First Look at Book Two!
About a year ago, I was nervously and excitedly awaiting the release of my first book, “Your Children’s Ministry From Scratch.” For over 17 years, I had been taking notes on everything I was learning as a full-time children’s pastor- as our kid’s church grew to over 600 kids, and we branched out to many sites. I thoroughly enjoyed setting up new kid’s ministry programs at our main campus and at our sites (at a mall, a public school, one old warehouse etc.) For quite some time, I had been noticing that children’s leaders everywhere I went had no prior training or experience in kid’s ministry before becoming the lead children’s leaders! These were just people that God called, people with a heart and a passion for children and families that God was enabling to do AMAZING ministry! I also realized that most of the time, I had to recommend a lot of different books for these new kid’s leaders and for my interns- one book about recruiting volunteers, another book on writing budgets, and yet another one on ministry safety etc. Since a lot of kid’s leaders also have full time jobs, reading all those books can be a challenge! I felt God laying it on my heart- a passion to write a manual to walk the new children’s leader through their first year of ministry- budgets, curriculum choosing, kid’s services with illustrative methods, safety checklists, recruitment techniques that WORK and so much more. I did a survey, asking children’s pastors from all over the country to contribute- and the response was overwhelming and heartwarming. Truly, the children’s ministry “family” is wonderful about sharing knowledge and resources!
My “problem” came in when I realized that I simply could not cover everything I wanted to cover in just one book! So we had to make the call to divide the book project into TWO separate books- the first book covering the practical steps for your first year in ministry, and the SECOND book going even further into your second year of ministry- and beyond. The second book, “Your Children’s Ministry Year 2 and Beyond” covers topics like “Fantastic Kid’s Worship Spaces on a Budget” featuring designs and insights from Pastor Ken Neff, “Special Needs Kid’s Ministry” “Positive Classroom Discipline Policies” “Dynamic Kid’s Worship” “Your Amazing Outreach, Step by Step,” and so much more. And since ministry is living and ever changing, I am so excited to go past the basics this time into the deeper “waters” of a growing kid’s ministry.
Last fall, we released the first half, “Your Children’s Ministry From Scratch”. Since then, I have been humbled and amazed at how God is using these little loaves and fish. The book has now become a standard textbook at several colleges, including my alma mater, North Central University in Mpls. It has sold well this year at conferences, leader trainings, and on Amazon and Kidology.org. It is currently in use in 11 different countries! Isn’t it amazing when God does exceedingly abundantly above what you expected?
I am working hard to see the second half released this fall, and I will keep updating as we get closer. I have a fantastic editor, and my illustrator from book one is back on board! As of right now, the book is coming along well, having gone to illustration design and then to final layout. It’s a long process, but I’m so blessed to see it coming along much quicker this time around. I will let everyone know when it finally goes “live.” I truly hope it blesses and enriches kid’s ministries in churches of all sizes and denominations and countries.
I want to thank those, from the bottom of my heart, who have prayed, donated and encouraged this project along. That is why it is taking shape. Thank you to all the big supporters from book 1 who have continued to support book 2 as well. You have enabled us to give some of these books away for no charge to missionaries and start up churches here and around the world. Our mission field is HUGE; and our leaders need the tools and training to reach kids with the greatest message they could ever hear.
If you would like more information on the first book “Your Children’s Ministry From Scratch”, you can check it out on today on Amazon orkidology.org. Do you know a missionary, start up church or leader who may need a book but may not be able to afford it? PLEASE email me or pm me on Facebook today- our heart is always for the kingdom first, and I’d love to help. If you would like more information on getting book 1 cheaper in bulk, or you are interested in supporting the book 2 project- including pre-ordering a copy or donating a copy for a missionary or college student, please email me at pastortrisha@gmail.com, or pm me on facebook and I’ll get you all the info on how you can help! I am going to be sending updates along the way to all of our book 2 supporters letting them know our progress and when to expect the launch as that draws closer.
Thank you again for all of your support of book 1, and I cannot wait to be able to offer you book 2! Lots of love, and many blessings on your ministry, now and in the future! Love Trisha
