MinistryGear

Pop Culture & T-Shirts

2012-02-03T01:41:08Z

Do our ministies relate to youth where they are at? Do we even want to go to where they are at? I'm not talking about geography here. Where are american teens at? T-Shirts have become a part of the American culture ever since the end of WWII. Many Christian organizations have been responsible for some of the ugliest and lame T-Shirts on the planet. Why don't we get it? If you want to relate to teens go where they go and learn about what they are interested in. Apply that you our ministry and we are just a little bit closer. If you go int o the mall you will see what types of shirts kids are wearing. Thats your biggest clue to what types of shirts your Youth Group should be ordering.

Where VBS T-Shirts come from.

2012-01-17T17:19:41Z

This week we are working on getting our 120+ designs up for VBS this year. Our sister website www.vbsTshirts.com is built specifically for Children's Ministry directors and pastors who need T-Shirts for their VBS. This year we will have more designs than ever to help ya'll with your VBS t-Shirts.

Over the years of printing T-Shirts we found that VBS had become one of the most challenging events to get shirts for. The publishers produce artwork that is beautiful, but would costs an arm and a let to print on shirts so many people are left with the option of buying generic expensive shirts from the publisher or finding someone to design a shirt just for their church. Thats when we realized we were already doing that type of work every year for many of the churches we do work for all year long, why not offer that service to everyone!

Thats where the idea for vbsTshirts came from.... If you wer wondering.

How does a happy MinistryGear customer sound?

2012-01-13T20:58:22Z

Ministry Gear Team,

I cannot even begin to express how blessed we are to have learned about your company! Your team of design experts have been professional ever since day one, prompt, courteous, and willing to put up with a client (us) that demands a lot – and you’ve done it all free of charge so far! In this day and age, a lot of companies wouldn’t be willing to do that. Believe me, I know.

Seriously though, on behalf of everyone here, we just wanted to take the time to say ‘Thank You!’ because your willingness to create designs and do revisions BEFORE an order is even placed is what separates you from all the other vendors out there. As Christians, we are not ruled by a spirit of fear, but as good stewards of the limited resources that God has blessed this ministry with, it is very important for us to watch every penny we spend and make sure we’re getting the most for our money and just doing things right. In addition, this is our first time jumping into this area and so we appreciate your willingness to work with us and to be flexible when it comes to new ideas for us like ‘Minimum Quantities’ and ‘Bulk Pricing’. I know we haven’t gotten to that part yet, but I am confident that even that aspect of what you all do will blow us away even more so than your designs. That reminds me! You’ve definitely assembled a strong team of artistic experts and it shows in the creativity and the uniqueness of your work – thank you very much! If I’ve left anyone off of this email that should be thanked, then please share this message with them. We just felt that this needed to be said.

I will send you all one more email with some final questions/thoughts early next week as we continue to move closer and closer to finalizing things and placing our orders for 2012.

Have a wonderful weekend!

In Christ,

Jeffrey

Youth Group Shirt Philosophy

2012-01-09T15:00:00Z

If you go to a concert with your kids (for a band they love), odds are they will buy an over-priced t-shirt. It says “something cool happened here and I want to remember it.” Sure, the band makes extra money on the shirt, but they also use them to build loyalty in their fans and to reach out to new ones. When a student wears that t-shirt to school, he or she is making a series of powerful identity statements: “I am proud of where I have been,” “This is what I like,” and “You can ask me about this group.” Why are we not as wise as the world when it comes to building community in a youth group and supporting identity formation with our teens?

Now, lots of shirts are horrible and they can be over-used. I doubt I would get a generic “youth group” shirt; too much like a uniform for working at Wendy’s. But when the church, the parents, the youth workers, and I have significantly invested in the kind of ministry event or activity that we hope brings about life change, a t-shirt is a low-cost way to extend in both individual and group memory.

What do you do to build a youth group identity? How do you reinforce the sense of belonging in tangible ways? What do you use as markers of significant experiences in the life of your group or individuals?

Use a QR code to promote your ministry?

2012-01-05T16:41:18Z

What do you think, how can you use this tool? Share your ideas with us!!!!

Printing a QR code will take people to a specific website when scanned. Here are 3 ideas I had, but I want to hear from you.

1. Take your youth group to page that reviews what they learned at camp?

2. Take them to a website that promotes the upcomming event?

3. An outreach tool that takes people to a video sharing the gospel!

Why are you buying t-shirts for ministry?

2011-12-17T15:50:15Z

Think about the reasons for making custom t-shrits from the beginning. Do you want to communicate a theme or a verse in a creative way? Is it to create interest in others? Is it to raise awareness of an event? Is it to promote your Youth Ministry's identity? Answering questions like these will help you get the most out of your Ministry T-shirts. Once you have this answer in mind it makes all the design questions fall into place!

Haiti Relief

2010-12-03T17:49:39Z

Haiti Disaster Relief:

A way everyone can help, One T-Shirt at a time!

You Get T-shirts from us for $3.95 or less depending on how many you order + we pay the shipping and include the name of your church or organization on the shirt! 100% of our net proceeds will go to Haiti Relief!

Your group sells each for a $15 donation creating $11.00 in proceeds!!!!

For Example: 100 shirts will generate $1,500. $395 covers the cost of the shirts and your left with $1,100 that can then be donated to a charity of your choice, like Help the Children.org or Children's Hunger Fund that works to send food and supplies to those who need it in Haiti.

SuperCharge it!

Find a local business that would make a donation/sponsorship for the cost of the T-shirt in exchange for having their logo printed on the shirt. Then every penny collected could go directly to the people in Haiti. Consider asking for a $20.00 donation per shirt and you have now created $2,000 in proceeds with the same 100 shirts!

If your group could sell 200, 500, 1,000, or even 1,500 shirts think of the impact that can make on the needy people of Haiti!

Inspired?

The inspiration for this came from a girl named Sydney Drain, of Spring Texas, a senior at Klein Collins High School, she created and sold T-shirts to raise $30,000 to drill 30 clean-water wells in Sudan. Sydney sold her shirts in six weeks through her church and several schools, and sent the proceeds to "Water is Basic," an organization that develops water resources for Sudanese villages.

Haiti T-Shirt Prices Add $1.00 for 2XL, $2.00 for 3XL
Qty	Gray	White
1500	$2.95	$2.75
720	$3.15	$2.95
576	$3.25	$3.05
432	$3.35	$3.15
288	$3.55	$3.35
144	$3.75	$3.55
96	$3.95	$3.65

Printed on a White or Heather Gray Gildan T-Shirt.

Sizes:

Youth Small 6-8
Youth Medium 10-12
Youth Large 14-16
Adult Small
Adult Medium
Adult Large
Adult XLarge
Adult XXLarge

Rising Cotton Prices

2010-11-19T01:26:55Z

As most of you are aware, our industry is dealing with rising costs of labor & expenses due to the rising costs in cotton, materials, parts from overseas. We've done really well in absorbing those costs and maintaining what we believe is the best services in the country. Unfortunately, in order for us to maintain that level we must increase some of our pricing for 2011. We are keeping things where they are for now but based on what is happening to prices we think it is just a matter of time before we will be forced to raise our prices.

Next Level Apparel

2010-11-19T01:20:08Z

Next Level apparel offers some great shirts with a great style to them. If your wanting to move away from the boxy 100% cotton T-Shirt that has always been around this is a great option! Their prices are pretty reasonable too!

January-February Winner!!!

2010-03-01T15:23:54Z

Covenant Youth has won the January-February T-Shirt Contest with 54 votes! They have earned $100.00 off their next order, Great Job!

CBET was super close with 49 Votes! So I wanted to give them honorable mention!