. I did not call him “Black Santa”, the kids called him that. Black, white, hispanic, and all varieties of kids refused to sit with “Black Santa.”

The event was a great success, but I’ll never shake the image of our “Black Santa” sitting in the corner all alone with kids keeping their distance and watching him closely to make sure he didn’t make any sudden moves…

An Introduction to Dumb Things

November 1, 2010 in Ministry, Personal with 5 Comments

This week I’m going to be sharing some of the dumbest things I’ve ever done in kidmin.  Trust me, I have some to share!

We are going to have some fun with this, as I share some of the most stupid, asinine,  and dumb things I’ve ever attempted in kidmin.  This will be hilarious, comical, laugh out loud funny, because somethings are just best laughed at.

However, there are some dumb things I’ve done in the past that are really serious.  Before we get to all the funny and dumb things I can gather into one blog, let me warn you of the REALLY dumb things you can do to ruin your kidmin areas.

  • Don’t collaborate with others outside your church.
  • Never speak up in a staff meeting.
  • Keep all those big ministry problems hidden from your senior pastor or executive leadership.
  • Don’t ever involve your volunteer leadership in big decisions.
  • Try to do everything yourself, it’s just easier that way!
  • Background checks take to long to process, so just get them done when you can. (This is beyond dumb, moves into criminally stupid!)

I’m sure you can think of some other more serious dumb things you’ve done, so feel free to add them below!

Yancy Releases Stars, Guitars, and Megaphone Dreams

October 28, 2010 in Ministry with 4 Comments

I’m always on the lookout for great Kidmin music for my church and family.  I want things that are useable in our church environments, and I want music that my kids love to listen to.  In very few have I found this great combination, and one of them is with Yancy.  She’s fantastic, and I’ve been using her DVD’s and music for years now!
I highly recommend anything she’s done and she’s got something great coming your way!

She is releasing a totally new album this very next week and I’d like to help Yancy get the word out. Of course, I want you to buy the CD/DVD, but I want you to also tell people about it!  Come on people, when you have something great you have to tell others, right?!

Here’s what you need to do.

  1. Listen to the album now by clicking here!
  2. Get a free download of the song “Make it Loud” by clicking here (I think you need to have twitter, but it would be worth signing up for twitter to get the song).
  3. Win a free CD/DVD combo of her new album. Just send out this tweet: “Win a CD/DVD Combo pack by visiting jonathancliff.com and leaving a comment at http://bit.ly/YancyGiveaway #kidmin #thinkorange”

If you leave a comment and tweet the news, I’ll enter you twice!  I’ll do the giveaway on Monday, November 1st!

After sending out the tweet, leave a comment below saying you did it. On Friday I’ll pick a winner.

WE have a winner: http://www.jonathancliff.com/2010/11/yancy-music-winner/

See Yancy’s press release below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2010

Yancy Offers Up ‘Stars, Guitars and Megaphone Dreams’ on November 2nd

(NASHVILLE, Tennessee) – Combining praise and worship with her unique pop/rock sensibilities, Yancy returns with her latest album Stars, Guitars and Megaphone Dreams, available everywhere on November 2nd.

With a decade under her belt, and countless credits to her name, Yancy has proven herself to be one of Christian music’s most versatile performers. As a recording artist, Yancy has released radio friendly pop/rock albums, a rocking Christmas collection and multiple projects for kids and young adults, all while sharing the stage with such artists as Mute Math, Newsboys, 4Him and Nichole Nordeman. As a writer, Yancy has teamed up with Third Day’s Mac Powell, wrote Avalon’s #1 hit “I Don’t Want To Go” and Jaci Velasquez’s “Something Beautiful,” and still found the time to compose two devotional books for worship leaders and musicians and a devotional book for pre-teens.

Widely recognized as a top worship leader at numerous conferences and conventions, Yancy also helped launch the nationwide Kings & Princesses events with her dad (and veteran children’s pastor) Jim Wideman. These unique events are created for Dad’s and their elementary age daughters, creating a fairy tale night that will strengthen father and daughter relationships.

“I started off doing more traditional CCM-type of music performing at a lot of youth groups, festivals and ministry events, but then I got involved in leading worship in a local church setting,” explains Yancy. “I’ve often joked I’ve led worship with every age from birth to death, but through that, I gained ton of experience and knowledge.”

At the end of the day, Yancy hopes that her music will encourage people and help them understand that they’re here for a purpose. “We all have different talents and abilities that God wants to use,” says Yancy. “And I make it a point to remind people to go after their dreams with all they’ve got.”

Yancy maintains a full-time tour schedule including conferences and conventions throughout the USA, and this fall, she will return to Christ In Youth’s successful preteen event SuperStart! as the featured artist for the 2010-2011 national tour.

The first radio single from Stars, Guitars and Megaphone Dreams, “Don’t Stop,” is currently being worked to AC and CHR formats by Jason Miller at Lion Chaser Entertainment.

For more information on Yancy or to find out when she’ll be in a city near you, visit the official website at http://www.yancynotnancy.com.
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