Ryan Frank is no stranger to kids’ ministry or to the kidmin community. He is the publisher of K! Magazine and the founder of Kidz Matter. He was a children’s pastor until recently when he moved to a bigger role at Awana. He has built an exceptional network of people around him and is well-respected among them.
I have to say that it is about time someone wrote this book and Ryan may have been the perfect person to do it. His experience and wisdom combined with his conversational style and brevity make for an insightful and informative read.
What I liked:
I’m all about keeping stuff concise and to the point. Ryan’s book is short and each of the chapters gets straight to the point.
It’s full of extras. Contained in each chapter are extra tid bits of information and links to websites with even more information.
As I said, Ryan is very connected. Between the chapters are interviews with some real kidmin champions and also some interactions from Ryan’s Facebook friends.
Everything in this book is practical. I’m all about strategy and philosophy of kidmin, but sometimes you just want a practical guide. This is that guide.
What I didn’t care for:
I’m in a small church, no secret about that. And it’s hard to find something written specifically for those of us in smaller churches. Unfortunately, I felt like Ryan’s book dealt more with those in larger churches than in small settings. This is not to say that the principles are not scalable, because they certainly are, it just requires a little extra work to get there. Also, some chapters are better at this than others.
Final Thoughts:
As a children’s leader, you should put your hands on as many books about children’s ministry as possible. That being said, this one should be at the top of your list. For the new kids’ pastor, this is a must read to get you started. For someone whose been around a while, this book will serve as an excellent refresher.
9 Things book is published by Standard Publishing. You can purchase this book from Standard Publishing’s website.
Check back to Small Town Kidmin this Friday to see how you can get a free copy of Ryan’s book!
Disclaimer: I did receive a free copy of this book for the purpose of this review. However, I have written this reveiew as objectively as possible and the thoughts expressed in this review are solely mine.
Thanks for the review. I find this helpful, especially your take on a smaller church. Not many bloggers out there are ministering in a smaller setting so it’s difficult to find relevant ideas that’ll move well in a lesser populated centre (like the one’s I’ve been ministering in).
I’ll still pick up this book, but I’m glad I know a little more about what to expect.
I’d definitely recommend you read this book. Like I said, most of the ideas are easily scalable to the small church setting, I’m just waiting for the day someone actually writes a books with that particular setting in mind.
Thanks for the review. I find this helpful, especially your take on a smaller church. Not many bloggers out there are ministering in a smaller setting so it’s difficult to find relevant ideas that’ll move well in a lesser populated centre (like the one’s I’ve been ministering in).
I’ll still pick up this book, but I’m glad I know a little more about what to expect.
I’d definitely recommend you read this book. Like I said, most of the ideas are easily scalable to the small church setting, I’m just waiting for the day someone actually writes a books with that particular setting in mind.
Great review, Jared. Thanks for being part of the tour! Great insights and giving the “small church” perspective 🙂
Thanks for including me in it, Henry.
Great review, Jared. Thanks for being part of the tour! Great insights and giving the “small church” perspective 🙂
Thanks for including me in it, Henry.