Small Town Kidmin
Big City Quality, Small Church
Costume Characters in Kidmin Part 2
May 16th
Costume characters are an incredibly powerful tool to use your in your kidmin, but they can also cause problems if not used properly.
They can be unruly: Even as the pastor (especially as the pastor), I often have to keep myself from getting carried away. Goofiness to teach a lesson or make a point is fine. Goofiness for the sake of goofiness is tough to justify.
They can be long-winded: Give yourself an out! I’ve seen these interactions go way longer than they should because the people up front were having too much fun and didn’t know how to stop. Leave the audience wanting more. Nine times out of ten, the most awkward part of a costume character interaction is the ending (that statistic is totally made up and cannot be backed up by empirical evidence, but it is more of an observation based on my personal experiences in kidmin). See what I did there, I just kept going and you really just want me to stop. I’m still going because I didn’t carefully decided how this section would end. Seriously, move to the next point now so I can shut up.
Be careful of offensive stereotypes: I’ve got to get this one out there. I have no problem with over-the-top personalities. Most television shows and sitcoms are based on them. I do, however, have a problem with offensive stereotypes. A good character is so outrageous they don’t fit in reality anyway, but this is one area that you really need to know your audience and be careful. The last thing you want is someone to miss the message because they were offended by the medium. The more over-the-top your character is, the safer you will be in this area.
They can be scary: I have especially seen this with younger kids. Seeing someone they know in a costume really freaks some kids out. Just know this ahead of time and don’t approach a scared child. That will only freak them out more. Oftentimes, characters can be loud or crazy, these things too can be troublesome to younger children, so know your audience and don’t force something that isn’t there.
They can reinforce bad behaviors: A costume character is funny, over-the-top, and often misses the point, but bad behavior is bad behavior and must be corrected. It’s important that a costume character learns good lessons, but doesn’t teach bad ones.
What other drawbacks are there to using a costume character? How have you seen them used improperly?
Costume Characters in Kidmin part 1
May 14th
Nicodemus is a stud.
Using costume characters is a cheap and excellent way to help kids (or adults) grasp a lesson. They provide a number of benefits and can be utilized in a variety of types of services and any church size. We’ve used costume characters in outreaches, regular services, our family experiences, and even in our Easter and Christmas services, which is a great way to make visitors feel more comfortable. I’ve identified a few of the things that make costume characters a great tool that should be in every kidmin’s arsenal.
They are cost-effective: Costume characters can easily be created out of miscellaneous stuff you have lying around or by purchasing random items from yard sales and thrift stores. I also usually spend a little bit of money when Halloween stuff goes on clearance for wigs and props up to 90% off. When it is that cheap, I often buy things I don’t need but could possibly need someday. I’ll even help you get some cheap eyeglasses for your characters.
Orange Conference 2012 Notes Warehouse
Apr 27th
Holy smokes! The bloggers were on fire this year, producing massive amounts of content to sift through and read. Below, I’ve attempted to work through each bloggers content compiling a list of each of their posts. I edited out posts that specifically dealt with things that were only relevant if you were at Orange Conference. Mostly what you will find below is a collection of notes from various workshops and main sessions, as well as some reflective posts on how these bloggers are implementing what they’re learning. If you really just want sound bite versions, maybe try out the Slices of Orange Conference post which is my collection of “best of” tweets.
More >
Flat Jared Has Gone Rogue
Apr 26th
I’m still really excited that my friend Wendy, aka savedsister7, has thought of a way to get me to Orange Conference this year. It’s fun to get an email from her with pictures of all the places I went and people I met. I hope the flat version of me is handing out business cards so I can stay in touch with these folks.
Unfortunately, I’ve always struggled with a little bit of a fractured psyche. I think it’s caused by too many years in puppet ministry and doing costume characters. Either way, flat Jared is slowly taking on a personality of his own. He even started his own twitter account, follow @flatjared.
Here’s some of his adventures from yesterday. For the most part, he’s been pretty tame. I’m not sure how long that will last.
Slices of Orange Conference
Apr 25th
I’ll be sharing some of the best tweets from Orange Conference 2012 right here. Of course, I’m sure to miss some, but if I read something that just has to be shared, this is where I’ll share it.
My personal favorite tweet from Orange is this first one.
There is only ONE person that EVER had a special annointing...and its NOT you. #OC12 #onlyjesus #gethumble
@JoeMcAlpine
Joe McAlpine
