Kidology Update

                                              

Greetings!

I wanted to take the time to post an update on Kidology. I know that together with the short notice of the Kidology gathering and with your busy lives that many were not able to attend the gathering. Because of that, I wanted to write this post discussing the things that were brought up at that meeting so that we are all on the same page as we look to our future together.

First, a hearty Thank You:

• For serving. I know that it takes a high level of commitment to serve in Kidology and I want you to know that I greatly appreciate that commitment from you.
• For caring. I know that you wouldn’t be serving if you didn’t care about the amazing kids that we have at Crossroads. I appreciate that you genuinely care about these kids, and choose to serve them each week.
• For your family. I know that it creates a certain level of stress on your family when you are serving. Your spouse and family have to do extra things sometime to make it possible for you to serve and I want you to know that I appreciate their willingness to sacrifice for you to serve. I realize that it takes your whole family to allow you to serve and I am incredibly grateful for that.

With the start of a new person in a position of authority the question of changes, and vision invariably comes up in conversations. I realize that, and I wanted to be sure to address what my vision is for the children’s ministry of Crossroads. Quite simply it is identical to the vision and mission of Crossroads as a whole. 

Mission: Be and Build Followers of Jesus

Vision: Making Disciples who are fully devoted followers of Jesus who are not living for themselves, but daily as missionaries for God’s Kingdom.

This is my hope and heart for our children’s ministry. My vision for our kids that we get to pour into each week is that they will look more like Jesus when they “graduate” from each class, and from the kids’ ministry as a whole. This is important to me not just because it is my passion, but Brandi and I have four kids in this ministry so we have a vested interest. We earnestly desire for our boys to love Jesus, and want them to be fully devoted followers of Jesus who are genuinely living for God’s Kingdom.

Orchestration:

• It is important that we “look” the same each week. This is actually less about setup, and more about the preparation that each teacher puts into his or her lesson. With a rotation of three different teachers in each class it is vitally important that the kids are hearing the lesson the same way each week. 
• My desire is that we would take very serious our lesson prep each week. I desire that you realize just how important the content that you are teaching is. You’re not teaching the kids in your class how to read or write, you are teaching them about the Creator of the Universe, who loved them enough to send His son to die on the Cross in our place. That’s worthy of teaching well! I want us to have high standards, and high expectations across all levels of Kidology.

Evaluation:

I believe that we should be constantly evaluating everything we do as a ministry. Not in a negative context, but in three distinct ways:

1. Efficient: With our portable nature it is important that we are as efficient as possible. We should be looking for ways to make that possible. It might be tweaking our setup or tear down process, or it might be eliminating some of the extra items we have in our totes. 
2. Effective: I want us to always be on the lookout for ways to be more effective in our teaching. If there is a way that works better, or if we can change something to make the message more clear we should be willing to do that. 
3. Excellent: I want us to have high standards for everything we do as a children’s ministry. We should constantly be striving for excellence in every area- check in, small group, large group- literally every single area of our ministry. Remember, what we are teaching is worthy of teaching with excellence. 

Nuts and Bolts:

1. Lesson Plans- Please be sure to take the time to download your lesson plans early in the week so that you have plenty of time to gather any necessary materials or supplies for your lesson that week. Please, please, please take it serious. The kids notice when you or I are not as prepared as we should be.
2. Setup and Teardown: I know that this is the least popular part of serving. However, it is the reality of our life right now and we can’t change it. It is important that you are there and get your room setup before our Huddle Time at 9:30. This time is when we can share ideas, concerns, announcements, and make sure we are ready to serve our kids. Please get there around 9:00. We are always open to more help unloading the trailer at 8:30 each morning. When it comes to teardown please wait until the kids have been picked up by their parents before you start tearing down your room.
3. Security: We will be limiting access to the “Kidology hall.” If you do not have a lanyard, or a parent’s badge, you will not be allowed to access this hallway. We have been entrusted with people’s most prized possessions, their kids, so we must ensure their safety at all times.
4. Planning Center: If you have not taken the time to familarize yourself with Planning Center it is really important that you do so. In the next few months it will be the only place where you can pull your lesson plans and activity sheets from so it will be especially important to have a working knowledge of the site. I am going to put together a tutorial to assist you in this process. They also have several video tutorials on their site.
5. Vacation/ Swapping: With the nature of our rotations it is always possible that you will be scheduled to work on a week you have made plans to be out of town, or have other things scheduled. It is my preference that you get with one of the teachers on another rotation and simply swap out weeks to resolve the issue. If you would just send me an email to let me know who you have swapped with, that would be awesome. This way I’m not surprised on Sunday morning, and I can adjust Planning Center accordingly.
6. Ideas for Improvement: If you ever have an idea on how we can be more efficient, effective, or excellent- please share it. I love to hear feedback from you guys. I do not think we should hold anything sacred other than Jesus so we should be willing to constantly be on the lookout for how we can do things better.

I know this has been long, and I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I thought it important that to send it to you so that we can each be on the same page. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns that you might have. I love you guys and I am incredibly excited to get the chance to serve alongside you!

Email: Kris@CrossroadsWalton.org

Cell: 770.231.2142

Office:770.207.5600

Hey Friends- with Jono leaving us, Pastor Mike wanted to be sure everyone was kept up to date with the plan for finding a replacement for Jono, as well as the plan in the interim. Read this note from him for more information:

Dear Students, Parents, and Families,

First I want you to know that I have been in much prayer for you all and for our whole church during Jono's transition.  I thought Sunday was a great day for our church family, even though it was sad, the day was a good healthy end to a great legacy of ministry from the Longs.  It was also a first for Crossroads and I believe it went about as good as we could expect.  I am thankful to the Lord that we were able to see a staff person transition out in a good way and not leave on bad terms - Praise the Lord for that!!!! :)

I did want to communicate with you about our interim plan.  I had hoped to give more of this detail Sunday at the end of the service, but honestly, it just didn't "feel" right, so, I chose to give a brief comment about it and moved on to focus on Jono and Heather.

I do want you to be comforted to know that there is a plan and that Jono had a huge involvement in putting it together before he left.  So, even in his leaving his heart for you, and our church overall, continues...what a blessing!!

The big picture is to have an interim plan working and function throughout the summer months.  During this time the Elder's prayers and desires are to begin receiving resumes and start interviewing possible candidates.  We would love to be able to hit the ground with a new placement for the fall, Lord willing!!

The smaller picture is the interim plan itself, which is as follows:

·         [re]wired will continue through the summer as originally planned by Jono.  As of right now, Kris Parker will facilitate those meetings along with the help of some of our young college guys.  Other aspects of those meetings will be carried out by student leaders and other key people that are already in place and serving in various capacities.  Small group leaders have been secured and are ready to be there for you.  Some of the Administration and ongoing communication detail has been delegated out to various individuals and should continue without any trouble.  Kelley Smith will be helping us make sure things overall are smooth.  Possibly, we might experience a hiccup here and there, but that will be ok, but should be minimal because we have a great team and they will do a great job!!

·         F.I.S.H. will also continue and will have Kelley Smith's oversight along with Kelly Roe and Shawn Richards' help.

·         Refuge Week is still on also and will most likely be given main oversight by LeighAnn Harrison, however, with her accident recovery going on, she will be probably more of the "headmaster" and others will be implementing the details of the week! Those details still need some work!

·         Communication will continue as you have had it working in the past, i.e. blog, website, FB, etc.

·         Kidology will also carry on as it has in the past.  Rotation schedules will continue to be communicated; club 252 will be taken care of as well as all aspects that make Sunday mornings great!!!  Of course, we should not experience any hiccups because we have an awesome team, but if we do, I am sure we will recover nicely.

All of this is to assure you and your child that you are important and valued enough that we have worked on this transition and will continue to do so!!  Of course, WE NEED YOU!  First we need your prayers!  We also need your love, support and encouragement!  All of our servants are serving for eternal pay and rewards, so if you could pay them with your words of encouragement and affirmation that would be very nice.  Also, we need you!!  We need you to be involved!  This interim plan is a team effort and our team is thin, so if we could get your "buy-in" by involving yourself in serving that would probably be the best encouragement of all!!  This is a crucial time in the life of Crossroads and we will need everyone to make this transition successful, efficient and beneficial!!

Please contact Me, Kelley smith, or Kris parker if you want to be a part of "buying-in" to the future of our Family Ministries!!  "We love ya and we need ya" :)

Gladiators Game

KIDOLOGY Live || 1.21.2012

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