Free CM Stuff

Effective Children’s Ministry Site

Andy Johnson — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:00:48 +0000

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about a great new site called Effective Children’s Ministry. They are really starting to get some great content. Keep it up Catherine and Lin!

Also, I’ve extended the Brent Weber DVD contest for another week. Be sure to get your name in the hat soon!

The Lads Band-Free Songs

Andy Johnson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:54:49 +0000

I’ve come across this really awesome band for kids called The Lads. They are from New Zealand and have a great sound. There is a movement in Children’s and Family music to make music more culturally relevant and this is a great thing! On their site, you can download several of their songs. Just look for the brown box with the orange arrow at the top of their site. I can’t link you straight to them because the site is flash based.

Better Hurry for a Free Brent Weber DVD

Andy Johnson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:14:23 +0000

Perhaps you missed it:

Brent Weber DVD Give Away

Free Advice for Public Speaking

Andy Johnson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:05 +0000

If you are a CM leader and a self-proclaimed public speaking goof-ball, I want to challenge you to step your game up. Make your ability to communicate to groups of people a top focus for 2010.

To get started, go over to the Six Minutes blog to find out about The 25 Essential Public Speaking Skills. My personal favorite is to “start strong and close stronger!”

WGA–Brent Weber DVD’s

Andy Johnson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:00:35 +0000

Kids Worship artist Brent Weber is the focus of our Wednesday Give Away this month. Brent is kind enough to give away 2 of his worship DVDs. They are:

Crazy and Engaging
Rockin’ Praise and Worship

Two lucky people will win (1 DVD per winner). Here’s how to enter:

Go to this link
Listen to a few songs
Comment here on this post about which song was your favorite

Next Wednesday, I’ll randomly choose two lucky winners from all the entries. One entry per person.

Audio Bibles

Andy Johnson — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:29:23 +0000

Here’s two audio Bible tools for you. Interestingly, they are both called “Pod Bibles.” The first is a Podcast, but you can listen to the Scriptures from their site. Play these during teaching times to add a new dimension to the Scriptures.

The second is a readable Bible for your iPod. It uses the “Notes” portion of the iPod firmware. Read it on the train, in a plane, in the car (while not driving), in the bathroom (don’t drop it in), use with an impromptu devotion at camp…whatever!

Daily Devotionals for Kids

Andy Johnson — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:00:32 +0000

CBH Ministries has a great component on their site which provides devotionals to kids. Kids can get “Keys” over email, through regular mail, archived on the website, or as a podcast. Be sure to link these on your church website and promote them to the kids in your ministry!

Extensive Lessons

Andy Johnson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:36 +0000

I’m keeping it short today!

In a pinch or need to supplement your lesson? Go check out Calvary Chapel’s Curriculum. It is quite a nice collection of Old and New Testament lessons.

Prezi–Stunning Presentations

Andy Johnson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Have you heard of Prezi yet? If not, you need to go check it out and see if it could be beneficial to any presentations you give. Unlike cues or slides, Prezi utilizes a “canvas” concept where you zoom in on various aspects of your presentation. It’s quite unique.

The free account from Prezi is a little limited, but still offers you a great deal of flexibility as well as allows you to add pizazz to your presentations. While the free account allows only online presentation development, you still get offline presentation capabilities. This means you can download your custom presentation and present it without a web connection.

Use Prezi for:

Kids church messages
In-church recruitment advertisements
Volunteer trainings

Presentation Software

Andy Johnson — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:00:21 +0000

I recommend a good deal of open source software on this site. Open source programs offer a viable alternative to expensive programs. What you miss are some user-friendly features and support, however most problems are easily solved by glancing through extensive forums.

One I came across recently is Open LP. If you can’t afford Media Shout, Song Show Plus, or Pro Presenter, then you may want to consider this. You can download it here.