Mr. Mark's Classroom

I recently enjoyed speaking at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock, TX and received a wonderful tour of their Children’s Building.  Brenda Loftus, Children’s Minister, had invested much time and attention to the details when planning and building. That was evident.  It is such a beautiful and functional space.  Then Brenda took me to the […]

Begin the building process by understanding who you are.  Learn your strengths and weaknesses.  Yes, you have weakness even though we all know you’re amazing.  You’re a Children’s Minister, of course you’re amazing.  However, if you want to be more amazing, you will recognize what you do well and enlist those whose strengths are […]

I have met many children’s ministers who provided missions education in their program for children.  There are fewer who engage children with regular service projects.  My friend, Gina McKean, is a leader and example of serving others.  She provides meaningful experiences where kids learn the joy of helping someone else.  Gina is the Children’s Minister […]

“Marketing is a contest for people’s attention.” – Seth Godin   Jesus…the Public Relations Guru Jesus was a leader of people, not things. Mark 12:37b “…the large crowd listened to him with delight.” Calling and leading of the 12 disciples Always had a call to action (repentance, giving, what not to do, etc.) Marketing […]

Today,  I want to share with you my discussion with James Hargrave, Content Editor for LifeWay Christian Resources.  James has years of experience and expertise with teaching children with great creativity and consistency.  He explains to us, Total Participation Techniques are teaching techniques that allow for all kids to demonstrate, at the same time, active participation […]

Lately, I have noticed more churches with wonderful bulletin boards sharing the news of expecting babies coming soon.  This shows the heart of your preschool ministry to anticipate and planning for new babies coming to church.  In this episode, I speak with Delanee William, Childhood Ministry Specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources.  She has great and […]

Linda Ranson Jacobs is one of the forefront leaders in the areas of children and divorce and single-parent family needs. Having been both divorced and widowed, Linda was a single mom who learned firsthand the emotional and support needs of broken families, and she developed a passion to help hurting families. As a children’s ministry director, children’s program developer, […]

I hope you enjoy this interview with Dale Hudson from RelevantChildrensMinistry.com.  He is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Fellowship and a popular columnist for Children’s Ministry Magazine.  He has a new book, The Kid Min Mouse, where he shares terrific ideas learned from Walt Disney for creating an environment and culture that extend […]

Listen as Mr. Mark discusses advice he shares with interns before stepping into their first kid’s ministry.  These five keys will help you step out on the right foot as you begin (or restart) your ministry to kids and families. Write down a “90 Day Goal.” Do your research. Join a group of like-minded peers. […]

10 Reasons we over-value consistency: It seems fair. If we have more than one child, we want to be fair to each. But unless you have twins, your kids are at different points in their development, so what is fair may depend at least on their current ability to handle the privileges you provide them. […]