Ken Thomas (KT) from Connect Ministries discusses his faith journey and how Connect Ministries serves local churches across the United States.

Key Takeaways

- Connect Ministries helps churches meet new people through programs like Connect Camps and Connect Marketing

- KT emphasizes the importance of parents taking primary responsibility for their children's spiritual development

- Churches are encouraged to focus on serving and ministering outside their walls to reach those not thinking about faith

- The "front door" of churches has shifted to online/social media presence, requiring new strategies

Topics

Connect Ministries Overview

- Nonprofit organization serving churches for 18 years

- Mission: Help churches meet new people

- Key programs:

- Connect Camps: Day camps partnering with local churches (325,000+ campers, 15,000+ accepted Christ)

- Connect Marketing: Helping churches with online/social media presence

Parental Role in Faith Development

- Parents have primary responsibility, not just the church

- Make faith conversations natural part of daily life

- Seek resources from church leaders for age-appropriate discipleship

- KT's personal experience starting a church pushed him to lead his kids' spiritual growth

Ministry Outside Church Walls

- Focus on serving community with no strings attached (e.g. volunteering as youth sports coaches)

- Story of Mike at basketball tournament - drawn in by volunteers' service

- Christians should be known as best employees, leaders, community members

- "You're now entering your mission field" mindset when leaving church

Changing Church "Front Door"

- Most people check out churches online 3-4 times before visiting

- Over 50% decide not to visit based on social media/website

- Connect Marketing helps churches improve online presence and strategy

- Many church staff not trained in digital communication/marketing

You can subscribe to the podcast at https://matthewefird.com.

Are you a seasonal business owner who's struggling to make ends meet during the winter months? Do you hate losing great staff when the weather turns cold because you don't have enough work to keep them employed year-round?

You could be a perfect fit for a Lighting Pros Franchise location! Learn more about Lighting Pros Franchise here: https://lightingprosfranchise.com

Would you consider yourself a corporate refugee or portfolio investor looking to get into business ownership in the emerging market of outdoor lighting? Would you be interested in an award-winning system focused on permanent holiday lights, landscape lighting, and temporary Christmas lights? Did you know that you can do outdoor lighting all year long? You could be a perfect fit for a Lighting Pros Franchise location! Learn more about Lighting Pros Franchise here: https://lightingprosfranchise.com

Interested in having Matthew speak at your upcoming Event? Go here: https://matthewefird.com

Looking for the best AI Notetaker? Check out my link to FathomAI and get a month of premium for free! https://fathom.video/invite/UT2ZaQ