Todd Glad Tidings Assembly of God

Todd has on a regular weekend 400-450 children, approximately 200 volunteers and a few coordinator to help oversee that. He started in 1992 as a facilities person or "building and grounds"...everything from cleaning toilets to cutting the grass. The whole time he was doing those things he was involved in ministry: both children's and youth.

At one point Glad Tidings needed a youth pastor and Todd stepped in to fill the position for a little while. Todd was doing the youth and his wife was working with children's. He did such a good job that the board asked him to come on part time. He did youth ministry for about 5 times...during this time they moved to a new location and a new building; with this move the church doubled in size. Around 1999 he decided that his heart and his time would be better fit for children's ministry.

Both Todd and his wife are FT paid staff at the church! Since Todd grew up in the church there was a lot of trust and respect that helped with him doing such a good job.

This class is about outreach and discipleship. Todd does not do too many events but when they are done it is done very well..they try to make it as exciting and fun as possible! When kids want to come to church parents come to church!

Mobilizing teams to do awesome events is what makes these event a success. Last year they did playstation 3 (a video game theme). They have a group of individuals who get together and brainstorm and throw ideas around and then they will make a game plan. Pastor Todd is not involved as much as the think tank crew.

One evening to avoid closing the two year olds class Todd decided to do it..there were about 10-20 at a time. One week they are out in the playland area and they found a diaper full of poop.

One of the difficulties with children's ministry is trying to recruit leaders. In the past there was a lot of begging. After a while they decided that this would not work. They decided to rearrange the whole concept of children's ministry. Instead of one person taking over a whole class...they recruited individuals to do certain things such as story telling, or preparing the snack, or praying with the kids, or applying biblical principles. After this happened, they had at least 40 new people who wanted to help out.

In reference to this there is heavy background checks. To get to know the person and some of their history at other churches etc. The goal is to keep the children safe.

A lot of the times with children's ministry it is always about kids; but Todd began to think "what would happen if we could minister to the parents". If you equip the parents they will come! The event is called Family Fusion: one of the main goals is to help the parents and the kids learn how to interact in regards to spiritual truth. New parents who get saved do not even know how to talk to their kids about Spiritual things. A main emphasis with this event is drama presentation.

Outreach is good but discipleship is even better! In order to do this it is essential that parents are discipled. The church cannot do it alone! There is a curriculum they use and provide to parents for $10 that help bridge this gap. since they started doing this he has been receiving emails thanking him for the devotional materials. It is called the 252 curriculum from Andy Stanley. They come out monthly. Additionally, they use "the refrigerator door" it is considered to be some important things to keep in front of your family throughout the week.

The children's ministry goes up to 5th grade. For the longest time they just assumed that the transition would work; but began to realize that it was not happening they way they thought it would. Part of this involved coaching the parents through what was going to happen and what to expect when their child moves on to other grades.

Communication is key at church and in the ministry..communication with the parents is even more essential. On one occasion a kid by the name of Brandon who was in fifth grade got hit by a car...he went to the hospital and ended up dying. That Wednesday night they decided to cancel the original service and hold a memorial service for the students. They brought in church counselors to help. They talked to the kids about death and how to deal with that. They had the students write on a card and they stuck it in a balloon and had a time when they released the balloons.

A great place to get started with a kids ministry is by building teams.. Gathering people, talking with people, getting people different then yourself. If the ministry starts to grow you will not be able to handle and maintain it alone. You need a team! People are not looking for a show; they are looking for relationships. One of the biggest things about starting a team is being a leader...a leader that recognizes where he or she lack ability but also knows where they are competent. One who is not afraid of other abilities and talents etc.

Whatever you do...do it well: people know when it is half done. It is important to remember that they did not start out like they are now! The goal is to do the best you can with what you have! Make things fun...meetings...important discussions etc. Once you build teams it is important to remember to meet withe the teams. Honor their time and make it easy for them to attend those meetings: child care and food!

Well, that was pretty good information: In the future when I am at a church and we are planning leadership stuff and structural and organizational aspects and also ideas I will be looking back at these notes and also trying to contact Glad Tidings!