tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55944025845158408222011-07-08T06:16:15.980-05:00Here's a sneak peek at what's going on inside the mind of a curriculum junkie. Read and think and pray and comment and leave your mark on what's in the works.Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-85868162152494999512010-03-01T21:54:00.001-06:002010-03-01T21:56:27.708-06:00

So if you could pitch to your senior pastor to talk about the concept of "Next Gen" to the entire body, what points exactly would you want him to make? I just started reading Compassion International President Wess Stafford's book Too Small to Ignore and already in the first chapter it is rocking my face off. I was reading it out loud to my 7th grade son and I got choked up approximately 4 times.

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-10822813473431512552010-02-28T21:26:00.000-06:002010-02-28T21:26:09.490-06:00

This week the kids and youth staff from all of the campuses at our church are coming in for a couple of days of awesomeness. I can't wait to see many of my good friends and meet in person some of the people I only know from online. If you are one of the campus teams coming in, what would you most like to hear from the content development team while you're in town?

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-70418194040116852082010-02-20T10:14:00.000-06:002010-02-20T10:14:56.230-06:00

Our team at work is on the threshold of having an actual writing team! It's pretty exciting really but I was wondering if any of you have had any experience being a part of a writing team. Any thoughts or suggestions about how you think those sorts of dynamics work? I'm not sure what kind of input I'm looking for, so whatever you've got will be helpful. What I'm really interested in is how to

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-88042565032630620822010-02-16T19:17:00.000-06:002010-02-16T19:17:50.882-06:00

First of all, just to get it out there, I absolutely do not believe in the idea that evangelism and discipleship are two ends of a spectrum of ministry and are therefore mutually exclusive. I believe Jesus commissioned us all to go make disciples and you cannot fulfill that without both. I know there were times when Peter preached from the temple steps and times when Paul stayed up all night

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-88103592334291801882010-02-06T09:45:00.000-06:002010-02-06T09:45:00.056-06:00

For many summers now, LifeChurch.tv has done a series called At the Movies in July. It just silly how much hype it gets and how much it pushes summer attendance. Anyway, on Monday we will be screening and selecting the movies we'll use for our elementary and 5th-6th experiences that month. (Student ministry does movies in March when the attendance is trending up.) We like to use really popular

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-5834337893981416432010-02-04T15:23:00.000-06:002010-02-04T15:23:08.827-06:00

I just had a quick hallway conversation about student ministry leadership programming with our Student Ministry Team Leader. So I was wondering, what really works? What transforms a regular student into a student leader?Is it a depth of knowledge (I'm guessing not)? Is is requiring them to serve (might work for some)? What needs to be in the mix? How can you engage students that honestly were

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-66184258732137297512010-01-31T14:30:00.000-06:002010-01-31T14:30:10.095-06:00

I'm going with my long-time friend Scott Werner from Compassion International to the Children's Pastors' Conference in San Diego in March to talk about how to incorporate compassion efforts as a strategy for better children's ministry. I already wrote a little about my thoughts on this during Orange Week but I'd really like to hear from you. How can making compassion for the poor a priority

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-63209361174730801562010-01-26T21:43:00.000-06:002010-01-26T21:43:44.463-06:00

Although I do love a good Tripp and Tyler video and my long-time favorite was the Barats and Bereta Mother's Day video, I have decided to officially name this video by Compassion International as my favorite video on the internet. Enjoy.

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-53758145629801573032010-01-26T00:01:00.001-06:002010-01-26T00:01:00.303-06:00

Hey go over and comment on my pastor's blog today. I got to write a guest post so I wrote about something I've been wrestling through on my other blog for the past year.

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-42412196984671816762010-01-22T21:55:00.001-06:002010-01-22T22:09:41.547-06:00

First of all, we're trying it. I like it so far. We've done it for the November, December, and January series and will do it again in April, May, and June. I don't know if I can't find good curriculum that has pulled it off because it's stupid and won't work, or because it's hard and no one has had the right resources and team to try it. But I did just hear some really compelling arguments that

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-2746305295296167582010-01-21T00:01:00.002-06:002010-01-21T00:37:39.322-06:00

My team spends a lot of time talking about exactly what pieces to put in each one-hour experience. What's going to be the most effective? What will make it sticky? What will really grab their attention? But in the last several months I think we've finally started to shift our discussion to the better Orange questions. What can we incorporate into this hour that will draw them into action during

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-6517019271329997392010-01-20T23:24:00.001-06:002010-01-20T13:14:18.889-06:00

Recently I was in a meeting where we were reviewing video scripts for a series of shorts for new believers. One about baptism, the Bible, prayer, and community. I realized that the unique thing about community was that people entered the church with that one thing not being foreign. I mean if this is day one of your new walk with Christ look at the hurdles. Baptism? Weird. Prayer? Awkward. The

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-56985985092614370332010-01-19T22:30:00.000-06:002010-01-18T22:30:28.220-06:00

In 2009, my husband and I began a journey that ended up with us bringing two little foster daughters into our home in December. We had wrestled with knowing that's where God was leading but it was that fanatical freak Francis Chan at Orange '09 (my fave) that finally brought us to the edge of the cliff and incited us to jump. And through the process we found out something incredibly intriguing:

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-86870172854396754732010-01-18T10:19:00.002-06:002010-01-18T10:22:25.141-06:00

When my team transitioned from being the Central LifeKIDS Team to the Central Content Development team I started more than ever really looking at what we were teaching our students. But honestly, my personal interest had begun a year before. When my oldest entered the sixth grade. Then it really mattered! Not just as something to analyze or criticize but something to really delve into and become

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-231551316868199232010-01-17T11:22:00.009-06:002010-01-17T11:32:36.309-06:00

I am not technically a children’s minister. I am what I like to think of as a ministry designer. But my actual title is LifeChurch.tv Central Curriculum Developer. So my thoughts about the first part of Orangeness, Integrated Strategy, will come from that perspective. First for a confessional. At our church, as recently as a few months ago, check out this list of the lines of curriculum we had

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-16066083010980667832010-01-15T17:35:00.000-06:002010-01-15T17:35:47.806-06:00

A lot of kidmin guys I follow online are doing a week of posts about the whole Orange concept. So starting Sunday, I will post about each of the five areas of orangeness. I really hope that any of the LifeChurch.tv people that are involved in the Next Gen team will follow what these other guys will say. And that any people who just discover this blog through it will come back to weigh in on the

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-46802887296002031232010-01-13T17:20:00.000-06:002010-01-15T17:31:48.897-06:00

At my church, the Toon Town content, called LifeKIDS.tv on our Open site, has been rolling along for over six years now. We have made about 3-4 major changes over the years, but we are about to make and even bigger one. I don't think it will feel like a big deal to the cast members and kids who experience Toon Town each week, but conceptually, I think it's the biggest leap forward so far. What we

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-15338813914920215272009-11-09T21:21:00.001-06:002009-11-09T21:23:10.670-06:00

So here's the deal. I really want what I'm thinking about to be a real dialog. Not just me talking to myself. I'm constantly seeking God's direction and guidance for the stuff I'm working on as a curriculum developer. But one of the ways I hear God the clearest sometimes is through His people. So much of the content that I am a part of is a reflection of the people I talk to. So what I'd really

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594402584515840822.post-85671889953204999672009-11-08T23:47:00.004-06:002010-01-15T17:12:01.110-06:00

Brannon registered this domain about a year ago. I've always liked it because it reminds me of all the times I've heard Craig tell our staff over the years that we are in on the ground floor of what God is doing. He says this no matter how old the church is, or how many are on staff, but when He feels like God is doing something new. Well God is doing something new in me for sure. And I can't

Kendra Goldennoreply@blogger.com0