We started with 68 blogs and the competition has come down to only four. Which of these finalists will be crowed 2012 Kids Ministry Blog champion? You have until next Thursday 29 March (approx 10 PM EST) to rally support for your favorites. Endorsements, smack talk, and predictions welcome in the comment section below.
Jenny Funderburke: Champion
The polls have closed and Jenny came away with a convincing win. Her win marks the first victory in our tournament by a lady and the all time highest vote total from one round. Click here to see a record of previous year’s of Blog Madness.
Pastor Jason Martin
Jim Wideman
Jenny Funderburke
West Coast CM
[polldaddy poll=6076588]
How Did We Get Here
In the last round, I called Jason Martin the ultimate “Cinderella” of this tournament. He keeps dancing and earn the highest total votes from round two at 237.
Jim Wideman is among our finals for a second consecutive year, but will his experience help him bring home a title? His second round votes totaled 227.
I still can’t pronounce her name, but Jenny Funderburke is ready to shock the Kidmin world. She only gathered 149 votes in the second round, but has some big names pulling for her.
West Coast CM is the weakest of the final field, his 91 supporters won’t get him very far in the finals. Mismatch? We’ll see if he can prove the doubters wrong.
I was out of town and totally missed all the fun of the final run – congrats to Jenny! and to everyone who blogs for Jesus and Kids! What a gift to everyone to be sharing wisdom and lessons and insights, and most of all to Tony for all the hard work helping us all discover each other. I look forward to learning about new blogs each and every year. Next year, give us the next 50 that didn’t make the top 100 so we can at least see who they are. ;) (ha, making more work for you!)
Thank you everybody. This was fun to be a part of and I’m shocked to be the winner. I’m very proud to call Jason, Jim, and Anthony friends. My heart is excited about what God is doing in the world of kidmin and I’m so thankful for the investment all of you making Jesus known to kids and families. Big thanks to my Westwood family who really rallied today. :)
So proud of you Jenny, you so deserve this.
Congrats, just glad I overachieved on this one and made it that far. I was outmatched, outgunned and outplayed. You’re the best Jenny, the polls don’t lie.
Congrats to the winner, and it looks like Jenny might win this one! I’ve never seen such a huge shift in web voting before, except when I do ESPN polls and I use a web proxy. (-:
This is a fantastic way to bring visibility to the wonderful work each of these great people do. Congrats to all!!
Im so proud of u Jenny! My husband Micah and I and our two kids were blessed enough to be a part of the Westwood team in the past. Jenny Is by far the best children’s minister I’ve ever seen in action!! We adore her and her sweet sweet family.
I can’t believe I’m married to a celebrity!
Looks like Sam Luce’s 405 vote record (2011 2nd round) is in jeopardy…by both of you! This has been a lot of fun to watch!
Every sentence ends in an exclamation point!
Looks like time is running out for Cinderella. I tip my hat at the 80 vote swing in 30 minutes. Good job to whoever organized that.
Jason,
I had some friends get excited about it this morning and started spreading the word like crazy. It has all been fun. I so appreciate your friendship and more than that what you do for spreading the gospel to kids. :) We’ll see how the rest of the evening goes!
jen
For sure, you definitely deserve the win more than me, I just like winning. It has been a win for me to see my church support me, they even announced it from the pulpit. Just not enough web savvy people to make it work. :)
Lol! Our communications team decided to send it out churchwide this morning (I didn’t tell them too!), so I agree it neat to see the church be supportive. That’s where all today’s votes came from. The comments on here have been such blessings. I am blessed to serve now with incredible friends and families and with many in the past. God is good.
Jenny Funderburke is a wonderful and caring teacher of the word! She is able to use all circumstances and turn them into teachable moments. While she is wonderful at donating her time and energy to her church where she serves as Children’s Minister, I will forever be grateful for her investment into the lives of my 3 sons where she had a “forever” donation! Thanks for our beloved Mrs. Jenny! You are already a winner in my eyes! Love Love Love my Mrs. Jenny.
Jenny deserves to win because she not only takes care of her large group of children at her home church, she also ministers to children at other churches by donating time, and resources to other churches and leaders in Children’s Ministry. She leads by example, ministering wherever you might find her, in the states or in a foreign country. She has a great big heart for children, all children!
Check out my Vote for Jenny 2012! campaign and join the revolution! :)
http://waynestocks.com/2012/03/27/vote-for-jenny-funderburke/
This is the first year that I can say I have met each of the final four writers! I’m amazed at the connections God has brought into my life and each of these four is a well deserving individual. Outside of bro. Jim, the one who has most impacted my life has to be Anthony, so he gets my full support and vote in this round. Good luck all. Vote for West Coast CM and lets get another underdog to win this thing. :)
All of these people (including this blog) make my job soooooo much easier! I want to thank each and everyone of you for the commendable job you do to support kidmin leaders everywhere! Thanks!
Looks like there’s a new underdog in the tournament?
It’s an honor to have made it this far, even if I’m the weakest member of the Final Four.
Thanks for putting this together, Tony. Each year, I find new blogs to read. This is a great Kingdom building tool and a brilliant idea!
-Ap
I have worked with children for years but I have not found it as easy as I am now because of your various inspiring articles. Your messages and teachings on children ministry has been wonderful, infact, I always look forward to your messages as it helps me prepare ahead of time for my teaching.
Thank you for taking time to educate us as we work together in the Lord’s vineyard ‘CATCHING THEM YOUNG FOR THE MASTER”. The Lord bless you and your team real good.
Shalom,
Christie (Pastor}
I just voted for Jenny too! She’s not only one of my Infuse coaches but helps me with all things Infuse. I could not do what I do without her, she is a big part of team Jim.
Jason is also one of my infusers- He is also joining my coach team this year. He has a heart to serve and was a great blessing @ #CPC12 Orlando serving in the #kidmin Genius Bar.
Anthony is also a young gun and is going to be a part of infuse lite this August. I look forward to hanging out with him everytime I can. This past year I got to hang with him 3 times. He’s a blessing in my life!
So please don’t vote for me, vote for my kids. Like last year I won’t run against my infusers. Jenny already has a bobblehead of mine so if one of the others win I’ll send them one. Thanks for sending me to the final four with these 3 I feel like I won just getting here with them! Thank you all!!!
Thanks for saying that brother Jim. I am
conflicted big time but have decided to try and win this thing.
Go for it-but that’s how you do everything! I am proud of you Ill vote for you tomorrow! There’s a Bro Jim Bobblehead up for grabs!
OK, I just wanted to be sure. If you asked me I’d set aside and make sure you’d win it.
I would never do that at this stage in my life I get more excited about what others I have influenced accomplish than my own accomplishments.
It’s just an honor to be in the final four two years in a row!
FIRST!
Not sure if she’ll be able to pull it off, but I was able to make sure that the first vote went to Jenny, so fo now, she’s leading!
Good work, I think she might take some of Jim’s votes head-to-head.