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At Granger, we believe kids and students aren’t just the church of the future—they are the Church today. Watch a recent video from Granger’s summer camp, where middle school students get to experience the love of Jesus in an incredible environment each summer.

How do you keep students engaged and growing week after week? We’re hosting Kids and Students workshops to address that very question. We’ll talk through planning and executing weekly programs and more! Come with questions and be ready to collaborate and share ideas about:

  • How to build and train volunteer leaders
  • Creative ways to get your message across
  • How to get students out of their seats and into serving the community
  • Planning life-changing mission trips, camps, retreats and events

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

You’re probably just about ready for some sun. Have you considered Granger, Indiana, as your next vacation destination? Perhaps you’ve always longed to see the cornfields of Northern Indiana. No?

Hmm. How about considering Granger as a learning destination then? Wednesday and Thursday, May 18 and 19, WiredChurches.com will be hosting a variety of workshops at Granger Community Church, just 90 miles east of Chicago.

It’s easy. Pick one of the following workshops to attend all day. Come for one day or stay for two. Your materials and lunch are included. The experience? It will be packed with real-life examples of what works and what doesn’t, with space for questions and interaction.

The cost? Right now it’s just $99 per person, per day. Or $89 for groups of 2–5, or $79 for groups of 6 or more. Attend both days of workshops and get a further discount: $20 off per day!

Wednesday, May 18

Thursday, May 19

  • Creative & Communication Arts: Learn about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series.
  • Groups: Facilitate a working strategy to keep people engaged and discipled.
  • Kids: Learn about environments, curriculum and utilizing volunteers to help kids meet Jesus.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

First Impressions
Presenter: Mark Waltz, Executive Pastor
Learn how to make great first impressions with guests (old and new). Discover ways to:

  • Gain clarity and get intentional about the experience you desire for your guests.
  • Build your team—the right team—from the ground up.
  • Cultivate volunteer “wow-makers.”
  • Determine the “rules” your church has (even if you don’t know them yet) and learn what to do about them.
  • Experience hands-on training that will empower your staff and your volunteers.

Students
Presenter: John Keim, Pastor of Granger Student Ministries
How do you keep students engaged and growing week after week? We’ll talk through planning and executing weekly programs and more! Be ready to collaborate and share ideas about:
  • How to build and train leadership teams.
  • Creative ways to get your message across.
  • How to get students out of their seats and serving in the community.
  • Planning life-changing mission trips, camps, retreats and events.


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Creative and Communication Arts
Presenters: Sean Bublitz, Creative Arts Pastor, and Jami Ruth, Communications Director
Learn about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series through:
  • Timelines and brainstorming creative ideas.
  • Executing a series plan.
  • Q&A with your Granger staff/volunteer counterpart (in web, production and sound, worship, design, promotions, film and more).
  • An optional weekend rehearsal experience Wednesday evening.

Groups
Presenter: Josh King, Director of Discipleship
Life is better in groups. We’ll talk through a working strategy to keep people engaged and discipled through groups. We’ll discuss the challenges and practical framework necessary to:
  • Look at the role groups play in discipleship.
  • Understand group structure.
  • Recruit and train healthy group leaders.
  • Organize curriculum and a yearly schedule.
  • Oversee group growth (numerically and spiritually).

Kids
Presenter: Ted Bryant, Pastor of Family Ministry
A healthy kids’ ministry has enormous impact. This is for leaders and volunteers who want to learn how to:
  • Create environments that inspire kids at their level and encourage learning and relational connection.
  • Plan and develop curriculum, music and more to make the Bible and relationships come alive.
  • Find, keep and utilize volunteers to make it happen every weekend.
  • Incorporate a special needs ministry to help every child take steps toward Christ.

Come for one day or stay for both days to maximize your learning!

 

So you’re just dying to get to Granger, Indiana this summer for a workshop, but it’s not in your budget. You’ve got a few burning questions to ask and want them answered by someone in your ministry field. The answer? Webinars.

These FREE one-hour, online sessions with a Granger ministry leader will be open to up to 100 people per session. You’ll need a computer with speakers and high-speed internet access. The price is $0, but you still have to register so we can send you instructions on how to access the webinar when it’s time. The hour will fly by, but bring one or two questions you’re wanting to ask, and be prepared to enjoy some Q & A and learn from others’ questions.

Webinars that will be available, starting August 7:

  • Series Development and Programming – August 7
  • Communications (Prioritization) – August 28
  • Student Ministry – September 11
  • Kids’ Ministry – September 25
  • Developing Guest Services Culture & Training Volunteers – October 9
  • Multisite – October 23
  • Human Resources – November 6
  • Finance – November 20
Register now. See you online!

by Kem Meyer, Communications Director

I first became aware of your work back in 2007, just after Granger made headlines for the “PureSex” series promotion, which included some suggestive billboards around town. Some people said you went too far with that. How do you know when to go big, to push the envelope; and when to keep things a little more subtle?

There’s no simple answer for this question—and I get this question a lot. Speaking the language of our culture is always going to take us into places of uncomfortable tension because we have the burden of knowledge and desire for purity. And, like every topic under the sun, there will be liberal and conservative debates about it. But, I think it’s worth the risk and you have to find where your own personal conviction lies. It’s different for every church and maybe even different for each pastor on staff at the same church.

Last year, we did a series called “Sex for Sale” and we were fine with it. No moral conflict whatsoever. Ironically enough, the series won us hate mail and phone calls from people who called us evil and corrupt and reported us to the Attorney General and Better Business Bureau. (I kid you not.)

I don’t fear the wrath of what other church people think about the risks we take. Instead, I fear the thought of people who will live an eternity without experiencing Christ. Sometimes, we have to lower the bar so someone can accept the invitation to a higher bar. (I stole that line from John Burke.)

(Excerpt from Ministry Matters Interview | 4 in series of 6)

Our One-Day Workshops are happening this Friday and Saturday. These are intense and focused, interactive learning environments that your whole team can take advantage of. Get away for one day and join us at Granger Commons on Friday, April 25 to learn more about First Impressions, Communications and Kids’ Ministry. Then stay with your team for the Arts All-Access workshop on Saturday, April 26 where you’ll go behind the scenes and attend the Saturday night service.

Did you know WiredChurches hosts workshops twice a year, led by world-class leaders in a variety of fields? And did you know they are a quick, affordable way to strengthen and inspire entire teams of people in one day? And did you also know we have a fresh batch of them coming next month?

It’s true! Now you know. Here’s what we have coming up in April—click the thumbnails for more information on each one:


Learn how to make great first impressions with the guests (old and new)
who walk in the doors of your church.


Have your message be heard loud and clear in every deliverable—
through what people read, touch or click.


From birth through fifth grade, a healthy kids’ ministry can have an enormous
impact on the children and families in our communities.


Go behind the scenes with Granger’s creative and production arts teams
to experience a download of Granger’s creative process and structure.

The First Impressions, Communications and Kids’ Ministry Workshops are one-day events that run from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. on Fridays. The Arts All-Access is a Saturday workshop, from 10 a.m.–6:10 p.m. Lunch will be provided for all workshops. So come with your team on Friday and stay for Saturday’s All-Access event, which includes attending a Saturday evening service. All events are held on the Granger Community Church Campus at Granger Commons near South Bend, IN, just 90 miles east of Chicago and five miles east of the University of Notre Dame.