Latest / Kids Ministry Calling with Jana Magruder / 72. Creating Meaningful Events with Crystal Mazzuca

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72. Creating Meaningful Events with Crystal Mazzuca · Kids Ministry Calling with Jana Magruder

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are you dedicated to working with kids and families in the local church?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, clearly that's more than a career, that's a calling.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Jana Magruder and this is Kids Ministry Calling.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: In Kids Ministry, putting on events can easily become just another thing to plan.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: But when we step back and approach them with intention, they can become powerful moments of connection, belonging, and gospel impact for kids and their families.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: This summer is a chance to dream about that.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, we're gonna dive into the purpose behind events with my good friend, Crystal Mazuka, who's a content editor from the Hi-Fi team.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: We dive into how to plan them well, engage your volunteers, and create environments where people don't just show up, they feel like they belong.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about different types of events, how to build community through them, and how to clearly and creatively share the gospel in every moment.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because this summer isn't just about filling the calendar, it's about creating moments that matter.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let's jump in.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Life Way studio.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: We are on video now and so excited.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and therefore we wanted to bring Crystal Mazooka back because guess what?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: You're not in town very often.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: I am not.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: You don't live here.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Nope.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: I live in Olympia, Washington, about an hour south of Seattle.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it is very special when I can come to Nashville and enjoy uh the sunshine and uh humidity is feeling a little like it's warm, but also like kind of moist and you know, steamy.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's it's a weird sensation, but I'm glad to be here.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: So when Crystal comes to town, we cram her schedule full.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we're just finishing up a two-day all-life way in-person conference.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we bring every remote employee who doesn't live in the Nashville area to town, and we have our own conference because there's about 800 of us.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so we we fill a large church usually and um have meetings both at a church and here at the studio or the headquarters, and uh, of course, we squeeze some podcasting in.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So um wanted to have Crystal back uh this season so that we could talk um events.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so our theme uh this summer is summer dreaming.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's a very loose theme, but here's the thought behind it, Crystal.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, after VBS is over, right?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you uh take kids to camp, and maybe once that is over, you may have a few weeks to uh do a little dreaming about the ministry year ahead.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And really do some intentional planning.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I crave those times.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just to think through what it would look like if.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so this category for this episode, uh, I think you're gonna be great at uh because you have a lot of experience doing events from when you served on church staff, um, but also on the hi-fi team, yeah, you guys build events.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's over like you're over those.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I want to fold in a little of those ideas, but really keep it broad enough for us to explore all different kinds of ways to do events, yeah.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Why we should do events, um, and that kind of thing.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I love it.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get started, okay.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: What are you dreaming about these days?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that question.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: So um we have a coworker, Raven.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Raven and I recently had just a little coffee, and she was telling me, she goes, I'm like the fun bringer in my friend group and my family, and I've started making a calendar of just different things to say, hey, if you want to get together, here's all the things that I'm doing.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Come and join me.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I love that idea.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm kind of summer dreaming about just intentional time together with friends.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I already made my May calendar.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've got a movie night on there, I've got a murder mystery night on there, I've got a brunch on there.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also have some fun things of like, come to my house and work from home.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you work from home, let's all just spend um an afternoon together.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: We'll have snacks and things like that.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so just looking at the summer and like, what are more things that I could do to just invite friends to join me in?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because you know, the older you get, it seems like the harder it is to actually be intentional to get together with people.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, I'll just put it out there and whoever shows up will show up.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So you'll probably see some pickleball on there.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um I live in a beautiful place for hiking.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: I am not a hiker, but I would put a walk on there.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's go for a walk around the lake or something like that.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, that is definitely something I'm dreaming of for this summer, is like, how can I just have more time together with my friends?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: And also, I want to say family, but it really is just my mom.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I want to invite my mom to all of these because she'd like some of them too.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is such a gift.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that truly is to others.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you have that gift, if you're out there and you're relating to, you know what, I'm kind of like that too.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to encourage you to do that for people.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a blessing to have that friend who is going to, you know, plan a movie night, plan maybe a little getaway weekend, you know, someone who loves doing it, uh, because that's kind of the first brave step.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then people want, if it's all right there, it's like, you know what, I will go to that.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: We need y'all.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, listen, and what's so funny is I told a friend of mine, Kayla, who lives here, that I was making this calendar, and she's kind of like, I want to come to all your things.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: I would come to every single one.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, sorry, it's that'd be very expensive for you with all the plane tickets.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I think it's just, I don't know.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: I just really want to be intentional with my time this summer and with getting together with people and having fun.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just love having fun.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, uh, you are the queen of fun, that is for sure.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, so let's get into this topic of dreaming about events, intentional events in children's ministry because the reality is, um, if you don't know this by now, maybe you're new and haven't totally figured it out yet.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: But events are part of kids' ministry.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's no real getting around that.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I would even say too, one of the ways to think about events is that it's not just about the kids, it's about the families.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because we're not just talking about like, oh, let me plan something for the fifth and sixth graders to do, like to come to church, which is great.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think things like that are important.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: But when we talk about family events, there is so much to it where you are helping to build belonging for families.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as people who work in kids' ministry, we totally understand you have to like it is important for kids to know that they belong.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I work on hi-fi, so much of what we do is based on flip the script, which of course you're part of writing, which means I spend, I probably, I'm sure I've read the book more than you have at this point.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, one of the things that we talk that's talked about in that book is the idea of belonging matters for kids because when they feel like they have a friend at church, it makes them want to come to church, but it doesn't just stop with the kids.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same for adults.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like when adults feel like they are known at church, when they feel like they have friends, they want to come more often and they want to get involved.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I think churches do a really good job trying to find ways to connect adults.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: We offer Bible studies and small groups and opportunities to serve and things like that.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: But for many people, that's still an intimidating first step.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: However, when you plan these events where parents or grandparents, aunts and uncles, you know, guardians, whoever can come and bring kids and have fun together with other families, they start to build connections that can go beyond our church walls, but also lead to more belonging, feelings of belonging within our church walls.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is so much to providing these opportunities for fun that families can experience together that helps all members of those families start to build those relationships and communities.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's just, it's such a cool, it's a very low-risk, high reward thing that we can do as kids ministry leaders that has a giant impact for the church as a whole.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And there, this is a broad category.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So events can include your training events as you're preparing for fall promotion, your VBS training.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: All of those are events.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing a lot of planning, you're doing a lot of inviting and registration and signage, all those things.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or we're also talking about events that might celebrate one of the holidays, a Christmas event, an Easter event, whether that's a an egg hunt or a stations of the cross, or you know, there's lots of different types of events.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to I want to be able to acknowledge a total of those for sure.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um kind of in addition to what you were saying about building belonging in our families.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been doing some research lately that is telling us uh that we should not give up on in-person gatherings.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because when we really dig into what, and this is multi-generations, what Gen Z wants, what millennials want, what Gen X and older want, is when it comes down to it, they want to see people in person.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: They want to have relationships that they invest in in person.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so events, if done intentionally, is what you're saying, bring them so that they can have that FaceTime and start to build those connections.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're more likely to come on Sundays, come on Wednesdays because they've established those relationships in some kind of setting that promotes that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's good to note too that there is absolutely nothing that can replace being in person together.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um COVID, obviously, we we really learned to turn things around.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we learn to have fun and engage online.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's incredible, I think, some of the touch points that came as a result of that isolation, um, the technology that's been developed and things like that, those are all good things, but not a single one of them can replace what happens when you're actually in person with somebody.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I would also want to say, too, in person for a purpose.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not just like I'm gonna show up in a building and we're all just gonna stand here and the expectation is I'm gonna make some friends and talk with some people, but we're you we're invited to something and we're we're learning something together, we're doing something together, we're experiencing something together.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing will ever replace that in-person opportunity that we have when we do things like events um and inviting people to that opportunity for connection.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's AI proof.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: It is now AI might help in planning the event.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um that could be it, but as you see.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the actual event itself could never be replaced by AI.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's lo-fi.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what we're craving, I think.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what are what are some of your favorite events that you would you would encourage our audience to pursue doing?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh goodness, that is a hard choice for me because again, I I love them.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: So um, when I was in kids' ministry, we would actually do one.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we called it Family Five.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I say we called it, we still do it.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Every month that has five Sundays, we would always do Family Five.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so after church, we would have something to invite people to.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one really that's one type of event that I would say is even different than what I do with Hi-Fi.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was literally an invitation for the whole church to just come.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we would do things like there might be a scavenger hunt.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: One time I I built this gigantic sandbox-looking thing that we actually filled with artificial snow.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was in December, it was like a winter wonderland, and like kids could go in and play in it and stuff like that.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was really fun.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: It also got kind of icky, but it's fine.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but what was neat about those events is that um the whole church was invited.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: We would have food.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so you've got people who don't have kids who are just coming, but they're getting to see the joy and the fun and all that kinds of stuff and enjoy a meal together.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a really easy way for us to do them.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: But personally, um, I love seasonal events.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that a fall, some kind of fall event that is either centered around like like pumpkins or a carnival or something like that.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it that's just really fun to, and this kind of goes on a little bit of a different thing, but like it's easy to invite people to.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um we would never make them super duper like um, you know, everything is a scripture or or a Jesus thing.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: We would have that in there.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like it would usually be some kind of short devotional at the end of the event.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: But really, we were designing these events as like you can just come, like invite your neighbor and say, Hey, we're having something at our church called pumpkin bash.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, would love for you to come.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be, you know, eating candy and playing games and it'd be super duper great.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Really easy.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, um, wait it for neighbors to invite neighbors.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I love a Christmas event, and I think that families love Christmas events.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: Just something that is special and different that they don't have to plan, that they just get to come and enjoy this season and the celebration of Christmas together.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Easter is another really easy time to have an event.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, like you had mentioned, like whether it's an egg uh hunt, I think about those giant churches that do egg drops where they're like dropping them from a helicopter.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: I saw a really funny video, by the way, where a kid like ran out while the eggs were getting dropped.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: And like and the mom rescued him right in time.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I just I saw that same video.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I thought it was so I mean, if I was there, I would have been terrified.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: But watching it as a video, I thought it was hilarious.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, doing something Easter around Easter.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then um I personally think that one summer one can be fun because of course we have VBS and of course we have camp, um, but that is very geared towards the kids themselves.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: But having something super simple and fun, whether it's um a like a movie night, um, pajama jam is what we would call it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like we could invite people to come in their pajamas and watch a movie at church or um just I don't know, just a fun gathering towards the end of the summer, um a big bonfire or something like that where you're just getting people together and having fun.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't think events are something you should do every month.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, don't commit to that.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Don't and here's what I'm kind of uh guilty of sometimes.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I get so energized in the summer dreaming, let's say, yes, that I'll feel very ambitious.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And because I'm perhaps well rested, I'll think, oh, we could do a monthly event, you know, something silly like that.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I commit to something that I can't really do.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: So caution there, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, I mean, like, could you hypothetically, yes.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: But number one, that's a lot on you as the ministry leader.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: But number two, it's a lot on families as well.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, families are so busy, and it's something that we say over and over like they are so, so busy.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so we want to give them opportunities to connect at church, but we don't want to overwhelm them and their schedules with one more thing that we're expecting them to come to.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: It just becomes, it's too much.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, personally, I think if your church is doing once a month, I would love to hear how that's working for you.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, personally, I just it's a it's a lot.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so I feel like three or four a year, yeah.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like big family events and same with volunteers as well.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like volunteers are already showing up all the time for all the things.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you want to do a fall like kickoff training and you're going to do a VBS training, um, maybe just plan one more thing.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's like a fun appreciation event that could be in the spring towards like the end of your ministry year.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: It could be around Christmas time as like a Christmas celebration, but like the volunteers are already doing a lot.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we don't want to overwhelm them with just more commitments than that.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: But a couple a year, I think is very doable.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about volunteers.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it you need to know, listeners, watchers, that we just had an episode with Crystal talking about specifically fun with volunteers.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So some of this will kind of overlap.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: And if you missed that episode, be sure and go back from last season.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: But let's talk about as a recruitment strategy um or building a pipeline of volunteers.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Events is a totally different kind of thing that you're inviting people to volunteer in.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so some people might be more willing to volunteer at an event than they would be to be on the schedule for hundreds of pre-sent work.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's really important to keep in mind when it comes to events that you, as the kids ministry leader, should not be the only one doing the work.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: But like you said, there are people who say, I can't commit on Sundays to serve because I'm already serving here.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Or I just, I really, I don't, I don't have the gift of teaching.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't, I don't, I know that you say that I can, I know that you'll train me, but I don't want to sit in a room filled with kids leading them.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: But I would love to support kids' ministry.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so you say, Awesome, would you be willing to be on my events team?
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to have three events this year.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and really what it looks like is that you'd be willing to come in either like the night before or the day of and just help set up.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then maybe you hang out for the event and you help clean up.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I could use somebody that would help me with shopping for some of the supplies.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, some of the printing, the cutting out, the hanging, all the things that go into it that really anybody could do.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then people will look and say, I would love to help with that.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I it's another added bonus to that idea of belonging.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: You're giving people purpose and encouragement in serving in a way that they feel like you're not asking me to do something completely out of my wheelhouse and that I'm not a that I'm not comfortable with.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like you need uh 50 balloons blown up and tied for an event.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to come and do that for you.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: You need uh, you know, when I was in kids ministry, I am I love fun.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: I hate decorating.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I am the worst decorator.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: People who just are passionate about it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I found is I Carrie Waters is her name.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: And Carrie, she had kids in kids' ministry, but she's like, volunteering in kids' ministry is not my thing.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: But if you ever need anything like decorated plan, and so I would say, hey, here is the event and here is the name of it.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then she would come back to me a week later and be like, okay, here's what the tables are gonna look like, here's what the stage is gonna look like.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, that's awesome.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: And she'd be like, Do you like this or this better?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what do you like better?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: But she just had free reign to live out the gifting that God gave her serving in kids' ministry without actually interacting with any kids.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was amazing and such a blessing.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not in that position anymore, but I know that she is still the one that is in charge of all the decorating.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: And she loves it.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so it is a great way for people who say, I would love to help in kids' ministry, but I don't want to serve every week.
• 20:05
  unknown: Right.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Let me be on my events to help.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you a quick story uh about uh when I was uh on church staff and we were actually doing a church plant.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow, yeah.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So our VBS, it was the first time this church plant had ever done a VBS.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, everything had to take place basically in the school gym because we're in a middle school.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I wanted to be able to transform it in some way uh to make it feel special and not like a not like a gym.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly, a dingy middle school gym in the summer, which is even worse, you know.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so there were two interior designers that were were starting to come to this church.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm talking, went to school for interior design.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, okay.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I I just said, you know, I would love help transforming this gym into a jungle, basically was the theme.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And they were like, hmm, okay.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just thinking they would, you know, tell me which decorations to get, maybe do some tables or whatever.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: They came back with a plan that blew me away with like real fabric and uh real bamboo.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: They went out and harvested, you know, because bamboo is something that people kind of want to get rid of sometimes in their yard.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so in our neighborhood had a ton, real bamboo to build this jungle and uh fabric from the ceilings, and I mean, really thinking outside the box from just you know, ordering, you know, something from the catalog.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, it was that's a good example of just what are people's skill sets and strengths that they could offer.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I I I too think that one of the reasons that kids' ministry leaders will shy away from events is that it feels overwhelming when you're already doing so much, you're already, you know, like Sunday, Sundays keep coming, Sundays always going to come, and so you're just you feel like you're on this.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wheel of like, I'm always planning, I'm always doing this, and I'm always doing that.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: But to recognize with events, as the kids' ministry leader, you kind of get to spearhead the vision of it, um, the execution of it.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: But when it comes to actual planning of it, the preparing of it, you don't have to do all that work by yourself.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: There are so many people who can step in to help with behind the scenes, to help lead, to help support.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: It is when we look at it as both an opportunity for building belonging for people in our church and an opportunity for helping people step into service.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Man, it's like, why would we ever say no to that?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: So exactly.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm thinking about uh also just being able to give away a big portion of something that volunteers that are capable and and maybe have a gifting towards can own.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's not you owning it.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you an example.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Last summer, uh, we had gotten some evaluations about our VBS family night that were not that great.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we wanted to take it to the next level.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I knew I didn't have capacity to do that.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: But there were two women.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's a power in pairs, by the way.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you can get two friends who who can do it together, it's unstoppable.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: So these two women um were like, Yep, we'll we will bring you a plan.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we will bring you a plan.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And this I just kind of took a step back and okay, okay.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, they mapped out the entire church parking lot uh by um by square feet and planned out exactly where each little family night, you know, festival vendor would go, whether it's the cotton candy station, or we did have a couple of bounce houses.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we had a hot dog stand, you know, things like that.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: But they they had a f a map that they developed where all the signage would go.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: They just thought this way.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so forevermore, I think these ladies are gonna own that event.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that is something that the children's minister doesn't have to really think about anymore.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you like when we have a family night attached to VBS, that's a whole other event.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, totally.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you're in BBS mode.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if you can kind of give away some of these, yeah, people really kind of love getting to own something.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that way it's out of your brain.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Get it all blessed by your, you know, operations faster and um things like that.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Give them some guardrails, but and a budget, of course.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: But let also let people run.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: A hundred percent.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: And um in like the same way that you would invite people to do it, ask people who do you think could help with this?
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Or who would you want to work with?
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because we're limited, and I know I can only imagine how many kids' ministry leaders listening can find it hard to even go to church on Sundays because they're just busy, you know, like they're serving all this kinds of stuff.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you can even start to feel like I don't even know the people to ask.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know who has the skill set.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like you, Jana, might not know, but Sally over here might know.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and again, there's so many people who just they've got these gifts and these talents that we don't even know.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: And these events are an incredible way that they can shine, that they can use those gifts.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's just, I don't know, when you have the right vision of how events can work, like not just why they are meaningful, but like how it has this larger reaching like thing to it.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: You're just like, oh yeah, like there is so much value in actually not just doing events, but doing events in a way that provides opportunities for leadership and ownership, like you mentioned.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's talk about, let's go back to um how do we make events intentional in sharing the gospel?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm thinking about we do a fall festival.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's not a fall festival anymore.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's called a trunk retreat.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: Do you do trunk retreats in the northwest?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we do well, okay.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: I some people will.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: We don't often, because we have a lot of rain.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: How do you plan outdoor things and not you don't, you don't plan outdoor things.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you might have like a we would probably then call it a fall festival, right?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: But do something similar where people have booths set up that they decorate, but no, not the cars, because I mean I can't tell you how many Halloweens.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like I guess it's like people who are on the East Coast or uh up north, yeah, right?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Halloween.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: The kids you don't even see kids' costumes when they go out because they got giant coats on it.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's raining all the time.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we we we we stick inside.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and down here in the south, it's kids sweating through their their costumes.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because it'll be like some complicated costumes, maybe makeup, and it's never it's never cold.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's hot, it's still summer.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, I think I think it really only works when you're in San Diego because they've got perfect weather all year long.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, exactly.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: But well, what I was gonna say about trunk or treat, though, is uh the way our church does it is as kids are going to the different trunks, different stations, you know, it could be stations, um, they are picking up a little something that is going to like be uh stamped.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that you take that full card of getting stamped, um, and then you take it to our the tent.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: We have a tent uh with volunteers handing out the full size candy bars.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so you turn that card in and get your full size candy bar.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then there are just loving men and women who are there to share the gospel.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's it.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a quick, it's a quick gospel uh story and um and just and then an invitation to church.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and so that's how we make it purposeful and intentional.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: So with the hi-fi events, I've had the opportunity to develop um kind of the approach that we've taken is that it it's usually the the closing.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's like we've had a lot of fun, we've done all this, we've played these games.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but now we want to tell you just kind of like why we do this, why we gather together, why we think it's important.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because of Jesus.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's because our lives have been transformed, and we would love for you to learn more.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you want to talk to somebody, we're here.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we'd love for you to join us on Sunday for a church, but really making it kind of low, like again, it's it's low pressure and all kinds of stuff.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't feel like a bait and switch.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's the last thing that we want for events is like I invite my neighbors to say, like, hey, my my uh church is doing this really cool trunk or treat.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Would love for you to come.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: The kids are gonna get candy, it's gonna be great.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: And they come and then every single car that they go to, somebody is sharing the gospel with them.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: It really feels like, oh, this is not what I thought it was gonna be.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: But when it's just like, hey, we're having fun, but also we're gonna tell you why this is like why we're here and what's great.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it's that idea of that that fun and that belonging peaks curiosity.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: It it peaks this idea of like, okay, like who are you guys that plan this whole thing and anybody is invited?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've never been to your church and you're giving me all of this candy.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, and it's like, well, we do this because we love Jesus and we want to share this with you.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: And we talk about this, we have this, we not all this candy, but we have fun every week and we talk about Jesus every week.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: We'd love for you to join us.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so, really using those events, I almost even look at them like, of course, we are sharing the gospel, but they're almost like a really elaborate invitation to church, right?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're not expecting, at least we don't, I don't know about you, but we're not expecting like tons of conversions at these events because that's really not the purpose.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: But it's a way to say church is not intimidating, church is not scary, you don't have to be anything or do anything certain to be welcome here.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: We just love having fun together.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: We love being together.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason is because we're united together because we love Jesus and we would love for you to learn more about that.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no expectation, no pressure.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if we don't see you again until our next event, we will be so happy that you are here.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: But we are going to keep on inviting you.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so, again, I think sometimes that takes the pressure off of like, how do I make this?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: That it's super intentional about the gospel and it's really meaningful, but it's also going to be welcoming for people who have never heard the gospel before.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: But like, I want to present it, but there's people here who already know the gospel, and we can put all this pressure on ourselves and just like like nope, that's okay.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, that is why we are doing it, but it's it's a part of just the fun, the gathering, the belonging.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: We want people to feel the joy of the gospel and the love of Jesus from this local church family.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think sometimes we take for granted how much people are longing for community because that's what God has built in them.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: And when they come to a church for an event and they just see people um from all walks of life, um from all different backgrounds, just having fun together.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: There is something different about that.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: And they look, like before we even share the gospel, they look and they say, Why is this so different?
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: Why does this feel so different?
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that goes back to Acts chapter two.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like the church grew so much, and a big part of it was because people were witnessing the joy that the Christians had with one another.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we create these joy-filled opportunities that people get to come in and participate in, they're kind of like, I like this.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I like these people, I like this fun, I like this opportunity, like I want more of this.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: And really, that's what we want.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: We want people to come and say, I want more.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: You want more?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Come and join us on Sundays.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: Come and join us on Saturday nights, come and join us on Wednesdays whenever it is.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we are these people all the time.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: We get to have this all the time, and it's awesome.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you want this, like you want some of this.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's magnetic.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is magnetic.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect, yeah.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we've said a lot.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything else that you want to say?
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I would just say it started with talking about summer dreaming.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great time to plan.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say if you are not in the habit of events, don't feel like you have to start planning, you know, four to six events a year.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Plan one.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe plan one family event, one volunteer event.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Schedule it out.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, don't plan, you're planning in July.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Don't plan it for August.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, schedule it out so you have time to research and find things.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then the other thing I would say is don't feel like you need to reinvent the wheel.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you don't have to plan events from scratch.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: There are plenty of resources out there.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, other churches who do events who can give you ideas.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so plan it out for the year so you can reserve the space.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, figure out the budget, get it on the calendar, recruit your volunteers, um, be really intentional about planning it out.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would say six to 12 months in advance, yeah.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: What that's gonna look like.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: But then number two, just really finding the help, like not just the people help, but the design for the event and everything.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: Don't don't always feel like you have to make it up.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's great stuff out there that you can use.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you who are listening and watching um just got some inspiration from Crystal about event planning.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: It the reality is it's part of our world, and when done well, it can be super intentional for bringing in more families, reaching uh your community, and loving on the families that are already in the church.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's very important as well.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so don't sleep on events, don't sleep on in-person gatherings.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Use them uh to share uh the love of Jesus and um and to love on your people.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: So uh anyway, well, thank you, Crystal.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me, Jana.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I love it when you're here and thanks for joining us in the studio.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh for everybody out there, come on back next week.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back in the studio for another episode of Kids Ministry Calling 2.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Including Executive Producer Angie Elkins, producer Nikki Ogden, edited by Trey Garza, and recorded in the Lifeweight Podcast Studio in Brentwood, Tennessee, with Sound Engineer Donnie Gordon.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: And artwork by Cameron Wilson.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm your host, Jana McGreater.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Kids Ministry Calling.