Nick Blevins Family Ministry Podcast: Children | Youth | Students | NextGen

In this episode, we listen to a webinar recorded recently with my friends at Ministry boost where we discussed what it would mean to have “Your Ministry Boxed.” You'll find out about everything included in a new bundle available and what you need to improve or launch a Ministry Box strategy.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

The Ministry Box Bundle

This is a bundle we are creating to help you create your boxes without starting from scratch. The bundle will include:

• Box Design Templates
• Activity/Curriculum Templates
• Packing Supply Lists
• Challenge Card Templates
• Bonus Item Ideas
• Implementation Processes
• Distribution Strategies
• Metrics/Tracking Strategies
• Communication Scripts

The Box Design Template is available now, and the additional sample designs will be out this week. The rest of the bundle will release on Monday, August 24, and you can pre-order now.

​Click here to get the Ministry Box Bundle​

Order Your Custom-Designed Boxes

As we talked about in the webinar, we worked with a box distributor to get bulk pricing for all of us on custom-designed boxes. Here's everything you need to know:

• You will be able to submit your custom design for the outside of your box (using a template).
• The boxes are 12″x9″x3″ (this is the only size option so we can bulk order).
• You must order a minimum of 100, and there are price breaks at 500 and 1000.
• Everyone must order by Sep 1 to receive the boxes around Sep 21-24 for October use.

The price for these custom-designed and printed boxes will be:

• Less than 500 boxes = $3.75/box
• 500-950 boxes = $3.25/box
• 1000+ boxes = $2.75/box

Ordering Boxes

We would encourage you to consider ordering for a full quarter (Oct-Dec) to get the largest quantity and take advantage of the price breaks.

Once you order, you'll get the box design template, and then you'll have to submit your box design by Sep 1. At that point, we'll work with the distributor to get all of the boxes printed and shipped.

​Click here to order ministry boxes.

If you have any questions, just hit reply and let us know. We had a ton of questions on the webinar, and we weren't able to get to all of them. We'll get most of them answered on an FAQ page here this week.

There you go. Pre-order the bundle and order your boxes if you want to send boxes to families in your church in October.

In this episode, Brittany Nelson gets real about their church's response to multiple staff testing positive for COVID and the adjustments they had to make in their kid's and youth ministry. Brittany also shares how her site Deeper Kidmin began and how she collaborates with and resources countless ministry leaders.

Connect with Brittany on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

COVID Response in Youth/Kids Ministry:

• Youth
  • Google Sites Bible Study: worship songs, Scripture, weekly zoom and Bible study
  • Sunday Nights on Zoom for High School, Wednesday Nights for Middle School
• Kids
  • church-at-home approach
  • personal connection with families
  • equipping parents to lead
• Changes to initial approach
  • Less Zoom, more Zoom hangouts
  • More interaction: JackBox, Netflix parties, MarioKart parties, less Bible and more fellowship
  • Some scoially-distances events since the end of May

COVID Journey:

• 2-3 Staff tested positive
• Email to the entire church: 2-3 staff tested positive
  • explained postponing services until cleared
  • no contact tracing
• Not meeting now until September
  • with numbers rising, decision to reevaluate after Labor Day

Deeper Kidmin:

• Began as a blog and an outlet for ministry ideas
• Free downloads are given every Friday
• Celebrate and Highlight creative ideas from ministry leaders
  • Leadership, Life and Ministry
  • Volunteer Training Events
  • Christmas and Easter Lessons
  • On-screen games
  • Back-to-school Prayer Journal
• Others Contribute
  • Leaders who have their own blogs
  • Creative ideas from ministry leaders

1. Create your church comm plan if someone is positive
2. Check out Deeper Kidmin
3. Check out Ministry Boost – Your Ministry Boxed

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday whe

In this episode, Nick Ballard shares some of the shifts Harvester Church has made over the past five years in family ministry and in most recent days due to COVID-19. Kid's and student ministry looks different around the country, but everyone should be considering a few steps to take before regathering.

Connect with Nick on his Website or on Twitter.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Before COVID:

• Focus on a year-long shift from students on Sunday mornings to Sunday evenings
• 5 years of this plan
  • high schoolers sticking after graduation
  • students experiencing “the church” rather than just “their youth service”
  • students serving in multiple areas (beginning with 6th graders)
• Student engagement and leadership has led to more young adults being involved and engaged with the church

During COVID:

• Student ministry online
  
  • staying interactive through online chat during a “show”
  • keeping them engaged through groups online (mainly junior high)
• Launched programming again in June/July
  • Phase 1: small groups in-person and moved off of Zoom (10% increase in numbers)
  • Phase 2: large group format (rotating weekends in homes and weekends on campus)
  • Future – Phase 3: getting back to normal in-person ministry
• Camps still happening for students
• Decided not to regather unless they opened with kids
  • soft launch of July 5th
  • some volunteers not comfortable coming back
  • still working towards having both an effective on-campus and online ministry experience

1. Thorough evaluation of your in-person plans
2. Check out the resources Nick's church used
3. Create in-person + online MUST have list

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or Tune In radio. Keep your friends and co-workers up-to-date as well by sharing it with them via email or social media.

In this episode, we listen to a special interview from a webinar with Ally Evans from Life Church, focusing on a shift in family ministry strategy to thinking digital first. As churches regather, there may be a tendency to stop thinking of a digital strategy for NextGen, but leaders must consider online and on-campus options for families.

Connect with Ally on Facebook | Instagram | Email: A[email protected]

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

How to approach regathering from a digital perspective:

• Mission and Vision has not changed
• Methodology based on vision
  • Teach people
  • Connect people
  • Challenge people (to take next steps)
• Reestablish the things that ARE NOT going to change, and leverage digital space with your regathering strategy

Doorways (specifically for students):

• On-Campus Service (but not yet)
  
• Serving in a ministry
• Community Groups (groups being hosted in homes)
• Church Online
• Student Sections
• Social Media

Kids Ministry regathered (in-person and digital):

• Content has lived on Youtube since before COVID, packaged for at-home experiences
• Stopped some content after they regathered; do not stop, keep some of these things going until people are fully back on campus
• Think about your language

Talking about the great decline with online engagement – how to turn this around:

• New Family Orientation Online to engage new families
• Online burn-out is real; so the content must be relevant and compelling
• Church online platform for kids being switched to engage the entire family
• Offering online Life Groups – (Not a normal thing, but this is an example of trying new things to get more people engaged)
• Offering FREE content that adds value to parents/families; use a “sign-up” to gather their info for future connection
• Empower kids/students take the lead in creating online content; kids/students want to watch their peer's content

1. Check out 26 Online Engagement Ideas Post
2. Think of your doorways – maximize them
3. Check out New Digital Church

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe

In this episode, Sam Collier shares some of the key ideas from his new book titled A Greater Story and shares the heart behind his approach to the recent pandemic. As Sam mentions, the realization that God is still working to rescue us from the chaos of life and He is revealing a greater story in all of us.

Connect with Sam through A Greater Story website.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Response to COIVD-19:

• Stop Managing Challenges vs. Start Finding Opportunities
• Some will experience the lowest of lows and others will experience the highest of highs
• Pivot and Innovate

New Book: A Greater Story

• God is in the business of turning a mess into a miracle and bring order to the chaos
  
  

Key moments of faith:

• Gave life to God at 16-yers old living with adoptive parents
• Met bio-family after 25-years on the Steve Harvey Show
• God is still working and rescuing us from the chaos

Takeaways:

• What you enter with, you leave with (if you enter with acceptance and love, you’ll leave with that)
• Have a heart of gratitude
• God has a greater story for all of us
• If He doesn’t calm the storm, He always gives us the strength to make it through
• If you are in the boat with the Creator, you’ll be OK

1. Don't manage challenge – find opportunities!
2. Get the book – A Greater Story
3. Attend A Greater Story LIVE

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or Tune In radio. Keep your friends and co-workers up-to-date as well by sharing it with them via email or social media.

In this episode, Andrea Goslee shares some ideas for engaging and connecting with families online and how to provide unique experiences for kids and parents. The ministry she leads has seen an ongoing connection with preschool and elementary-aged kids, and they have some encouraging ideas as they move into a space of reopening and continuing online content.

Connect with Andrea through Email.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Kid and Family Connection Opportunities:

• Groups on Zoom
  • Leaders and kids in breakout rooms
  • Staff leading games to start
• Online Preteen Camp (3-hour event)
  • Interactive activities
  • Contests
  • Google Drive “Escape Room”
  • Large group (pre-recorded campfire worship)
• On-campus Drive-thru for leader connection
• Radical Kindness
  • social media campaign – showing kindness to specific people/groups during the quarantine

How they are tracking connection:

• Personally called families a couple of times during quarantine
• List of all families/individuals – marked orange when they have attended something online, on-campus, or personally
• 35% have been engaged
  

Parent Connection:

• Parent Facebook Group
  • prompted parents/families to post pictures of an activity
  • posted polls for interaction
  • sometimes it's a hit or miss
• Preschool Facebook Page – not a win 

RESOURCES:

• Preteen Virtual Escape Room
• Kids Virtual Adventure

1. Start tracking engagement
2. Serve parents in August
3. Check out New Digital Church

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or 

In this episode, we get to listen in to an online event with Ally Evans and Will Hutcherson focusing on re-opening kidmin in the midst of COVID-19. Ally, NextGen Pastor at Life.Church, reopened their kid's ministry a few weeks ago and this interview with Will Hutcherson shares some helpful ideas for how to do this well.

Connect with Ally on Facebook | Instagram | Email: A[email protected]
Connect with Will on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Initial Observations:

• Not everyone is able to attend yet so kids ministry is not flooded
• The number of volunteers coming back has matched the number of people coming back
• People are prepared for precautions – they anticipate having to wait
• After kids ministry opened, weekend attendance doubled

Creating a welcoming environment:

• Fun and energetic; choose these people tactfully
• Masks were optional (in Oklahoma)
• Temp checks for kids
• Contact free – no touching tags

What about hot-spots?

• Follow directives from government
• Pay attention to your community

How did you social distance kids?

• We did not enforce social distancing for kids (again, lower numbers, so not as necessary)
• Hand-sanitized frequently
• Enhanced cleaning measures

Leading/training volunteers

• Ministry leads (campus kids pastor) recorded a 2-minute video for each ministry area

**Listen to the full event for more insights from Ally and Will on family engagement, online content, student ministry, and more.

1. Download the LifeKids files
2. Have a plan for high temp
3. Make a plan to make it FUN

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, 

In this episode, the founder of ServeHQ, Scott Magdalein, shares how he and his family are experiencing church at home and gives us an up-close look at how churches are using ServeHQ and TrainedUp. TrainedUp and HuddleUp are online training tools with hundreds of done-for-you training videos and simple tools to create your own.

Connect with Scott through ServeHQ or Facebook.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Church at home:

• Hopes for parents to own more of the spiritual discipleship due to COVID-19
• Possibly will see more homeschooling as a result of COVID-19
• Adjusting schedules for kids

Churches leaning in during COVID-19 and using TrainedUp:

• Still focusing on New Member or Growth Track
• Still focusing on Volunteer Training
• Producing bible teaching videos for congregations rather than using social media
  

HuddleUp:

• Outgoing messages and Ongoing conversations
• Video updates via text messages
• Great source of accountability for leaders and families
• HuddleUp Chat – admins have full access to seeing conversations; they are private, yet visible for accountability
• Rather than forcing through one platform, this allows communication through multiple platforms so everyone gets what they want (email, text, etc.)

1. Check out ServeHQ
2. Check-in with a volunteer
3. Map out your communication plan

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or Tune In radio. Keep your friends and co-workers up-to-date as well by sharing it with them via email or social media.

This episode is sponsored by ServeHQ. When it comes to equipping your volunteers and leaders, you have to try ServeHQ. They have an online training tool with hundreds of done-for-you training videos and simple tools to create your own. Go

In this episode, Gerald Fadayomi is transparent about the anxiety that has surrounded his life and the seasons of adversity that ministry leaders face, as well as key concepts for ministry to 18-30-year-olds. He has also shared some of his personal perspectives on the topics of racial injustice and the current tensions that surround racism and the church through his social media platforms.

Connect with Gerald through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Goals of Gerald's new book, When Life Gives You Lemons:

• Slow down and ask the right questions
• Redefine GOOD
• Key questions from the book: What's in my control?

God's control over the good and the bad and anxiety:

• God is sovereign and He redeems ALL THINGS
• We cannot attribute every bad thing (adversity) to God; because of sin, we have brokenness
• Anxiety and adversity are linked
• The purpose is to raise a resilient generation
  

Ministry to 18-30-year-olds:

• They desire authentic worship over excellence
• Beginning gatherings (as part of Mountain Lake) once a month from local colleges
• There is a way to be authentic without being weird; vulnerability
• Those who are brand new to faith, they are welcomed into the authenticity of faith
  

Student Ministry as we return from COVID-19:

• The BIG THING we want to do coming back should be second to COMMUNITY
• Ministry leaders individually call students
• Small Group leaders connect and increase community before returning

1. Get the book, read it — TheLemonBook
2. Try something to reach 18-30
3. Watch Gerald's content on race/injustice

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in iTunes, Google Play, 

In this episode, Justin Knowles explains how the youth ministry of Sandals Church has pivoted in the midst of COVID-19 and the key elements to their success. One of the key ideas Justin shares is how to delegate to leaders during this season and shift some responsibilities and empower others.

Connect with Justin through Instagram or Twitter.

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Sandals Student Ministry at 11 campuses:

• Pre-COVID
  • Franchise model: similar at some campuses, and different at others
  • Similar flow, same playlists, same camps, etc.
  • Small group, Large group model
  • Student leads would prepare video teaching, but do LIVE Intro and Outro to video
• Small groups mid-week
• Broadcast campus breaks into Junior High on Sunday mornings
  • Push towards serving and then attending Student service

During COVID-19:

• Justin switched to being the main programming lead
• Full backing of main production team to produce student services online 
  • Switched to simulated LIVE after a couple of weeks
• Measured engagement
  • Engagement has gone down – Zoom exhaustion
  • Noticed students watch the simulated LIVE (more engagement), but small groups have declined
  • Accurate measurements help you to pivot accurately

What are you doing to reach students:

• Pre-service hangs
• In the middle of a rebrand for Students
• Social Media strategy
  • Handed this over to another youth ministry lead – delegation
• Twitch Stream
  • Two youth pastors were already running it, so delegated to them
• Youtube
  • Ministry is service-based, giving people what they need
  • Youtube is content-based, giving people what they want (so you can give them what they need)
• Switching to recording in the studio rather than on the main stage
• Moving all our volunteer training to ONLINE
  

1. Handoff something you're doing – like Justin is doing
2. Get leaders connecting with students
3. Create a new summer plan – pivot

Use the form below to subscribe to my email list where you’ll get an email each Tuesday when a new podcast comes out. That email will also include something exclusive related to the podcast that’s not found in the post or in the episode.

To make sure you never miss a post, hit the subscribe button in