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I received an email yesterday from a friend asking my thoughts on Mother’s Day Out.  How would I respond to my leadership if asked to start an MDO ministry.

Great question.  Here was my response…

First, I’d want to know what the objective is.  The request for such a ministry is in response to a ‘felt need’.  Maybe to provide a much needed break to the mom’s attending our church… or to reach out to families in the community that do not have a church home… or to generate some revenue in order to subsidize other ministry endeavors… or simply b/c  this is what churches do… whatever it is, the request is made because someone believes MDO to be a means to an end.  What is that end?

With the end in mind, then I’d want to structure a plan so that the ministry actually meets the defined objectives.  Just like any other area of ministry, it must be evaluated on an annual basis to determine whether or not it is advancing the vision for which it was set in place.  In other words, is the MDO program doing what we want it to do?

• If we started it to bring in unchurched families, what percentage of our new families that year directly resulted from the MDO program?
• If we started it to provide a break for mom’s in our church, what ministry are we partnering with to maximize that time for mom?
• If we started it to subsidize other ministry endeavors, how much dollars are we generating (less the cost of running MDO… facilities use, resources, staffing, training, etc)?
• If we started it because it’s what churches do… then I’d want to know why that’s a solid reason for such a costly endeavor.

I’m not opposed to Mother’s Day Out.  In some contexts I think it’s an outstanding ministry to host.  For example, consider an MDO program where participating parents are…

• offered professional training that better equips them to provide for their family (great for inner-city ministry)
• are given opportunity to serve in their community in ways they cannot with a young child
• mentored in a next-gen ministry where godly parents from the previous generation pour into them as Christ-followers and parents

I believe Mother’s Day Out can be a great ministry if you view as that exactly… a ministry that requires financial and spiritual investment.

So there you go.  Those are my thoughts based upon my experience with MDO.  Yours?

The fpKids ministry team is reading the book, Inside the Magic Kingdom.  A book that hits the top of my “Must Read” list.  In fact, I wrote a series on the book back in 2007.  You can read that here.

I’ve led a book discussion on this book 5 times and every time I walk away with something new.  Much like Lencioni books, this is a fable of a group of people getting an insiders look at the world of Disney.  The main takeaways of the book are 6 common things that create the magical DNA of Disney.  Number 2 is the one that sits with me right now.

Pay fantastic attention to detail

In the book, you’ll read about how an extreme attention to detail sets Disney apart from the rest.  As we’ve applied this principle in kids ministry over the years there is proven value in a high attention to detail.  Yet I’ve primarily focused this principle to physical space, print documents and things like that.  Mostly tangible items that someone could physically pick apart.

Yet this time around my lens has changed.  Digesting this principle today I ask myself how this applies to shepherding relationships in my ministry.  How would relationship building look if I paid fantastic attention to these details?

What would my follow up look like?

How frequently would I write notes?  Follow up on a prayer request?  Check in on sick volunteers?

Do I know the names of all the kids in the family when I contact a parent?  Do I have a brief history of their participation in the church?  Am I looking to address any need and not just kidmin needs?

Paying fantastic attention to detail in relationships is unexpected… and remarkable… and Seth Godin would love that.

Challenge:

100 invitations by July 4th

This was the challenge put before my team a few weeks ago.

Why?

Well, I want more volunteers in my ministry.  I want more people pursuing the same goal that I pursue every week in fpKids.  To create an engaging, relevant environment to connect kids to Christ.

You don’t have to spend much time in kids ministry to know that relationships are a major key to making your environment engaging and relevant.  And I need a lot of volunteers to make those relationships happen.

It’s simple math… if I want more people, I need to invite more people.  Yet, there are so many other things on the weekend that can dominate my attention.  Scoping out invitation opportunities can often take a back seat.

Yet the challenge of 100 invitations by July 4th has kept this task in the front seat for me.  (That and the fact that Chuck Carringer keeps challenging me to beat him.  But that’s another post.)

After keeping this focus the past few weeks we’ve seen 20 new people visit fpKids ‘kicking the tires’ to see where they’d like to serve.  We’ve seen at least an additional 10 check out other areas of ministry simply b/c they were invited to serve.  Not only is it a great infusion to the existing volunteer team, but it’s loads of fun to see the excitement on a new volunteer’s face when they see how they can contribute.

Imagine if we maintain this as a front-burner goal every week by consistently inviting people to take part in what God is doing at Faith Promise Church.

We might see a volunteer deficit turn around.

We might see momentum build leading into the fall.

We might see more people using what God invested in them to accomplish what He desires in our community.

So I’ll ask more.  Funny how the simplest ways to invest in your ministry are so easily overlooked.