Archive for February, 2009
I am second.
Dave Stone played an excerpt of this video during worship tonight… He was preaching on Ecclesiastes. very compelling. Scratch that… it’s incredible. What a great testimony of a life changed.
Leaders of cmconnect
We are building a group of leaders for cmconnect.org. Eventually we will do the same at our other communities also.
There are details about opportunities to lead and serve here:
If you are interested, we would be honored to serve alongside you in this ministry.
Thanks for all you do and for continuing to invest your many talents and years of experience in this community.
I really believe that what God is doing here is bigger than any one of us. It is a great honor to serve each of you.
Michael Chanley
creator of cmconnect.org
Free Resource Center
I’m refunding every dollar received for the Resource Center at cmconnect.org. If you are a resource provider, contact us and we will list you for free. Charging for this service is a distraction from the vision. We have community volunteers standing by to help you get listed. If people are going to volunteer to serve our community for free then we don’t need to raise money to manage it. Really, we are just passing on God’s blessing. I hope it serves you well.
The listings will point to your profile page or to the group you have created. They will not point to a url that is not in one of our communities. Details are in the FAQ center.
Michael Chanley
Children are to be seen and not heard?
One of the hurdles to Group Life is figuring out what to do with our children. Should they stay or should they go? Do we include or exclude them? How do we handle discipline issues as a group? Is it any wonder why some say, “Better seen and not heard” then send the kids to the basement and plug in VeggieTales?
There are many ways we can engage our entire family in the Group Experience. Here are some practical ways to make it happen for your group:
Set realistic goals. Don’t expect preschoolers to be able to sit perfectly still. Allow some space for them to move around. Give them something to do that relates to the lesson. It is okay if your teens don’t talk… that’s normal.
Involve kids in service. Preteens are looking for a purpose in life. Give them a job. Have them assist the host or ask them to help with service projects or even reading the bible aloud.
Get feedback. Take time to listen to the perspectives of the children in your family group. Allow them to answer or relate the answer to something they are familiar with. For example, something they heard on TV or a favorite game.
Have a flexible plan. Include everyone in the group experience. Plan your lesson/discussion around the ages, if possible. If you have teens in the room, ask them to participate. Again, don’t force it. The idea is to create opportunities to connect.
Take a time out. Allow the kids to move to another room if they become distracted. If behavior becomes an issue, allow families some private space to talk things out. Discussing this in advance can head off lots of tension for young families.
Start small. It is okay to plan the group experience around the attention span of the kids. Spend the first 15 minutes with the children in the room, allow them to go play, and then close the group time with everyone back together. Keep it simple!
When we involve the whole family in our study and prayer time everyone wins. This is where we model community life and cultivate deeper family connections.
New Role with the Same Calling
In November God gave me a vision to start working on a new online community centered around Parenting and Families. My hope was it would create a place for parents to learn from, grow with, and encourage one another. From that vision www.parentunity.org was born. I did not realize at the time that God would be using it to lead me into a new role at our church.
This past weekend we made a public announcement to our volunteers about my new role at Southeast Christian Church. I will no longer be a part of the Elementary Ministry Team… well, sort of… I will still be volunteering there and will work closely with them and the rest of the Children’s Ministry Team.
I have accepted a new role on the Community Groups Ministry Team. I will be serving under Bill Search and alongside Nevan, Jenny, Max, Jon, Jennifer, Peggy, Rich, Becki and Susan. My role on the team will be the Parenting and Family Groups Minister. I am very excited about this new role. It will open doors for me to work alongside every other team at the church and to find ways to support, encourage, and empower parents and families.
One of the many things I hope to begin developing is an online community through a group I’ve created for Southeast Christian Church Families. Here is the link: http://www.parentunity.org/group/seccparents.
You can create a group for your church for free too.
My prayer is you will join me in raising the bar for parenting and family issues. I am saddened to be leaving my team. Yet, I know in my heart, that God has not called us to a life of convenience but to one of sacrifice… he has called us to serve Him whenever and wherever we can make the most impact with the talents He has invested in us.
So, my new role changes my team and my title. It does not change my calling. It merely refines it. Now, instead of training volunteers to become better Children’s Ministers, I will be responsible for empowering parents and families to become better at ministering to their Children. Read Deuteronomy 6 and you’ll know what I mean.
Please join me in praying for this new ministry.
Michael Chanley
Heading to Saddleback
I’m heading to Saddleback’s Groups Ministry Conference today. I love to go to conferences and meet people… you learn so much through that experience.
However, I always am so torn about leaving my family.
I will try to post some while in Cali. If you want to keep up with me, you can follow me at twitter.
kidology.org
Karl Bastian is the creator of kidology.org. In many ways, Karl pioneered internet community for Children’s Ministers with his forum based internet site.
The mission of kidology is to “empower and equip those who minister to children.” Many Children’s Ministers have been, or are currently, a part of kidology. It is a network rich with over a decade of conversations about ministering to children. One would be hard pressed to argue that we have not all benefited from this unique site and from Karl’s innovative thinking. At kidology you can find training resources, free newsletters, conferences, huge discussion lines, curriculum … so much stuff I can’t list it all. You can even sign up to go on a mountain climbing retreat for Children’s Ministers!
Karl has been an encouragement to this community. He has written about us in his blog and even rated cmconnect as the #2 children’s ministry site! If you get a second, check out the kidology group or drop by Karl’s page and tell him thanks for his service to the Lord.
A rising tide brings all ships out of harbor… we are all blessed to have a great resource like kidology available to us.
Michael Chanley
creator of cmconnect.org
Two Circles to Connect
I wanted to let you all know about two new options at cmconnect.org to help you connect in two of the most important circles in your ministry.
One circle is your volunteers. We have recently created a Church Group directory to help our members connect with, train, and encourage their volunteers online… all free of course.
The other circle is the other Children’s Ministers in your community. We have created a free directory, under Resources, for Regional Networking Groups. My hope is you will take what you have learned and pour it into others in your community. (again, free)
Jim Wideman told me when we first met, “you increase our influence by the number of circles you belong to.” Well, he probably said it cooler than that; but, that was the gist of it.
One final circle, I know this makes three, If you want to connect with parents, take advantage of our other community: www.parentunity.org.
Thanks for all you are doing. This community has been a huge encouragement.
You are all in my prayers.
Michael Chanley
Regional Networking Groups
Real quick note… just wanted to let everyone know that we have FREE Regional Networking Groups set up under our Resources tab. Let me know if I may serve you by helping out in any way… thanks for all you do. You are all in my prayers.
Michael Chanley
cmconnect Church Directory
The Church Directory is now up and running at www.cmconnect.org. To find it, simply click on the CHURCHES tab.
brandonmilburn
cmconnect
parentunity
pmconnect
purecalling
smconnect