Beyond Background Checks

If you attended this session at CPC, thank you! You made it so much fun.

Below you will find the slide show as promised. If you didn't attend the session, you can get a copy of it on the incm website and use these notes as tips.

Remember, what we do requires us keeping kids safe. A safe loving, well thought out atmosphere allows families to go to church together and grow without worrying about safety.

Here is the link to my volunteer application as well.

Session 2 at CPC14 with Matthew Luhn

Great worship to start the morning, followed by Todd Burpo sharing a bit about "Heaven is For Real".
The book has been out, and the movie will be released Easter 2014. I will be doing an upcoming review of this material, curious to know everyone's thoughts.

Today's initiative is "Providing a safe and relevant atmosphere"
Speaker Matthew Luhn

Matthew Luhn began his career at Pixar Animation Studios in 1992 as an Animator on the very first CG movie, “Toy Story”. Since that time, Matthew has worked as a Story Artist on “Toy Story 2″ “Monsters Inc.”, “Finding Nemo”, “Cars”, “Ratatouille”, “UP”, “Toy Story 3″, and “Monsters University”. Prior to Pixar, Matthew attended the California Institute of the Arts, and would later be hired as an Animator on “The Simpsons”. Matthew grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where his family has owned and operated “Jeffrey’s Toys” toy stores for over three generations. Along with working at Pixar, Matthew teaches children and adults all over the world how to draw and create cartoon stories, characters, perspective, and animation.




Notes from session 2:
Being raised Jewish, Matthew first heard about Jesus when working as an animator on the Bart Simpson show at the age of 19.

The characters he draws affect people, not because they are cute or bright, but because the stories they tell have connection. 

Story structure and character development should be key components in developing your stories. 
Quality characters paired with a great story line is a win. 

(video clip of early Carl & Ellie from the movie "Up" was shown)
 This clip had no verbal dialogue, people laughed….cried…it makes us feel. 

Story is a powerful tool. 

Story works, nobody is telling you to feel a certain way "you just do".  Jesus used story telling. 
Story has a big part in how we vote, how we buy, how we believe.
It's not trickery, it's a common connection to persons story. 

How?
Structure and character are the 2 most important things when telling a story, it's naturally in our DNA to tell stories with structure. It's a universal language language across the world. Make sure you have a beginning middle and an end. 
When telling a story, your testimony, a sermon, make sure they have these 3 elements. 

Character is what creates what your story is going to be about. You cannot have a story… a good story, without a character. Your character needs to have identifiable human traits. People have to able to connect to them. Whether they are an animal, and object or anything else., they need to have identifiable traits. You want to make sure your character changes, they start off one way, and become a different character by the end.  

Your story, must have an embedded redemption story. The ability to connect and insert ourselves in the story as we watch, communicates hope. We connect to that character. 

1 practical thing you can do when you prepare…
Write 1 sentence that describes what you want to communicate for what you want to communicate. 
We all have the natural storytelling instants, we need to be reminded of them. 

Form a sentence with the beginning middle and end, and showing how the character changes. 

The most common mistake is to give too much information without the common theme, leaving you bored and confused. 

Stay focused on having one theme, one character that goes through a change. "I want to communicate hope, forgiveness, etc… pick one and stick with it..and stay focused on it. 

This is why kids are drawn to the movies, story is powerful. So why not use story to communicate the message of Christ to kids. 

GO question : On a scale of 1-5 how is your team doing on storytelling? And what can you do to improve that?



  

Ready, Set, CPC!

What a week! Have you ever gone into an intense week of life with your exact plan mapped out, only to discover that it wasn't going to look anything like you planned?

As I started this week, I had intended to have some fun (since it was in fact a vacation) and get to share tons about CPC East! As we arrived at Disney, I became keenly aware of just how tired I was. My family had been running as hard (if not harder) than myself… and we needed a break! Thankfully, I took it! My husband and I ran all over Disney laughing and cutting up with our boys and we simply exhaled.

We did get to teach a couple breakouts, which was the intention, and do the Saturday morning coaching session. So, while I must apologize as a blogger for my lack of…..well, blogging, I can pass on to you a couple valuable lessons from CPC East! And hopefully you will be joining us at CPC West where you can cash them in! I will be there, with my team, and will be blogging. (seriously!)

At CPC East I caught myself needing to exhale, and simply be reminded that ministry is NEVER done. As a mom of a kid that will be a college student in the fall, I can tell you the time goes by quick!

Don't assume that I just skipped town and left tasks (ha!) I am thankful that by nature I am organized, my "work ahead" mentality allows me to set things down and rest from time to time. And this week as a leader, I was able to watch my family play, eat ridiculous things dipped in caramel and have moments of quiet to get closer to God and my family.

As I watched the fellow leaders at CPC, I wondered what state of mind they were in, sitting in the foyer many were on the phone and I was overhearing work talk from home. For some I spied them early in the morning out by the lake for what seemed to be their quiet time. (what can I say, I'm a people watcher)

My question to you leader, is what do you do to get conference ready? Do you come to CPC with a loaded mind that can't fit anything else in? Or do you go with your desk left clean at home and a brain ready to absorb? CPC is a place for many to relight a fire, to find fellowship among those that we share experiences in ministry with, and for some it can be a last hope in ministry as they seek God.

Here is what I am challenging us (including myself) to do before CPC West, ready?

1. Clean your desk - tie up all those loose ends, return those calls, all those little tedious tasks that consume our minds when we lay down at night. Just get them off your plate!

2. Get your programs covered - while ministry emergencies and issues do come up, make sure you are well staffed and your teachers have everything they need for any programming you may miss.

3. Make a wish list - Make a list of at least 10 things you expect to get out of CPC. Things like ministry questions answered, a contact who has expertise in a certain area etc.

4. Make an appointment with yourself - this is a great time as a leader to have a moment of quiet prayer and self assessment. For me, it has become my yearly self review.  It's also a way to find rest, a simple 30 minutes alone with yourself and God can make a huge difference.

5. Pray! - Go online and download the speaker list. Pray over those names and breakouts and sessions. Leaders like me appreciate it,,, I know I simply want to be used by God, and having people partner in prayer for that is awesome!

6. Leave a clean house - Well, not literally, but if you do literally…bonus points! Make sure your spouse and kids are good to go! When I come to CPC with my team, to work, I love to get a new movie and a special dinner for them. Happy homes :)

7. Schedule a coaching session - this year you will be allowed to schedule a coaching session at the end of the conference with the breakout presenters. This is an awesome opportunity! Take advantage of this free leadership training peice. 

8. Prepare to come, and have fun!! - bring your funny bone, and come ready to learn,
fellowship, worship and laugh as we grow stronger as spiritual leaders!

I hope to see you there!!

Greetings from CPC 2014

This week we are at the Children's Pastor's Conference in Orlando! I am looking forward to seeing some very familiar faces and getting to know some new ones! If you are in Children's or Family Ministries, it's not too late! Join us via live broadcast during the general sessions. Information is available at incm.org, or even better…join us in Ontario California next month.

Until then, I will be posting notes that I think are useful from some great speakers, as well as my own session notes. So keep an eye on the blog this week for some great material and fun moments in ministry. Maybe we can get Karl to rush the stage again!