Today I am launching a new feature called, “Kids Ministry Champion of the Week.” My goal is to honor the kids ministry bloggers who are making a difference through their writings. These are writers who have been personally helpful to me and many others. My plan is to announce this award toward the beginning of each week and feature their latest RSS items in the sidebar throughout the week.
Jim Wideman is a Kids Ministry Champion because his work in training and encouraging new children’s ministers. Few books about Children’s Ministry are as helpful as those written by Jim Wideman. His writing style is to-the-point, engaging, and filled with real life examples. I have been helped greatly by these over my short time in ministry.
Jim also has a hand in raising up a new generation of Kids Ministry leaders. Many of the younger champions for kids ministry have been personally mentored by him.
On his blog, you can read his wisdom for yourself. Keeping up with his posts is like continuing education for me, especially on the topic of leadership in kids ministry. Also check out his website and twitter account.
Thank you Jim for being an advocate of Kids Ministry.
Like all things with our website, this is an experiment. So leave a comment below to let me know what you think. You can also reflect on what Jim’s ministry has mean to you. HT to Tim Challies for the idea that lead to this feature.
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I don’t know if there is a Fountain of Youth (OK, I know there isn’t!) but when I think of Jim, I think of a Fountain of Wisdom! I have often called Jim the Zig Ziglar of Kids Ministry! He is just a bottomless pit of kids ministry knowledge and wisdom! You might get smarter just standing near him! I have always enjoyed his books and articles and know that he has mentored more than he can even imagine. He has also taught many kidmin peeps the secret menu at In-N-Out Burger! ;)
Jim is like a waterfall for the Lord…his passion and faith overflow into countless lives including mine. The Lord has blessed me with this warrior of encouragement and grace. His love for the Lord and giftedness in leadership is such an inspiration. He reminds us that all things are possible in this HUGE God that we serve!!!!
Hi Tony! I love this idea. I would love to see you incorporate champions of color in your pieces as well. Thanks!
Is it just me, or is Jared rubbing it in that we are so much older than him? Just kidding. I’m going to go check in the couch cushions now to scrape that money together. :)
Tony…GREAT IDEA! I think Brother Jim is a fantastic choice to start off what looks to be a very inspiring set of posts.
I want to say, as someone who qualifies for the young guns Club membership, it is an invaluable resource to me. If I turned 30 tomorrow, this would be the easiest $100 I would have to spend on a kidmin resource. I don’t use it to the full potential yet because I am not yet on CMconnect to join in the discussions, but the monthly podcasts and notes are great resources. If you can scrape together $100 for the yearly membership, I’d say do it!
thanks guys, I am so honored. Thanks for your kind words. To God be the glory “we are all just a pair of overalls that the Holy Spirit wants to fill and used to glorify Jesus! I am looking forward to hanging out with you two at the Expo!
Blessings
bj
Great idea Tony! I have been planning on doing something similar on my blog featuring the best of the best kidmin bloggers with a more detail on the blogs and the people behind the blogs.
As far as your article, Jim is definitely the person I would start with. I have not read anything he’s written (blog or book or article) that I didn’t walk away from with new and fresh ideas.
In addition to his personal mentoring (Infuse) Jim also offers the “Club” which is a monthly program for kidmin leaders. I understand it’s free for those under 30 (which unfortunately I do not qualify for), but here soon I am going to bite the bullet and sign up anyhow. I’m am certain that it will be worth whatever the price.
I’ve actually thought about the club a few times now that I am free from Seminary.
I hope this weekly feature will be another way to affirm some of the really solid writers and point people to go check out their blogs too.
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