I am headed to California

Hey out there to my Calvary Chapel friends. I am going to be at the Calvary Chapel Children's Ministry Leadership Conference in Southern California in March. You can get the pdf brochure here. If you are in Children's Ministry, and you are with the Calvary Chapel, and you can get to the Murrieta area by March 4... then, you should be there! it's a great time and the price is right for the conrference, food and lodging on site.

Book - "Kid Control"

I have a great book recommendation for those of you out there who are like me – you are presenting large group lessons and messages in a children’s church type of format whether it’s for the entire time, or for just a small portion. Julian Franklin, a kids and family entertainer has written a great book called: Kid Control… Here is the description form spsmagic.com:

What would it be worth to know the secrets of controlling children's behavior? (Millions, I'd guess!) In this comprehensive book, a former behavior management specialist in Texas public schools, tells all in 19 information-packed chapters. Children's entertainers cannot afford to be without this information. From chapters on Why Children Misbehave to Creating a Safe, Fun, Caring Environment, Julian shares page after page of top-notch, professional advice that really works! His five "Directing Behavior" chapters are worth the price of the book. A professionally produced book of 214 pages with a glossy, full color cover.

I have read this book and it is incredible. To be honost, I don’t know Julian Franklin, nor do I know where he stands on Christianinty. But this guy has the knowledge of children’s behavior and knowing how to direct it durring a large group performance. You could easily adapt it to a children's ministry situation. This book is available at Julian’s site or at Sammy Smith’s site

Churches That Charge For Kids Ministry

I ran across this post a few days ago - it intrigued me because, 1. I run a children's ministry and 2. This is a church in Minnesota. I added my comment and got a nice response from the folks in charge of the blog. It turns out that the family is just one suburb over from our church and the folks in charge of the blog were going to forward our church info to them. When I found out where they lived, I knew which church they were referring to. I began to realize how sad it is that this well known church in our part of the metro is not just well known for being big... they have a reputation as the church that has a cover-charge for kids to get into the children's ministry. It makes me wonder if they realize that they have this kind of reputation.

How about you - what do you think? Do you charge kids to attend weekend children's ministries? If you were asked to start by your leadership, would you?