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Flannel graph and powerpoint are dead...bury them next to puppet ministry!!!
OK, there is quite some discussion about puppet ministry...but flannel graph is over the limit on old school!!! Also if you are still using powerpoint, I strongly urge you to upgrade.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Let's do this thing!!!
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Let's do this thing!!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Potter on -
Thanks for the heads up Joe! I love looking around to see all of the different materials and methods available. I'm kind of a "mix it up in ministry" girl. Oooh, and by the way do you think me using the term "vcr" in my post showed my age, (and technical ability), too glaringly? I was totally thinking dvd.
Keep up the challenging. It's good for us all to prayerfully question our methods. Perhaps even you?
Sarah.
Joe McAlpine said:Sarah. I believe even for a small church with a small budget anything is possible. I have not always been at a large church so please understand that I know all about the frustrations of a small budget.
in regards to the cost effective comment I made. it was in relation to the size of church that Dave has listed in his profile.
There are free video curriculum alternatives for churches that just don't have extra budget. try Life church. Their stuff is great
Sarah Potter said:$100. a month (American), cost effective??? Talk about being out of touch! That would use up the yearly budget for a small church within just a few months. Just to watch something on TV, which they do all the time anyway. Where's the life-change in that?
Flannelgraphs and puppets in the wrong hands are a very dangerous thing - so is a vcr.
Joe McAlpine said:Elevate video curriculum runs less than 100 bucks a month. Very cost effective for a church of your size Dave.
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Permalink Reply by Ben CM on -
one of my favorite resources that really made me think twice about killing the flannel graph and puppet resources is Jellytelly.com the way they have takent he puppets and used video to enhance the experience is great! they even use flannel graph style animation to tell bible stories which looks great because of the way it is presented in the video.
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Permalink Reply by Todd Liebenow on -
Interesting that you would speak so highly of the Elevate series...and it is a great series (seriously, I love it). Here's a great sample that shows two interesting things...
1. They use puppets.
2. They use what is essentially flannel graph on video. Sorry, but the Chuck Jones fan in me won't let me call a Jonah who stands there and blinks "animation."
Click the Link: Adventures in Science
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Permalink Reply by Michael Chanley on -
Joe... I like you.
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Permalink Reply by Joe McAlpine on -
My 5 year old and 3 year old won't touch Jelly Telly because nickjr is cooler. My 2 year old likes it though.
Ben CM said:one of my favorite resources that really made me think twice about killing the flannel graph and puppet resources is Jellytelly.com the way they have takent he puppets and used video to enhance the experience is great! they even use flannel graph style animation to tell bible stories which looks great because of the way it is presented in the video.
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Permalink Reply by Joe McAlpine on
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They only use puppets in their jr series. They used a puppet once in their elementary stuff (Spy Chase) and it was kinda lame.
Yes it is only flash animation but it is still a far cry from a flannel graph
Todd Liebenow said:Interesting that you would speak so highly of the Elevate series...and it is a great series (seriously, I love it). Here's a great sample that shows two interesting things...
1. They use puppets.
2. They use what is essentially flannel graph on video. Sorry, but the Chuck Jones fan in me won't let me call a Jonah who stands there and blinks "animation."
Click the Link: Adventures in Science
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Permalink Reply by Joe McAlpine on
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I like you too!!! :)
Michael Chanley said:Joe... I like you.
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Permalink Reply by Todd Liebenow on
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Sorry Joe, that's not a true statement. That clip I Iinked to comes from "Adventures in Science" which is from "Peak One" of their series for K-5th Grade.
I'm not sure I follow how flash animation is a far cry from a flannel graph. Why? Because it's on a screen? It's still just a voice talking over images of characters that aren't moving.
Here's the thing, Joe, I'm not a big fan of flannel graph myself. However...full disclosure here...I am a puppeteer. Started playing with puppets at age 2, joined a church puppet team at 12, turned professional at 23, and at 38 I'm still doing it. The company I work for built the puppet you see in that clip, as a matter of fact. Every day I get to interact with people whose lives have been changed thorugh a message presented with puppets and who are now doing the same to reach others. Many of the people I interact with are Tweens and Teens who are actively serving their church's children's ministry on the puppet team...THAT is a far cry from how many of their peers get to serve in their church's children's department (bring the cookies out for snack time and such). Having been doing this for 15 years now, I'm seeing many of the young people who were just puppet team members as teenagers now moving into full time ministry as children's pastors in their churches. I know of several who are active on this social networking site.
I realize I'm getting back to the puppets thing on the flannel graph thread, but your statements such as: "If your program thrives on puppets, then you are missing what Elementary kids are REALLY into" have me baffled. If a children's ministry is thriving and puppets (or for that matter flannel graph) are a part of that...what on earth is wrong with that!! The program is thriving!! Kids are being reached!! Kids are being saved!! That defines "thriving" to me.
Here's what I've found kids are REALLY into...being a part of what's going on. Every kid in children's church shoots their hand into the air when the teacher says "I need a helper for something." Hundreds of churches do this by using young people as puppeteers. Are they as good as Jim Henson...Great Googily Moogly, NO! But they are serving God with their talents, learning new talents, and being discipled in the process. They are being taught that serving in your church is an important thing, and what's great is that they are doing it in children's department (hopefully they will stay there the rest of their lives). And, quite frankly, if the kids in their audiences weren't responding to it, they wouldn't be doing it. They'd be getting an earfull from their peers saying how stupid the puppets are and you're a dork if you're on the puppet team.
I'm sure you're a good guy, Joe. I'm glad you've found ways of connecting with the families you serve and I'm all for discussing how to and how not to use certain tools. But, this role of being the children's ministry police...it doesn't reflect well on you...it's not your calling, man. Don't become one of those people who's "ministry" is to tell everyone else what's wrong with their ministries. As I'm typing this I've been praying that the Holy Spirit give me the right words...I don't want this to come off nasty, but I don't think you see the way some of your words come across. I hope that you will encourage people in the areas that have been successful for you, and allow the rest of us to do the same with our gifts without being told how out of touch we are.
Joe McAlpine said:They only use puppets in their jr series. They used a puppet once in their elementary stuff (Spy Chase) and it was kinda lame.
Yes it is only flash animation but it is still a far cry from a flannel graph
Todd Liebenow said:Interesting that you would speak so highly of the Elevate series...and it is a great series (seriously, I love it). Here's a great sample that shows two interesting things...
1. They use puppets.
2. They use what is essentially flannel graph on video. Sorry, but the Chuck Jones fan in me won't let me call a Jonah who stands there and blinks "animation."
Click the Link: Adventures in Science
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Permalink Reply by Brandon on -
Just to make sure I got this -- if my flannel graph presentation is boring, if I go and videotape it, and import it into MediaShout, the kids will then like it. And if I put said video on a DVD and send it home, I'm good.
Truth be told, when we first discover "media", we tend to believe this for a little bit (that kids can't get bored with it because it's technology!! Finally! With this DVD I hold in my hand . . . Automated Children's Ministry!), but kids just aren't wired up that way.
My point... the means of delivery absolutely *does not matter* if it works for you.
Interesting thread, though. Good to see a few different perspectives.
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Permalink Reply by Scott Raney on -
Joe,
Since you have shared so strongly your opinion, here's mine.
I have been in full-time ministry to kids for 17 years. I have seen the changes. Mostly good, but not always.
It always comes down to relationships. Jesus made that clear.
Flannelgraphs work ------- for pre-school age children. Is it the only way to teach God's Word to a young child, no.
Puppet ministry works----- if you have the right people involved. We have a few different characters that we use throughout the month. Each of these puppets interacts with a leader. The kids at our church love them. Do we use them every week, no. Why, repetition with characters develops boredom. Each of these characters have a distinct personality. The key is to have people do skits that are witty. Sometimes the skit may change in the middle, and you need someone who can think on their feet (not really, puppets don't traditionally have feet).
Powerpoint--- still works. If you are only using it for text only, it doesn't work. I can do amazing things with powerpoint with custom animation, triggers, timings, hyperlinks, and the use of animationfactory.com. Get to know the benefits of powerpoint.
Skits- Kids love to see people act. We have many different characters that we incorporate (Rusty Wrench, Prof. Polefish, Howie Filmit and Grandpa Spiffy)
Do I use videos, yes!!! I regularly rip youtube clips to incorporate into our service. I also use sermonspice.com and kidzmatter.com. We use ProPresenter and it makes the techie stuff run smoothly.
I do Facebook, iphone, and texting and all the other ways to communicate too.
The reality is this, use all the tools out there. The message hasn't changed in 2000 years, but the methods do. Don't use 1 method only and say, hey that works.
That is my 2 cents (worth only a penny though).
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Permalink Reply by Amy Hardeman on -
We use flannel boards SOME weeks at our after school Bible club, since we can't take all our equipment to the school. The kids love it because they've never seen it before. In fact, one day, one of the kids asked me, "Pastor Amy, how do those pictures stay up there? Is it the power of God?"
Kate said:I have to disagree about the flannel graphs. It has been around so long that it is new for our kindergarteners. We have some very gifted ladies who can keep the attention of our active 4s & 5s for over 10 minutes! While it isn't an every Sunday thing, it is neat to see the diversity that the teachers bring out. They also are able to have the kids interact with the characters in this way.
Power Point still works to show pictures of our ministry to the rest of the church during presentations.
Just some thoughts. I'll have to check out the Media Shout though. We use it for our worship services, never thought of using it for CM.
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Permalink Reply by Joe McAlpine on
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Thanks for your opinion Scott. I respect your outlook on this subject.
Scott Raney said:Joe,
Since you have shared so strongly your opinion, here's mine.
I have been in full-time ministry to kids for 17 years. I have seen the changes. Mostly good, but not always.
It always comes down to relationships. Jesus made that clear.
Flannelgraphs work ------- for pre-school age children. Is it the only way to teach God's Word to a young child, no.
Puppet ministry works----- if you have the right people involved. We have a few different characters that we use throughout the month. Each of these puppets interacts with a leader. The kids at our church love them. Do we use them every week, no. Why, repetition with characters develops boredom. Each of these characters have a distinct personality. The key is to have people do skits that are witty. Sometimes the skit may change in the middle, and you need someone who can think on their feet (not really, puppets don't traditionally have feet).
Powerpoint--- still works. If you are only using it for text only, it doesn't work. I can do amazing things with powerpoint with custom animation, triggers, timings, hyperlinks, and the use of animationfactory.com. Get to know the benefits of powerpoint.
Skits- Kids love to see people act. We have many different characters that we incorporate (Rusty Wrench, Prof. Polefish, Howie Filmit and Grandpa Spiffy)
Do I use videos, yes!!! I regularly rip youtube clips to incorporate into our service. I also use sermonspice.com and kidzmatter.com. We use ProPresenter and it makes the techie stuff run smoothly.
I do Facebook, iphone, and texting and all the other ways to communicate too.
The reality is this, use all the tools out there. The message hasn't changed in 2000 years, but the methods do. Don't use 1 method only and say, hey that works.
That is my 2 cents (worth only a penny though).
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