Disqus - Latest Comments for kennyconley

Re: My Thoughts on Volunteer Ratios for Kids & Students

Kenny Conley — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 17:52:04 -0000

This is a great post. It helps add some clarity, always good to compare to what other churches see as volunteer trends. Thanks for gathering the information.

What's interesting to note is that these numbers can scale quite a bit in larger churches. A fully staffed nursery/preschool may include 3-4 volunteers in each room and 1 volunteer for every 8-12 elementary kids. I've found that I can have 100 or more kids on a weekend and not really feel it. I can have 2 extra kids per room at our main campus (which we wouldn't really feel) and be nearly 100 kids higher than normal (although growth is never that uniform). This is good stuff. I may have some more questions for you shortly!

Re: Don’t let stupid become normal

Kenny Conley — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:45:12 -0000

Yeah, I've been on vacation, but I had a hit list of stupid things my staff and I have noticed the last few weeks before I left. I'm hoping that I'll return in a week with some of those things eliminated. It's good to have fresh eyes in your ministry... we all overlook the stupid from time to time.

Actually, sometimes we know there is something stupid and we attempt to change it and hit too much resistance, get tired and give up. Sometimes we need a shot in the arm to take up that fight again to get it fixed because even thought it may be a fight we resigned to for us, it's still "stupid" to that family who comes to visit. :)

Thanks for the reply!

Re: Culture versus strategy

Kenny Conley — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 17:09:21 -0000

I can see how that is true. I don't think we were over-staffed... we're almost back to the staffing level we were at a year ago... but the chemistry is better and now we're cranking stuff out left and right!

Re: Leading a NextGen meeting: the Agenda

Kenny Conley — Mon, 19 May 2014 02:33:38 -0000

Well, keep me posted and I'll help however I can. You do know that you can call me too... so you don't have to wait for me to blog it... but asking me to blog it is good motivation to write good content. Ha!

Oh, so this week we had a "spiritual moment" as a staff team... it wasn't even really budgeted in the time allowance and i figured it would take 10-15 minutes... ended up taking over an hour and four of the six staff in the meeting might have cried a little... all the women and me. :) It was very good and refreshing... healthy time for the team... so gotta make room for what the Holy Spirit wants to do from time to time!

Re: Leading a NextGen meeting: the Agenda

Kenny Conley — Sun, 18 May 2014 15:30:55 -0000

You keep coming back to this post, huh? Okay, I'll write about 3x3's this week. Anything you need Erin!

Re: The Ultimate Bible Resource List

Kenny Conley — Mon, 12 May 2014 23:38:01 -0000

Thanks for the suggestion Emily, this is great!

Re: The Ultimate Bible Resource List

Kenny Conley — Mon, 12 May 2014 23:36:27 -0000

I actually have the "My First Hands On Bible" and have used it for a few years with my son. Honestly, it's a great Bible. The problem I had with it... we usually read the Bible at bedtime and it suggests all these great activities that we probably needed to do during the day. Probably means I'm not a good dad... So, I think it's a great Bible and would have been a better experience if I'd prepared more. :)

Re: The Ultimate Bible Resource List

Kenny Conley — Mon, 12 May 2014 23:34:16 -0000

I like that you send them to a Pinterest page, that's great. Looks like we have some of the same resources there... great minds. :)

Re: The Desk

Kenny Conley — Mon, 12 May 2014 23:28:29 -0000

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing. I'd love to hear how things are going 3-6 months from now.

Re: What questions do you have?

Kenny Conley — Sun, 11 May 2014 23:50:24 -0000

Tom, did you get the answers you were looking for?

Re: Leading a NextGen meeting: the Agenda

Kenny Conley — Sun, 11 May 2014 23:48:27 -0000

Always glad to be at the rescue!

Re: What questions do you have?

Kenny Conley — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:31:56 -0000

Good questions... who and where are you asking?

Re: What questions do you have?

Kenny Conley — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:31:33 -0000

Not yet. I was not a good blogger this Fall... hopefully I'll get to some of that stuff this Spring. If you don't see me write about it in the next month or two... remind me. Ha!

Re: Large Group Programing Excellence

Kenny Conley — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:33:22 -0000

Yep... but I'm going to do a short blog series really soon and i'll post a video or two then. I promise, I'll share!

Re: Requiring parents to volunteer

Kenny Conley — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 00:04:01 -0000

I don't think its that simple. Hey, I'm on your side. I think the best place in the world to serve is in the Children's Ministry... but that's also me. I also know some incredible parents that just aren't passionate about serving in the children's ministry. They like their kids a lot... but its just not the same with other kids.

If it's an excuse to not serve, then that's a lame excuse. However, if they use that excuse and join a serving team somewhere else in the church, then that works for me. If the temperature for volunteering rises in the church... then the children's ministry will get enough volunteers. It won't matter if some are signing up for guest services and others are signing up for the arts team... if the value is serving... your kidmin will get enough. Fight to raise the temperature for volunteering church wide and everyone wins.

Re: Check-in Stations

Kenny Conley — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 09:24:01 -0000

These things weren't cheap. In the $800 to $1200 rang depending on options. That was several years ago... but they're nice... good craftsmanship.

Re: I’m not as important as I think I am

Kenny Conley — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 01:13:05 -0000

That's funny. I remember working for a missions organization as an intern right out of High School. I was the apartment leader for the 5 other guys who lived in an apartment together. One of the other guys and I just didn't get a long. He was about 4-5 years older than me and he didn't want to follow my lead. We met with the internship director and he asked the other guy, "David, do you think Kenny is better than you?"

Silence.

Then he turned to me. "Kenny, do you think David is better than you?"

I don't remember how I answered. I know what I was thinking in my mind. :) Then we read Phil 2:3. I know the meeting with my roommate was intended to help him fall in line, but it is an almost 20 year old memory that has never left me.

Re: Where is your office?

Kenny Conley — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:30:29 -0000

Yes, it will come with challenges. There will be things that you miss. However, I encourage you to fully embrace the change. Learn how to cope/deal with the frustrations and I think that in the end, you'll gain something you never expected.

I feel that our entire staff is tighter and more connected. We do more together and I feel like it forces the relationship thing better than anything else. There's no avoiding an issue when you have to look them in the face all day long.

Re: Stop “doing your own thing”

Kenny Conley — Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:28:04 -0000

I might concede to your first point. I too wrote my own curriculum for years. I didn't have any budget at my first church and later on, there just weren't many options out there. I did learn a lot about curriculum from writing just as you said. I actually went on got my Masters in Education for this very reason... I felt that I might be writing curriculum at some point beyond what I was doing at my local level. However, now that I know what I know... I don't feel like it's the best use of my time. Like you, I'm grateful for the past experience, but I've moved on. For the church that can afford curriculum and has been doing their own thing for years and years, I'd challenge them to ask "why?"

Re: Stop “doing your own thing”

Kenny Conley — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 21:21:10 -0000

I think that is part of the problem. I whole-heartedly agree that there is something beautiful about when an entire family can sit down together after church and have a conversation about what everyone learned. However, I do think many individuals in leadership assume that translating the teaching pastor's message that is relevant and age appropriate to every age group is both easy or even best for every age group. Unfortunately, I do think it's the situation of many churches and I honestly don't believe it is right. The building blocks of faith that a preschooler most needs to learn and understand each week that will support deeper teachings they'll get in elementary, middle school, high school and one day in big church are probably not what is being taught from the pulpit this Sunday. It was a good idea, but someone needs to tell the top level leadership that just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it should be done.

Re: Ministry Bait and Switch

Kenny Conley — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 12:31:06 -0000

Although it helps to have a gifting to work with kids... I don't believe that it's 100% necessary. It helps in modeling... however, the skills that become more essential for growing a ministry is leadership... so if you surround yourself with those with high giftings with kids, you're going to be just fine. I've seen this carried in multiple large organizations... and it's worked really well. Thanks for commenting!

Re: Why I love that Hollywood is making Noah

Kenny Conley — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 17:47:49 -0000

I hear you Brian. You're right... and this is a sticky issue. Hollywood is making the movie and I expect that they're not going to stick to biblical themes and ideals... they're main goal is to tell a story their way and to make a profit. Often times it's to promote a specific ideology as well.

Unfortunately, non believers and believers with little biblical knowledge may see this movie as truth and it cause confusion... like God being a God of wrath. Honestly, I don't know if I'd expect Hollywood to do a "destruction of the earth movie" and relay a "God is love" message.

However, they're making the movie and I don't think it does any good to boycott and avoid. I don't think it does any good to tell people to avoid the movie either. However, there's an opportunity believers to interact with the content and fill in the blanks left by Hollywood.

Re: Video displays in lobby space

Kenny Conley — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 17:13:21 -0000

Yeah... but we might be sending as many as 3-4 feeds which means having 3-4 separate mac minis. I agree, ProPresenter gives you the most flexibility, but if you want different content on multiple TV's, it seems limiting to have to invest in 3-4 computers... know what I mean?

Re: Why I feel that serving trips are better than camp

Kenny Conley — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 23:44:38 -0000

Stay tuned. More info to come!

Re: Confusing terminolgy and spiritual concepts for kids: Hearing God’s voice

Kenny Conley — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:07:22 -0000

Anytime!