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 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
In a previous post I wrote about 5 Reasons I Love Our Children's Ministry Network. I know many people assume it takes a lot of work for me to organize our local network. I think it's a lot easier than you might believe, and many people have asked about what it...
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 14, 2015 | Lead Small
Lead Small is a phrase coined by Orange that promotes the idea that every child, student, and adult needs a small group of peers to connect with as they grow in their faith. You can read more about the Lead Small Strategy here. But, why Lead Small? Teenage Brain and...
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 | Aug 31, 2015 | Leadership, Strategy
A couple of weeks ago, I shared two posts about what I had learned from time spent with two churches (Connexus | Browncroft). My time spent with both of them was during the week with their staff, not on a Sunday experiencing their services. Last month I visited...
by Nick Blevins | Aug 24, 2015 | Strategy
Our church moved into a new building a while back, and one of the things I had to plan for was the children's ministry space and how much we would need. In this post, I'll share how I approached it in terms of planning for space, planning the budget, and implementing...
by Nick Blevins | Aug 19, 2015 | Leadership
After working with the family ministry team at Browncroft Community Church, I headed into Canada to visit friends at Connexus Community Church, home of Carey Nieuwhof, Jeff Brodie and their amazing staff. I primarily got to tour their new 24/7 space, catch up with...
