Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children's Church - Free online workshop sponsored by Children's Ministries University Online

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Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children's Church

Join Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode for this first-of-its-kind 3 hour interactive online workshop where you'll discover the practical steps to Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children's Church.

In conjunction with the National Children's Ministries Leadership Conference, this pre-conference workshop offered face-to-face at the conference will be webcast live online on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 from 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT) and then repeated later that day from 1:00pm-4:00pm. View the FREE session online and interact with the presenters and other participants live online during the session!

For those unable to participate live, the sessions will be recorded and archives made available here afterwards. Links to additional resource materials and the slides referenced during the sessions are provided below.

About the Presenters

Rev. Dick Gruber

Dick has over 30 years experience in children's ministries. As the Children’s Ministries Specialist at Valley Forge Christian College, Dick has developed a Bachelor’s Degree program in Children’s Ministries and is one of the original online instructors and course content developers for Children's Ministries University Online (CMUO), teaching a wide variety of courses and serving as program co-director. He also travels nation-wide speaking in children’s ministries training events.

Dick has illustrated over twenty discipleship booklets for children as well as produced numerous Scripture picture Bible memory helps for Sunday School teachers. More information about Dick is available on his website at: dickgruber.com

Dr. Jason Rhode

Jason is the co-founder of CMUO, serving as the instructional designer, course developer, and co-director. He has been involved in children's ministries for over 15 years in a variety of volunteer and full-time positions, including the Director of Children's Ministries at Christian Life Fellowship, Port Edwards, WI for nearly 5 years.

In addition to his role with CMUO, Jason currently serves as Assistant Director of the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center at Northern Illinois University and designs and teaches online courses for various universities throughout the United States. More information about Jason is available at jasonrhode.com

Dick and Jason co-host Children's Ministry Talk, a free bi-weekly podcast offering encouragement for children's ministry leaders. More details are avilable at childrensministrytalk.com or in iTunes.

Webcast Details

Two identical sessions will be offered:

Session 1: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 9:00am-12:00pm (CDT)
Session 2: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, 1:00pm-4:00pm (CDT)

Both sessions will be webcast live online using Ustream. You can click here to register for a free Ustream account. Then, 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the session to click here to participate live online!

For those unable to participate live, the sessions will be recorded and archives made available here afterwards. Links to additional resource materials and the slides referenced during the sessions are provided below.

Session Links and Additional Resources

Cultivating a Cutting-Edge Children's Church - session led by Dick Gruber and Jason Rhode

Session Slides
Slides used in the workshop

The Cutting-Edge Children's Pastor
Article by Dick Gruber definining notable characteristics of "cutting-edge" children's ministry

Evangel Art: FREE Reproducible Art for Children's Ministries
Dick Gruber's reproducible art for children's ministries, including: over 40 evangel pages, 385 picture words, & 124 scripture pictures

Kids Church Sermon Planner [PDF]
sample 2-page worksheet helpful for planning a kids sermon

Kids Church Sermon Planner [DOC]
sample 2-page worksheet helpful for planning a kids sermon - editable in Microsoft Word

Kids Church Service Skeleton [PDF]
sample 1-page overview of the topics, segments, and assignments for 1 month

Kids Church Service Skeleton [DOC]
sample 1-page overview of the topics, segments, and assignments for 1 month - editable in Microsoft Word

Kids Church Service Outline [PDF]
sample 1-page outline of the segments, assignments, and tech. details for a kids church service

Kids Church Service Outline [DOC]
sample 1-page outline of the segments, assignments, and tech. details for a kids curch service - editable in Microsoft Word

Kids Church Topic Planner [PDF]
sample 1-year topic planner worksheet for kids church services

Kids Church Topic Planner [XLS]
sample 3-year topic planner worksheet for kids church services - editable in Microsoft Excel

Kids Church Volunteer Guidelines [PDF]
sample guidelines for volunteers serving in kids church

Kids Church Volunteer Guidelines [Word]
sample guidelines for volunteers serving in kids church - editable in Microsoft Word

Rhode's Kids Church Resources
Jason Rhode's archive of kids church resources, curriculum, & planning worksheets including 3 years of kids church curriculum

Want to be notified when new free children's ministry training workshops are made available? Join the CMUO e-News list today via email or subscribe via RSS.