Podcast

Podcast: Passionate & Committed Volunteers

Volunteers

A big responsibility within children’s ministry is equipping and encouraging volunteers who are directly discipling boys and girls. On this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” David Jesse talks with Krysten Norkaitis, EGM’s Leadership Developer, about some of the most effective strategies for training volunteers and encouraging them in their own spiritual lives. Krysten shares about…

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Podcast: Creativity in KidMin

Bible Creativity

Creativity can be a scary concept for some of us. Many people don’t feel equipped to teach children because they don’t feel like they’re creative people. On this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” Krysten Norkaitis chats with David Jesse about what being creative really means. Spoiler alert: you don’t have to be a Pinterest celebrity…

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Podcast: Welcoming Special Needs Kids

Special Needs Kids

As Vacation Bible School season continues, David Jesse sat down with Tara Thomas to talk about her experience serving in VBS this year. Tara’s church designed a VBS program with differently-abled children in mind. A recent study by the National Survey of Children’s Health reported that special needs kids — children with Autism, ADD/ADHD, learning…

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Podcast: Experiencing Bible Truth

Experiential Teaching

Experiential teaching means helping children experience the feelings associated with a Bible truth. It is not a method invented by EGM. In fact, it is modeled by Jesus himself and takes its cues from Deuteronomy 6. In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” David Jesse and Daniel Watts talk about why experiential teaching is a…

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Podcast: Talk About Them

Bible Discussion

“So in a lot of children’s ministry work, there’s Bible stories told, Bible communicated, then there’s some questions and if the kids can get the right answers, then the kids are happy, the teacher’s happy, the parents are happy….but underneath the surface is all this real life stuff that’s going on with children that never…

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Podcast: Praying with them

Praying

As we disciple children, as we model our Savior, as we try to live out the life that he would have lived, as we model Christ and help them become more like Christ, praying has to be a big part of that. In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” Tara Thomas and David Jesse share…

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Podcast: Preparing our Hearts to Serve

Leadership

Have you ever been personally transformed by the Bible lesson you prepared for KidMin? Spending time with God’s Word before presenting it to children is an important aspect of biblical leadership. In this episode, David is joined by Tara Thomas, EGM’s Mobilization Coordinator and a former Children’s Ministry Director. Tara shares about the challenges we…

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Podcast: So What?

Bible Application

If we only do one thing in children’s ministry, it must be helping boys and girls connect God’s Word to their real life. Even if we have a super creative Bible lesson, a fun craft and the best snack prepared, we haven’t done our jobs if the children leave church unsure about real-life Bible application.…

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Podcast: Ministering to Misbehavers

Misbehavior

Is there a kid in your church who might be more — challenging — to love? When you see them coming, do you cringe inwardly? We’ve all been there. Reflecting the love of God to boys and girls is a special calling, and it is not always an easy one. In this episode of “Better…

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Podcast: The Buzz

Activities

There is often a temptation in ministry to judge our success by big numbers and big programming that creates a lot of “buzz” around activities. God uses high quality events and programs to do amazing things. But the goal in ministry isn’t programming; it’s life transformation. In this episode of “Better Children’s Ministry,” Daniel reminisces…

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