by Nick Blevins | Jan 13, 2016 | Family Ministry, Strategy
I read a great post over on Tony Morgan's blog last week about focusing on health instead of growth. I completely agree with that line of thinking and one of the big questions that comes up when it comes to church health is – How do you measure that? I think the...
by Nick Blevins | Dec 7, 2015 | Family Ministry, Strategy
When our church was started as a church plant almost 15 years ago we believed the foundation of our children and student ministries needed to be a partnering with parents. We really believed, and still believe, that parents are the primary spiritual leaders for their...
by Nick Blevins | Dec 1, 2015 | Family Ministry
About a decade ago I was told studies had been done about what helps people want to return to church after their first visit (or not). Preaching and worship were the top 2 reasons people returned. Three of the top reasons people did not return were: A bad experience...
by Nick Blevins | Nov 19, 2015 | Family Ministry, Leadership
Every ministry leader wants more volunteers, but what if we are a barrier to making that happen? Moses was a barrier to leading the Israelites until his father-in-law offered wise counsel. The disciples neglected their primary responsibilities until they shared...
by Nick Blevins | Nov 9, 2015 | Family Ministry
In children's ministry, you often hear about ratios of volunteers to kids, specifically in each room. That is important, but it's not what I'm writing about in this post. If you are interested in that, most churches use something like: Volunteer:Kids Infants –...
by Nick Blevins | Oct 29, 2015 | Family Ministry, Strategy
Most of you who read this blog lead in ministry in some capacity. If you're like me, you feel the constant pressure of preparing for Sunday along with the desire to move the ministry forward and do the best job you can leading people to Jesus. You may feel like things...
by Nick Blevins | Oct 19, 2015 | Communication, Family Ministry
Most, if not all, brands, businesses, and churches are using social media to reach people today. Social media has made marketing easier to reach people in your local community. Michael Hyatt is one of the most popular bloggers in the world and his entire business is...
by Nick Blevins | Oct 12, 2015 | Communication, Family Ministry
Social media can be a powerful communication tool for our ministries, but it can also seem too complex to manage. There are a lot of questions you might ask yourself about how to approach it. What do we post? How often should we post? Which platforms should we use?...
by Nick Blevins | Oct 5, 2015 | Family Ministry
Orange is an organization and it's a strategy, and that organization provides curriculum based on that strategy. Our church has used Orange since we started almost 10 years ago. The Orange Conference is one of my favorite experiences each year as thousands of family...
by Nick Blevins | Sep 7, 2015 | Family Ministry, Leadership, Systems
Previously, I wrote about how we try to keep a finger on the pulse of our environments in order to monitor quality and consistency. That's always a challenge in family ministry, where children and student ministries both function like churches themselves with their...
by Nick Blevins | Oct 2, 2013 | Family Ministry
Family Ministry Models – The BEST Approach and 6 Benefits If you're not sure what the family ministry model is (often referred to as NextGen), you can read my thoughts about it here. In short, it's encompassing everything a church does for children and...
by Nick Blevins | Aug 14, 2013 | Family Ministry
Designing a complete strategy for family ministry in a church (birth through college) should include more than focused initiatives at each grade level. We need to help families move between those age-specific environments and celebrate big moments in their child's...
by Nick Blevins | Nov 9, 2010 | Family Ministry
At Community Christian Church we have used Orange curriculum in children's ministry since before we officially launched the church in 2006. I think it's the best children's ministry curriculum and that, of course, is why we use it. I was familiar with their strategy,...
