WCA Childrens Ministry

Session 6 -- Don't Eat The Glue

Buck Denver interviews Agnes and Winnifred

Jon Klinepeter

Rock of My Salvation
Joyful, Joyful

Phil Vischer

Your ministry to kids doesn't start with an X-box and a big screen TV. It doesn't start with a job description written by a senior pastor. It doesn't start with facilities and a budget. It
doesn't even start with a great conference filled with tips and "best practices."
Your ministry to kids starts with God's love. Not his love for kids - his love for you.
Christ is calling to you - to "all you who are weary and burdened." Bring your burdens to the cross - and lay them down. Let them go. Then stay there - at the cross - resting in God's love. Not his "love for the world" in abstract, but his very real love for YOU.

Session 5 -- Notes from Your Best Friend

"Water & Waves"
from Jumping Into God's Story, Promiseland's Preschool Curriculum





















What If?"















David Staal






Make no mistake, my fellow children’s ministry friends…Heaven invites you on a journey. A divine journey that’s already taking place. So in response to that invitation, stand strong on your commitment to Own a Burden; stand strong on your commitment to Love One Another—knowing that it’s all for Jesus, the One who really makes the great stuff in ministry happen. And when you do stand strong on both, it will be as though your life, yes your life, sings a song to the King that says “You can count on me: my ‘within us’ is all Yours!” Because what if… What if God is ready, ready right now on His journey, to do something in your ministry, in your church, in your kids, something immeasurably more than anyone has asked for or imagined—


















Love God, Love All"

Promiseland Outloud Worship





Sing to the King
Never Gonna Let Me Go
I Wanna Shine
Everything Glorious
Sing to the King

Session 4 -- Crayons and Megaphones

Disney Trivia




 



"For nearly 85 years, The Walt Disney Company has been in a unique position to reach millions of people around the world.  We’re fortunate to work with the best filmmakers, the top talent and the most creative people, but in the end, it all comes down to the one element that holds everything else together:  a great story."

"One of the keys to Disney’s success over the years, has been its ability to populate our stories with fun and interesting characters and put them in a believable and exciting environment.  It’s been my privilege to ensure that the Disney characters, and the worlds they live in, are preserved throughout the company – Whether it be filmed entertainment or in a foreign language, in our theme parks or an interactive game…It’s my responsibility to develop and preserve characters that consistently entertain audiences from project to project and generation to generation."

"So by telling stories that have biblical and spiritual truth in them, we are essentially imitating the way Christ taught His followers while He was here on Earth.   Subsequently, our kids should be able to draw spiritual truths and life application from the stories we tell."

Resource Carnival Highlights

"Make Some Noise" songs were featured.


Search Me
With All of My Heart
I'll Worship You
In The Name
Why Do I Do
I'm Gonna Praise You
I've God The Feeling
I'm Gonna Shine
I Want You to Know
How Do I Know
A Brand New Day
Love God Love All



Click here to hear song samples

"Oh What A Special Night"








NEW Promiseland Preschool Curriculum
Jumping Into God's Story

Click here for lesson samples and more

Click here for song samples and motions





Away in a Manger
Jump for Joy
Happy Birthday Jesus
He Is Born
In A Stable
Oh What A Special Night
Oh I Love Christmas
God's Gift
The Best Thing
Good, Good News
It's Christmastime
Who Was There
It's Christmas Day

FX (Faith Experience) Videos

Click here for details

Session 3 -- Color Outside The Lines

Agnes and Winnfred enjoyed their lunch and are "connecting"

Evolution of the Family

Model Behavior

Kurt Bruner











John Trent

“Something doesn’t add up”

Church programs have never been better

But Faith Transference has never been worse

Because Family Challenges have never been greater.

The church is fulfilling its role.  Our job is to declare The Word as clearly and creatively as possible.  It is time that we declare what’s really going on.  The problem is NOT what’s happening at church, but what desperately needs to happen in our homes.

Find out more about the Innovations Alliance

Session 2 -- Running With Scissors

David Weil

David Weil, Pastor of Family Ministries at Christ Church Lake Forest, Illinois, joined with worship leader Jon Klinepeter to provide a carefully crafted worship experience that fueled our connection to God. Leaning on their expertise in personal spiritual development, team-leading, and corporate worship, they helped us discover practical ways to keep our relationship with God as fresh and alive as He intended - the very best way we can serve kids.

Jon Klinepeter

I Need Thee
Just As I Am
Be Thou My Vision
Return
Blessed Be Your Name
Amazing Grace
Angus Dei

Eucharist CD Available in the Seeds Resource Center


Lyrics and Charts available at missionband.net

Session 1 -- Erase Your Fears

Christine Yount Jones

Christine Yount Jones is Executive Editor of Children's Ministry Magazine and Children's Ministry Champion for Group. She kicked off our time together by helping us to chart a clear path for our teams to build the strongest possible spiritual foundation for the children God has called us to serve.

Visit the Session 1 forum to share your comments, thoughts, and feedback.

Welcome to the 2008 Conspire Conference!

Agnes and Winnfred have joined 3200 Childrens Ministry leaders at the 2008 Conspire Conference

After a stirring welcome from "The Bucket Boys", Jon Klinepeter invited everyone to worship together.

Indescribeable
All Creatures of Our God and King
Nothing But The Blood

It's time to Conspire!

Finally, after months and months of preparation - it is time to Conspire!

It's time to come together for connection and inspiration so that children will be impacted for a lifetime. We are thrilled that some many of you will be joining us here on our campus and hope that even more of you will visit us online throughout the week to be part of this experience because we believe you are the best person to reach the children in your church and in your community.

Stay tuned to willowcreek.com/children to stay connected during the conference.  We're hoping to provide updates after each main session.  You'll be able to post comments and view comments from others.

Looking forward to all that God will do!

Modern Day Parables

Jesus used parables to deliver his message. These were short stories involving everyday people and familiar situations (farming, fishing, etc.) to teach spiritual truths.
They were simple yet profound.

God chose to invade history before the invention of TV's, iPods, and all the modern tech stuff we can't live without.  Jesus did not withdraw from culture. He INVADED culture! He used the medium, stories, and pop icons of His day to deliver His message. 
He was a master storyteller.

We are the storytellers and the missionaries (put here by a pretty smart God who knew what culture and time we would be in) to THIS generation.
God called us here. Right now. He knew what He was doing.

Acts 13:36 says that David "had served God's purpose in his own generation..."
We too have a specific calling from God to the current generation.
It's in history that God chooses to reveal himself.

We need to study American culture just like we would study the culture of an un-reached people group in Papua New Guinea, or a muslim group in the 10/40 window. 

Here in America, our population is increasing and church attendance is decreasing. There is a huge un-reached people group in the American 10/13 window. Our "target audience", Americans, age 10 months to 13 years of age live in a media saturated culture and we need to use modern day parables to reach this generation.

So, what are modern day parables? What delivery method should we use to teach this generation of kids? How can we use new media, and new mediums to teach timeless truths in a way that will stick with kids for a lifetime?

Here are a few ideas:

1. Kill all cheesy clip art driven visuals in your church.
2. Spend money on your children's and teen ministries.
   Why? Because Nickelodeon and MTV are. Whether we like it or not, that's our "competition".
3. Research and track down QUALITY Christian media products
4. Use clips from real cartoons to make your point.
5. Develop a cohesive identity for your ministry (including creative environments, and media)
6. Encourage the development of artists in your church and use untapped talent body.
   (Teens and college students, etc.)
7. Brand a character for your ministry
8. Mix it up! Use a wide variety of (quality) media (puppets, cartoons, video, actors, etc.)

Developing relationships and solid teaching from strong leaders is still the glue that pulls it all together, but these are some ideas that will help you use media as a powerful tool to help tell the story.

Next week, we'll be highlighting many more ideas and resources in the Conspire Conference breakout session titled, "Relevant Media and Modern Story Telling"

Todd Hampson and Sean Copley share their endess creativity via Timbuktoons LLC, an animation and design studio dedicated to discipling children and impacting culture through creative media