by Michael Chanley

CPC Orlando is over; rather, it has just begun. The conversations started in Florida will become a central part of what we do for many years to come. We revealed more about who we are and who we hope to become than anything else.

We challenge everyone to stand with us to become a part of the International Network of Children’s Ministry as, together, we set a new standard for ministering to children globally.

We cast the vision of our new purpose statement: To serve God and to serve those called to serve His children. Or more simply put: serve | serve | serve.
We rolled out plans for two new regional events. Launching in 2012:

• CONNECT:Milwaukee, in partnership with Elmbrook Church and David C Cook
• CONNECT:Atlanta, in partnership with the Orange Conference.

As we develop our CONNECT events, we hope you will be in prayer about opportunities in your area. Join us for these and other regional events… yes, there are more to come!

We are also excited to introduce “red”, the new children’s ministry service representative. red is a great way to get help throughout the year. Just call 919.4.red.HELP (919.473.3445) or tweet @INCMaskred and we will be there to serve you. It is like a kidmin emergency help line.

We also introduced our new Global Focus Director, Lori Bethran, at CPC Orlando. As well as shared our plans to do a conference in Hong Kong, Belize, Egypt ...

by Kurt Goble

The use of in-house video is an increasingly popular trend in children’s ministry. But for the person who has no experience shooting and editing, it can be hard to know where to start. Let’s take an entry-level look at basic video production for children’s ministry.

There is a set of questions that seem to automatically come to mind when one decides to delve into this medium. What kind of equipment is needed? How much will it cost? How does the process work? What benefits can I expect? How can I make it look and sound good? Let¹s begin by taking a look at why this trend is becoming so popular.

Videos that are produced by curriculum and publishing companies are a great resource. Companies like Kidmo, Timbuktoons, Think Big, and Elevate offer us high-quality, well-produced video products that would be far too expensive, time consuming, and technically advanced for most of us to create on our own. These products can work great within their marketed context, or as components of your own program. So why not just stick with these resources? Although you will probably not achieve the same production qualities, in-house videos offer some powerful advantages.

The foremost of these is the fact that you get to decide what the content of the video will be. You get to take that great idea, or powerful concept and bring it to life on the screen. You get to create ...

by Dale Hudson

We are finishing up the remodeling of our church nursery. It has been such a fun project for me. I love the nursery. There is nothing more precious to me than walking through our nursery on the weekends.

What are some of the keys to an excellent nursery? Here are my top ten tips for creating a loving and nurturing environment for the little ones.

1. Sanitary. 

• It should look, smell, and sparkle with cleanliness. 
• This means weekly cleaning, disinfecting toys after every service, washing sheets, etc.

2. Sane.

• This starts with your nursery director. This person will set the tone for your nursery. The director should be someone with a pleasant personality. Someone who stays calm and collected even when children are crying at their highest decibels. Someone who connects well with parents and has experience as the parent of small children.
• There will be crying. There will be times when a child is not having a good day. There will be days when a child is having separation anxiety. But sanity can still be attained. Bubble blowers, an aquarium, and other techniques can be used to keep things sane.
• Have proper adult to child ratios. This is vital. We strive for 1 adult for every child. It’s a lot easier for a volunteer to keep things sane ...

by Roger Fields

Since 1996, Kidz Blitz has conducted hundreds of family events in every denomination acrossAmerica. Here are the secrets we have learned.

WHY DO IT?

Like anything else you do, you need a reason why you would want to conduct a family event. The last thing you need is more responsibility for no good reason. Unless you have a clear objective, don’t do it. But, there are some good reasons for hosting a family event. Here are the best ones.

First, an event structured for both parents and kids generates a shared family experience. In other words, everybody enjoys doing an event together. That’s rare in our society and even rarer in church. Kids do most activities by themselves or with other kids: school, sports, play, computer, etc. It is not typical for parents and kids to engage in an activity together. The days of family farm work are gone. However, kids need to feel they are woven into a family. This is vital as they grow older and need adult input into life’s decisions. Shared activities help to weave families together.

Secondly, family events can be effective outreach tools. Since there are few events in the community that engage parents and kids together, non-churched and church attending families will often consider attending a creative event in a church that appeals to them. Think about this, polls have shown that 90% of the parents inAmericasay they believe they are responsible for ...

by Ryan Frank

Twitter may be the next big thing in social networking. Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, everyone seems to be on Twitter. President Barack Obama? Yep. Britney Spears? You bet, and on I could go. Although Twitter won’t disclose their number of active accounts, a few months ago it was ranked by Compete.com as the third most used social network.

Just recently, my wife and I took Luci to her great-grandparents for a visit. When I walked in the house I saw MC Hammer being interviewed on Fox News. I wasn’t in the door for ten seconds before being asked, “What’s it mean that he has over one million followers on Twitter?” It’s fun explaining Twitter to someone in their seventies.

I’ll take a few sentences to explain Twitter to some of you who may be scratching your heads. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service (no, I didn’t use those terms with the grandparents). Here’s how I explained it to them. Instead of sending a dozen e-mails or text messages, you send one message to your Twitter account, and it goes to all your friends (or followers). You could also explain it as a service that functions like a giant bulletin board where anyone can stick a short note. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? The difficult part is keeping your updates to 140 characters or less.

I have been Twittering for around eight months. Jim ...