Ministry-to-Children.com » Interviews

Interview With Jeff Goodyear, Children’s Pastor at Highview Baptist Church

Tony Kummer — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:36:16 +0000

In this post I want to introduce you to Jeff Goodyear (church bio | Twitter). He is the children’s pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. I first met Jeff in a class at Southern Seminary. Since then, we has become friends and I consider him a long-distance mentor for my ministry. I am excited for Jeff to share some of his experience through this interview.

Tony Kummer: How did you become the Children’s Pastor at Highview?

Jeff Goodyear: Its always interesting for me to hear how God has worked in different people’s lives to bring them into children’s ministry. My story is not unique, but it is a little unusual. I was working in business, I was an engineer and was working in a great job, but I really loved what I was doing as a volunteer at church working with kids and the adults who served with them.

One day my pastor, and friend, Kevin Ezell asked me “Have you ever though about quitting your job and doing children’s ministry full time?” To make a long story short, within a year I made that transition and became the children’s pastor at Highview.

That was 10 years ago. I’ve gone back to school since then and earned my seminary degree, but I look back now and I’m so thankful that God brought me here. People often ask me if I miss my former life, my answer is always the same – I can’t imagine ever going back. I often tell some of my fellow staff members that we should be thankful because a lot of people had to get up this morning and go to work, but we get to come to church and do what we love.

Tony Kummer: What are some blessings of leading Children’s Ministry in a large, multi-site church?

Jeff Goodyear: Definitely the people I get to work with, our staff, the families, and the kids. It is neat to get to work with so many different people. I’m blessed to work with a children’s ministry staff team of about 12 people.

One of the biggest advantages is the way our staff team works together. For example, we have our VBS this week and next, at 2 campuses each week. Each member of our children’s ministry staff will work at their own campus’s VBS, and help at one of the other campuses on the other week.

We are also able to divide and share some of the responsibilities, for example, one member of our team is the leader for our VBS planning for all of our campuses, another member of our team is the leader for our Kids’ Camp for all campuses, etc.

Tony Kummer: . . . and what are some unique challenges?

Jeff Goodyear: There are some challenges, usually related to trying to be in more than one place at a time. It is hard to not be able to be everywhere on Sunday mornings. I really have to trust my team to make sure that everything is done well.

It is also hard to decide what to do where. If something works great at one campus, it won’t necessarily work well at another. We use at least 4 different curriculum sources for our elementary children because of different campus set-ups and different group sizes.

Tony Kummer: What keeps you motivated in the ministry?

Jeff Goodyear: I think I’m probably like most children’s pastors. It’s seeing kids grow, especially seeing kids come to know Jesus as their savior. Having kids come up on Sunday and give me a hug or thank me for the birthday letter I sent them this week.

The difference with being in a larger church is that I don’t know every kid’s name, but I try to learn them. I often have parents come up to me and say that their kids loved something we did, or that they can’t wait until next year, or something like that. It means a lot to me when parents seek me out, because I know that we have really made an impact on their children and their family when that happens.

Tony Kummer: How is your time spent in a typical work week?

Jeff Goodyear: I have a lot of meetings. I start each week with 4 staff meetings on Mondays. (Pastoral staff, All staff, Campus specific staff meetings, Children’s Ministry Staff Team meeting) By Monday afternoon, I’m worn out and have a big to-do list. I spend a lot of time the rest of the week meeting with members of my staff team and a few key volunteers about specific issues in their area of ministry.

I love to meet with kids and their parents when they express a desire to become a Christian, or to be baptized. I also am blessed to be able to teach one children’s ministry class at Boyce College each semester. At Highview, our pastors take turns visiting all our members in the hospital, I spend one day every other week making hospital visits.

I like my hospital days because it allows me to get out of the office and minister to people that I usually don’t get to work with. I’m always reminded how blessed I am to be a pastor after a day of visiting church members in the hospital.

Tony Kummer: What is the most surprising things you’ve learned so far in your ministry?

Jeff Goodyear: I’m surprised at how much fun it has been to be in this ministry for so long. I know that 9 years is not long to some, but the time really has flown by and if you would have asked me when I started, I think I would have thought that the joy would have worn off long before now and I’d be looking at my ministry as just another job… but it really hasn’t. I still love getting up every day and coming to work, I hope I am able to do this for many years to come.

Tony Kummer: What encouragement would you give to someone serving in a smaller church?

Jeff Goodyear: The heart of Children’s ministry is the same no matter what size church you are in. I firmly believe that the job of any children’s minister is to recruit, train, equip, and encourage a team of volunteers to do the hands on ministry with kids.

I’ve known children’s ministers from smaller churches that would say things like “If I were in a larger church, I wouldn’t have as much trouble recruiting teachers”, I’ve also been with children’s ministers from larger churches who said “If I were only in a smaller church, I wouldn’t have so much problem recruiting teachers.”

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what size your church is, the challenges are the same. Larger churches do have more resources (people and stuff) but they also have more challenges.

Tony Kummer: What advice would you give someone just starting out in children’s ministry?

Jeff Goodyear: This is the perfect time to enter the field of vocational children’s ministry. I am excited to see a trend of more churches looking for full-time children’s pastors.

I have had the privilege of leading several young men and women who served with me at Highview while they attended seminary and it’s always exciting for me to see them graduate and leave Louisville to take a children’s ministry job. I’m amazed at how quickly some of them are able to find great jobs. The truth is that today more churches contact me looking for recommendations for children’s ministers than I have candidates to recommend.

Tony Kummer: What aspects of Children’s Ministry do you think will change over the next 10 years?

Jeff Goodyear: I’ve only been in full time ministry for 10 years, but one trend I’ve seen is an increase in the number of kids being raised by their grandparents. I know that we have seen a lot of changes in family makeup over the decades, but I believe that this is a trend we will see more of in the future.

I think another trend in many of our churches over the next decade will be a mover toward “family ministry” this means many different things to different people, but the bottom line, I think, for children’s’ ministers is that your church may be looking for something different than the children’s ministry of the past … be ready.

I also think that as some churches look for Family Pastors, this will be a great opportunity for children’s ministers who are ready for a new challenge. We will be the ones with the experience and training to be able to best help parents be the disciplers of their children.

I really appreciate Pastor Jeff’s desire to encourage other’s who serve in children’s ministry. Please leave any feedback in the comment section below.

Inside Cokesbury VBS: An Interview With Michael Aulisio

Tony Kummer — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:47:38 +0000

Over the past year, I’ve been reaching out to VBS and Christian Education publishers. This has led to some cool giveaways and given me an inside look at the industry that creates children’s ministry curriculum.

I’m excited to share my interview with Michael Aulisio. He is the Marketing Manager at Cokesbury and has always been very helpful to me when I write about their VBS themes. I hope you enjoy the interview, leave me feedback in the comment section.

Be sure to check out the Cokesbury.com and their VBS website. You can also follow Cokesbury VBS updates on Twitter.

Interview With Michael Aulisio from Cokesbury

Tony: How did Cokesbury get started?

Michael: It has been the established publishing house of the United Methodist Church with roots going back to 1789. How long have they been publshing VBS material? We have been publishing VBS for many many years – I hate to admit it, but I am not sure when the first VBS was published by us.

Tony: How does Cokesbury imagine and choose VBS theme ideas?

Michael: We bring together a team of staff and Christian Educators (both those supporting Cokesbury VBS and those supporting competitors) and spend three to four days in a think tank atmosphere developing future themes.

Tony: Once a theme is chosen, how does the development proceed? What is the timeline?

Michael: We spend the next year in full development beginning with theme testing, title testing, logo and design testing, Bible story selection, writing, field testing and final production before going to print about one year from conception.

Tony: What are some unique aspects of Cokesbury VBS?

Michael: Reflection Time where the children can take a few minutes and review all that they have learned and pull it together; Two Bible story method – drama or single storyteller; Student Take-Home CD that allows kids to have both the VBS music and fun educational computer games, also our mission stories are about children who have made a difference in their own communities — we choose this way to celebrate that children can be in mission at their very young age they do not have to wait until they grow up.

Tony: Do you have a strong fan base outside beyond the UMC?

Michael: Yes, over 35 different denominations

Tony: What trends are affecting VBS in the United States?

Michael: The economy, working families make it difficult to get daytime adult volunteers – VBS moving to the evenings; year-round schools so VBS programs are being used all year long.

Tony: How do you imagine VBS will change over the next 10 years?

Michael: More video and web based curriculum.

Michael was very kind to grant me this interview and he represents Cokesbury well. Please leave your feedback on this interview in the comments. You can also share your experience with Cokesbury curriculum.

Interview With Phil Vischer – Creator Of “VeggieTales” and Christian Media Pioneer

Tony Kummer — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:57:48 +0000

Phil Vischer and his “VeggieTales” changed the landscape of Christian media for kids. Now, he’s working on the next big thing with “JellyTelly.” Phil was gracious enough to grant me this interview. You can learn more about Phil on his blog, biography on Wikipedia, and IMBD listing.

My questions are in bold and his answers are in plain text. Feel free to leave a comment to show your appreciation for Phil.

I’ve read several positive reports about your session at the Conspire conference 2008. In a few words can you sum up what you were saying?

I spoke at the Willow Creek children’s ministry conference back in 2005, and for the first time told the story in detail of the rise and fall of my ministry, Big Idea Productions, and the lessons God taught me through the process of watching a dream die. That message resonated so deeply with people that it became the basis for my book, Me, Myself & Bob (2007, Thomas Nelson). In a nutshell, I was examining our culture of Evangelical ambition and workaholism – the intense drive that leads so many of us to burnout, disenchantment, or worse. It was a call back to the simplicity of a walk with God, of listening and following his will on a daily basis, of letting go of our own dreams and ambitions and responding instead to the simple call of his heart. I wrote in the book that I had been drinking a dangerous cocktail – a mix of the Gospel, the Protestant work ethic, and the American Dream. “If you commit your life to Christ your work for him will be a huge success and all your dreams will come true.”

Well, that’s a lie. We aren’t called to lives of great success, great impact, great ambition. We’re called to lives of obedience. Lives of humility. Lives of waiting on God, listening to God, walking with God. That’s where we find our joy – not in our dreams of numerical success, in our relationships with God. I realized I had made the work I was doing for God more important to me than my relationship with God. And as I have been traveling and speaking, I have discovered that I wasn’t alone.

So earlier this year I was invited to speak at Willow Creek once again, and realized it was time to continue the conversation – to answer the question, “So… once we’ve let go of our dreams and ambitions, once we’ve put all that down – died to it, if you will – then what? What does ministry look like when it isn’t driven by our goals? Our dreams? How do we work for God for the long-term without letting our old ambitions get in the way again? How, then, shall we live?”

That’s the question I needed to answer for myself, and that’s the topic I dove into at Willow Creek this year. I don’t want to even attempt to “summarize” my conclusions in a line or two, because I really couldn’t do it justice. I may need to write another book to tell the story of what happened to me AFTER I fell down, rolled around moaning for a while, then got back up and started quietly, humbly, listening to God. It’s a good story – but I can’t tell it in a paragraph.

What limitations do you see with the edutainment (entertain + educate) approach to children’s ministry?

It is very hard – nearly impossible I would say – to lead a child to a meaningful spiritual experience through entertainment. With animation and music I can engage a child, make them laugh, possibly make them think about something in a new way, but I can’t love them. I can’t hug them. I can’t get them to slow down and listen quietly for God’s whispers. Person-to-person storytelling is very powerful because the storyteller can read his or her audience and respond accordingly. And person-to-person contact is, by far, the best way to share God’s love. There is no “electronic” replacement for a hug. A loving look. A caring smile. Nothing I can put up on a screen can replace what a leader can do in a room with a child. Nothing can even come close.

In your opinion, what is the ideal relationship between Christian parenting and Christian media?

My goal has always been to be a parent’s ally. Back-up. Support. To make a parent’s job a little easier by reinforcing the work their already doing, instead of undermining or belittling it, as so much media has done in the last 30 years. Good Christian media can and should be a wonderful support for Christian parents.

In my mind, one early hope for Christian media for kids was to counter balance all the negative influences from secular media. Do you think that has happened over the last 20 years?

Christian kids media hasn’t even come close to counter balancing the influence of secular media. To make matters worse, Christian kids media is now in decline, largely for economic reasons I’ve described in detail on my website (www.philvischer.com). With VeggieTales, I felt like we were just getting started – just beginning to chip away at the problem. What I’m trying to do now, post-VeggieTales, is pick up that trail and continue doing what God called me to do. (Without, of course, all the personal ambition and accompanying stress that hastened the premature demise of Big Idea Productions.)

What is JellyTelly and what are some ways it could help children’s ministries and Christian parents?

JellyTelly is our attempt to pick up the trail we began with VeggieTales. It’s our answer to the question, “If VeggieTales was a great way to minister to kids and families over the last 15 years, how are we going to do it over the next 15 years?” In a nutshell, JellyTelly is an internet-based kids TV network, targeting Christian families. A tiny little Nickelodeon, where kids can spend time every day watching “mini-shows” (2-8 minute TV shows about science, nature, the books of the Bible, the work of the Church around the world, etc.) and play fun, safe online games. It’s sort of a cross between a kids gaming site like Club Penguin or Webkinz, and a high-quality, premium TV service like, say, HBO. But all for the purpose of helping parents raise the next generation of Christians. (You can learn more about it at www.philvischer.com if you’re interested.)

What advice would you have for a little church with zero budget that wanted to be more relevant for kids in the media/information age?

Focus on the things you can do that Nickelodeon and Disney can’t. You can tell a story – with eye contact and audience participation. You can hug. You can take kids on adventures outside – parks, pools, etc. You can make things together. Never assume that because kids sit in front of a screen at home, they should sit in front of a screen at church. Get up and move around. Sing. Years from now, those kids won’t remember what shows they watched or what video games they played. But they’ll remember the church worker that loved them.

What is one word of encouragement you would give to everyday children’s ministry volunteers?

A smiling face and ready hug is worth more than a 50″ plasma and an X-Box. Never forget that.