by Nick Blevins | Feb 17, 2020 | Family Ministry
It's Orange Week, which is a time when a bunch of leaders and bloggers write posts related to The Orange Conference and the Orange Strategy. I'll be at the Orange Conference again this year. If you plan to attend, you'll want to register this week before the price...
by Nick Blevins | Feb 20, 2019 | Family Ministry
Most people who have served in a children's ministry or student ministry context have heard various statistics about youth leaving the Church after they graduate high school. 70%-%80 is generally the estimate you hear, and my personal experience growing up church...
by Nick Blevins | Jul 5, 2018 | Freebie, Family Ministry
One of the best things we can give to our volunteers is clear expectations. A clear, concise, well-written job description can go a long way towards communicating what we expect from volunteers. Volunteer job descriptions can also help you clarify your vision for the...
by Nick Blevins | Apr 24, 2017 | Family Ministry
It's Orange Conference week. One of the things I look forward to the most each year. The list of things I love about the Orange Conference would be really long, and I've mentioned many in other posts (like here and here). So, here are 10 reasons I'm excited for Orange...
by Nick Blevins | Jun 1, 2016 | Family Ministry
Think back to when you were in middle school. If you're like me, that's longer ago than you'd like to admit. What was it like when you had a surprise day where the teacher wasn't in and there was a substitute? Free day! Party time! No homework! In my experience, it...
by Nick Blevins | May 2, 2016 | Family Ministry
Last week I had my annual trip to the Orange Conference. It's a week I look forward to every year. I posted notes from the first and second main sessions, but here are some general takeaways I had from the conference. It's a random list in random order. A Refocus on...
by Nick Blevins | Apr 4, 2016 | Family Ministry
In talking about a unified family ministry and the role of a family pastor, the question that often comes up is – What does that look like? The idea of a combined children/student ministry team under one leadership umbrella is still fairly new, so naturally,...
by Nick Blevins | Mar 21, 2016 | Family Ministry, Systems
In conversations with other ministry leaders, I usually find myself asking what tools, resources, and apps they use to see if they might be a fit for our ministry. In order to share the apps we use, I created a FREE resource entitled 30 Apps We Use to Lead Family...
by Nick Blevins | Mar 16, 2016 | Family Ministry, Lead Small
A couple weeks ago I was honored to speak to the amazing preschool ministry volunteers at Park Valley Church. The topic I was asked to speak on was How to Partner With Preschool Parents as a Small Group Leader. Here are the 5 points I shared, that I believe apply to...
by Nick Blevins | Mar 7, 2016 | Family Ministry, Leadership
As everyone who works in ministry knows, it's hard. You never get it all done and every week there are urgent things that have to be balanced with the important things. In the midst of it all it's easy to fall into the trap of simply managing what we have going and...
by Nick Blevins | Mar 2, 2016 | Family Ministry
In the survey I recently did, volunteer training was one of the top topics family ministry leaders were interested in. Training volunteers is crucial and I believe it is something many leaders struggle to do well. It's also something that isn't a one-size-fits-all...
by Nick Blevins | Feb 29, 2016 | Family Ministry
Recently we had a big training with all of our children and student ministry teams. The primary focus of our time together was to re-cast the vision for the importance of Lead Small (having kids and students in small groups). However, we also wanted to take the time...
by Nick Blevins | Feb 15, 2016 | Family Ministry, Popular
The role of Family Pastor / NextGen Pastor is somewhat new in the church. I'm referring to a staff person who is responsible for leading a staff team of people that oversee children and student ministries, from birth through high school (or college). Because the role...
by Nick Blevins | Feb 1, 2016 | Family Ministry, Popular, Strategy
Almost anyone who works in children's ministry or student ministry understands what it is like to be underpaid and overworked. That comes with ministry in general, but for various reasons churches often pay children and student staff even less than other roles in the...
by Nick Blevins | Jan 21, 2016 | Family Ministry, Leadership
In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of establishing a volunteer leadership pipeline in our ministries. Leadership pipelines provide a clear leadership path and a structure the entire ministry can be built on. As I network and work with other churches I'm...
