Mike Johnson

C3 Kids West Starts Today!

Hey everyone, here we are in Sunny San Diego for C3 Kids West! If you 
can't be here (sorry) then be sure to follow along on Twitter under 
the tag #c3kidsWC. All our "twitterers" will give you minute by minute 
coverage!

If you couldn't make C3 Kids Dallas either, make plans now to attend 
C3 Kids East Coast in October. Dates and location will be announced 
next week!

It's all about volunteers...

 
 

Apologetics for Kids a la "Schoolhouse Rock"

Here's a video on apologetics for kids in a "Schoolhouse Rock" format. It's a good discussion starter for older kids on the validity that Jesus truly was God's Son.

 

 

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Details matter. It's true. We typically don't think about the impact of details until we forget one. But details are huge in the experience of a person. Take music for example. The right music can make or break an experience. That's why I use music in my talks, in the children's areas, in the skits we perform, almost anything we do in FC Kids has a musical element.

We aren't the first people to realize the impact that sound can have on others. I first experienced the impact of being immersed in sound at Disneyland. I recently came across a blog about the focus Disney has on audio in their parks. You can check that out here.

"When the speakers fail, it feels like the life is sucked out of the place." Mr. Q

Disney has spent untold sums of money to help their park patrons feel euphoric while at their parks. Their goal is to make you feel good during the time you spend there. Shouldn't this be a goal for the church as well? We want people to feel good about their experience at church because the church is where life change begins. It's where families become stronger, people become better, and kids learn to be adults who follow God their whole lives. Music can play a part in this. So, look at sound and music in your children's areas, it's a small detail that will yield big results.

Green Screen - Make Your Own Reality

Saw this cool link on David Wakerley's blog and wanted to share it. Make your own reality with the use of a green screen! Enjoy!

C3 Kids Tomorrow - You Need To Be Here!

If you can get to Grapevine, TX by 1:00 tomorrow, you need to! We are hard at work putting together the C3 Kids Conference, including the Make Our Staff Your Staff displays. These displays will show you how we do and how we use many different things in FC Kids.

Each display will have elements that you will get on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM to use at your church. Below I'm giving you a sneak peak of a few of the displays. Remember, these are still in progress!

 

 Children's Baptism

How to Make a Light Box

 

How to Build Preschool Check-in Terminals 

Children's Baptism

First Time Visitor Program

Father Son Retreat

Parent Child Dedication

Sights & Sounds in Your Ministry and Costumes

C3 Kids 2010 - Make FC Kids Staff Your Staff

C3 Kids is just around the corner!

 

 

At this year’s C3 Kids Conference, the focus is on volunteers. You won’t want to miss any of the sessions where we will unpack what it takes to attract, equip, and keep those who are essential to every vibrant children’s ministry.   

 

In addition, when you come to this year’s conference we will make FC Kids Staff your staff! We’ll do this by making available to you everything we have developed in our children’s ministry over the past year. We are going to give you our programs, designs, plans, and art to take home to use at your church!

 

Finally, for my blog readers, e-mail me (mike@fellowshipchurch.com) and I will hook you up with a great rate!

Come and join us for C3 Kids, we would love to have the opportunity to serve you.
 

See you next month!

Elevate Year 4 Map - Can You Guess It?

Development on Elevate Year 4 is well under way. The first series has been approved and is being written right now!

Above is the second rendition (but still not the final) of the Year 4 map. By looking at the above map can you guess what the 7 series are? Take a look at the last map I posted (the first rendition) because 2 of the themes were guessed correctly...hmmm, I wonder which ones? Don't forget that the prize will go to whoever can guess the 7 themes correctly first, so give it a guess!

CPC Nashville is Here!

Below are a few photos taken with our iPhones as Creative Pastors sets up the Elevate booth for CPC Nashville 2010. I’ll be at the booth some so if you're here, be sure to drop by and say hi.

   
  

Elevate Year 4 Map Will Be Unveiled Soon…

Hard to believe but Year 4 of Elevate is upon us! We are in the stage of developing the concept drawings for the Year 4 map. If anyone can guess what the seven series are from this image I have something pretty cool that I will send you. The offer is only available until I post the next concept drawing. Come on, give a guess...what have you got to lose?

Three Words That Make Me Cringe

They're... just... kids.

To hear these words sends a streak down my spine. It's normally used as an excuse for poor performance or low quality in ministry. When people are too tired, too overwhelmed, or... dare I say... too lazy to do something great for the next generation, they say, "They're just kids, they won't know the difference." Where did this idea come from anyway? If you want to make any major change in the world, you have to start with the children. They are the adults of the future. They are the difference makers, the risk takers, the dreamers who have yet to be. Why in the world would we sell short our children, the group of people most open to hearing ideas of change? In churches all over the country kids are relegated to the "basement" of ministry. This un-supported, under-funded, just-keep-them-quiet mentality could very well be the ruin of the church as we know it. If the children of the church grow up and believe that it is irrelevant, boring, and lacking in quality, then the first chance they get, they are out of here. If that happens, the church will die.

I know we cannot all do the same level of work, but we can all have the same spirit behind the work. Let us all embrace the next generation and give our best to them with the resources God has given us.

Check out this video from C3 Kids 2009 that touches on this idea: