Home Children's Ministry Leaders Children's Ministry Blogs October YouLead: Effective Family Time

October YouLead: Effective Family Time

Ask any parent, and most will tell you that they wish they could have more quality time together as a family. Not always an easy task in today’s busy world. So, why not offer help and ideas for families to spend more time together.

This month we’ll be looking at how churches can help parents have better relationships with their children and students. And on a personal note, we’re going to help you succeed every day, in your personal and professional life.

We know that you lead in several ways at any given time. You lead yourself, you lead volunteers, you might lead a staff, and you often lead up. Here’s what we have in store for you to accomplish each of these tasks:

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
How does this happen every single week? Sunday just won’t slow down. But don’t allow that to interfere with the investment you make in yourself as a leader. Go ahead and grab your Number 2 pencil to mark some personal time each week this month to invest in your own leadership development—20 minutes should do it. We’ve already got a plan for you, so making the time is the first step to accomplishing it.

Book Review: The 1% Solution for Work and Life: How to Make Your Next 30 Days the Best Ever by Tom Connellan
This book is a quick read and packed with actionable ideas that you can implement immediately to help you succeed personally and professionally. Connellan gives readers realistic ideas that challenge you to make every new day 1% better than the day before.

Podcast: Doug Fields
Doug passionately talks about how a spotlight leader is one who puts others in the spotlight. A spotlight leader is secure, a servant, and makes dedicated searches into the lives of others.

Video: Create a Rhythm, Chap Clark
In Create a Rhythm, Chap gets really practical, unpacking the importance of natural, organic practices we can engage in with our children that help them relate to the God of the universe.

Real Life: Google
A commitment to innovation, where everyone is encouraged to be creative and share their ideas—this is part of the Google culture. Discover the uniquely fun work environment that is behind the success of this Web-based giant.

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Now that you have a plan to invest in your own leadership skills, why not make a plan to do some investing in your volunteers? Not like giving away big, fat bonus checks, though. We have a way to invest in your volunteers for free!

We’re going to make it really simple to become more intentional with your volunteer communication via some good-looking emails (if we do say so ourselves). We’ll even do the writing for you. Plus, you can even add your own words of wisdom to the messages.

Weekly Emails: Why We Do What We Do
Providing your volunteers with information that they can share with the parents of the kids and teenagers they serve will go a LONG way with your leaders. Sometimes the barrier between a volunteer and a parent is a simple lack of creative ways to connect with the parent—it’s time to change that.

This month we’ll be sharing encouragement, stories, and research in emails that you can send your volunteers. And we encourage you to challenge these leaders to turn around and share this same information with the parents of the kids and teenagers in your programs. Simple—did we mention that already?

STAFF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Whether you’re leading a large staff, a few people, or you’re trying to lead up to your senior leadership, we’ve got something for you. We’re including another book review with this portion of YouLead because we felt it would be a great tool to reinforce this month’s topic. Speaking of that, this month’s focus is (drumroll)—

EFFECTIVE FAMILY TIME [F6]
Curriculum and resources are designed so core truths can be taught at home and at church in a synchronized effort. (See page 100 in The Orange Leader Handbook.)

Book Review: Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs by Ellen Galinsky
Ellen Galinsky has spent her career analyzing and observing how children learn. In this book, she’s teamed with other researchers to reveal seven life skills that will help children unleash their full potential to learn. Galinsky shows parents the important role they play in helping their children become passionate about learning.

Real World: Sesame Street
We all know how to get to Sesame Street—the map has been in place for nearly 42 years on PBS. Take a look at how this television show has captured the hearts and attention of children for decades and creatively encourages parents to be involved in preparing their preschoolers for school.

Senior Leadership Podcast: Jim Wideman interviewed by Matt McKee
Matt McKee and Jim Wideman talk about the importance of having a family first ministry that starts with your family. Jim has been doing children’s and student ministry for over 30 years. Jim talks about the pitfalls, best practices, and how he kept his family a priority even though he traveled all over the world. Learn some very practical tidbits from a veteran.

Previous articleUse This Checklist or Die.
Next articleLife | What Are We Saying?
orangeleaders@churchleaders.com'
The Orange Group is a gathering of leaders who are passionate about engaging churches and families to influence the faith and character of the next generation. Contributors include some of the most widely respected thought-leaders in children’s ministry, including Reggie Joiner, Sue Miller, Kendra Fleming, Jim Wideman, and Bre Hallberg. New blog entries, podcasts, webcasts, and video downloads are available every week to help you keep leading yourself and growing with your team.