May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may He bring you peace.

When I was asked to be a part of leading our church plant, I was both ecstatic and apprehensive. While building something from the ground up wasn’t new to me, I questioned if I was up for the task. How could I do it all? Was my desire to teach children and lead them towards Jesus enough?

Maybe you are in that same place. Uncertain of your qualifications or weary of the amount of work you have ahead of you. Let me tell you: God is right there with you, and any doubts you have, you can tell Him.

I didn’t have any apprehension in saying yes, but I did have uncertainty about how this would look. Where do I even start? Beginning new ministries and programs within a church has more differences from church planting than I originally realized. However, I had a foundation for the essentials of vision, safety, and planning from my ministry experiences. What I needed to do was take time to reflect, pray, dream, and write.

A word of caution: it is so easy to jump into the details and logistics. Those details are important but the timing of when you prioritize them is even more important. You don’t want to be choosing paint colors and branding (while that is SUPER FUN!) before you have a vision and mission for your church and children’s ministry.

The order of how you do things is important.

Where should you begin when leading in a church plant?

PRAYER

I think it goes without saying but prayer. We always need to remember to invite God into our thoughts and decisions. We know that the Holy Spirit can guide us, but we need to be attuned to the Spirit. Starting with prayer and continuing to pray throughout the entire process is necessary and the most helpful.

So, pause for a moment and reflect: What am I noticing about this process right now? Where am I sensing God’s Spirit moving? Where do I feel overwhelmed? What is making me feel uncertain?

Take those questions to God and ask for wisdom as you move forward. Revisit these questions throughout your planning and stay attuned to God’s Spirit.

REFLECT and ASSESS

No matter where you are at in the process, pausing to reflect and assess is critical to movement. Just as you paused in reading this article, make sure to prioritize times of reflection. What I found easiest was setting a recurring time on my calendar that I would pause and assess what was happening.

This is helpful when so many pieces of planning are coming together at once that you need to plan to take a step back and look at what is happening. Invite others into the assessment process and reflect together. When you have trusted people around you, this step isn’t scary. They are with you through it all!

VISION, MISSION, and VALUES

It is time to start your dream phase and what better way to start than with your vision or mission statement. If your church plant doesn’t already have a vision or mission statement that is short, clear and understandable, now is the perfect time to pray and create! Your mission statement needs to be clear and broad. For many, the greatest commandment from Jesus becomes the right vision statement: Love God. Love Others.

Here is the question you need to answer: Why do you have a ministry with children? The answer to this question will be your big picture for ministry and will be the foundation for which you build your church’s children’s ministry?

After you have established your vision, you move into naming your context. Where is your church located? Who is around you? What is unique about your ministry context? The answers to these questions help you know who you are serving and what you need to consider as you create the environment of your children’s ministry.

Now you get to focus on your values or goals. These values need to flow from the understanding of your context and from the umbrella of your vision statement. What are the goals or values of your ministry? What do you hope to cultivate within the children in your ministry?

Long-Term and Vision-Based Values

These values are ones that are long-term and based on vision. Remember that how you meet a goal or support a value can change over time, but the value itself does not.

For instance, at my church, one of our values is Formation: Becoming like Jesus. In our church, this value is upheld through our focus on spiritual practices. We have this same value in our children’s ministry: We desire to help kids grow to become more like Jesus through knowing God’s Word, seeing their place in God’s story, and experiencing who God is.

We teach spiritual practices that are crafted with our kids in mind.

HOW and WHAT KIDS LEARN

This is where my Type-A children’s ministry leaders are going to thrive! You are now getting to some of the details of starting a children’s ministry. You know your context and you have your vision and values. Now, you must think about how you want to shape a child’s faith as you lead in your church plant. How do you want to shape a child’s faith?

You need to answer this question before you jump into what they will learn. You need to think about the how. And then you get to ask: What are the ways that you want to help your kids learn? What different ways of learning do you need to express in your ministry to help kids grow in their faith?

I realized early-on that I needed to make sure that I provided a variety of ways to encounter the Bible, from reading it, to seeing and experiencing it in action, to discussing it. This meant that I had some criteria for my planning and what I was looking for in teaching resources and curriculum.

SAFETY, VOLUNTEERS, and STUFF

One of the largest tasks for leading a ministry in a church plant is establishing a safe environment and having a process for onboarding and approving volunteers for serving.

These two go hand-in-hand since one of most important ways to create a safe environment is through a protection screening for volunteers. Having an application for serving, reference check, policy acknowledgement, interview, and background check are critical steps to protecting your kids AND volunteers. Make sure to check the requirements of your state as well since certain states require all volunteers to be mandated reporters. There is additional training and certification if this is the case in your state.

Check-In

Another component to establishing a safe environment is managing a check-in system. How will you ensure that when the children in your ministry are with you that they return to the proper family when service is over? Depending on how you set up your ministry, whether children are dropped off with you at the beginning of service or if they will be dismissed at a certain point in the service, you need to have a plan for safely taking kids to and from your gathering space.

TIP: Planning Center offers their check-in software for free if you are a children’s ministry under a certain size. Once you grow, they are super affordable too!

Finally, you get to do some of the details that you were probably thinking about at the beginning of this article: what stuff do I need to buy or find for our children’s ministry? I hate to break it to you, but this is a hard question to answer universally. That is because only YOU know your context.

For my context, we did not have any infant-age 2 kids when we planted. That meant that while I did not need an evacuation crib (one on wheels), changing table, or rocking chair, there was a strong possibility that I would need them in the future. Make a list of items that you know you will need day one to establish a safe environment.

The Children’s Ministry Handbook is a great FREE resource that will help you think through many of these details. This could help you immensely as you lead in your church plant.

You’ve got this! Remember, you don’t do this alone. God is with you, and the children’s ministry community is here with you too.

I leave you with this blessing:

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may He bring you peace.

I am the executive director and founder of Soar Special Needs. SOAR stands for Special Opportunities, Abilities, and Relationships. And we’re a nonprofit that helps answer three of the main questions every parent with an individual with disability has.

First, will my child ever be able to provide for themselves?
Secondly, who will take care of my child once I’m gone?
Thirdly, who will take care of me as a parent or a caregiver?

Those are questions that keep these families awake at night. If you are a parent of a neurotypical child, you are less likely to have to dream of those questions.

And, frequently, the church isn’t there to help them through these.

Everyone calls me Doc. I’m a pediatric ER doctor, so it fits. I’ve also been a children’s pastor in a ministry where we grew to over a thousand kids in about three years. And during that time, I was blessed with my second son Mark.

Unfortunately, today only 11% of churches would accept my son. You see, my son Mark had Dravet Syndrome, a very rare genetic seizure disorder and autism. Only 11% of churches, parishes, and synagogues in the United States today welcome families with disabilities. 89% turn them away and say, you’re not welcome.

It’s not right. And most importantly, it’s not biblical.

But here’s the bottom line. You are unable to be a world-class children’s ministry unless you welcome families with disabilities. It just cannot happen otherwise.

The Hard Statistics

Today, 90% of individuals with special needs in the United States do not attend church. It’s the largest unmet people group in the United States. There are three reasons why these families don’t attend church.

1. They’re afraid their child is not going to be taken care of. We know that’s right because we already said only 11% of churches know what they’re doing.
   
2. Secondly, they know the burden they carry, and they don’t want to be a burden to the church.
   
3. And third, they’ve been asked to leave the church too many times before, and they’re afraid that God has given up on them.

Church, we must do better.

According to the CDC today, 26% of the US population has a diagnosis of special needs or disability making them the largest minority group in the United States. And by this time next year, that number’s estimated to be 37%, well over one-third of the country.

The divorce rate for families with disabilities is 90%. You add to that a medical diagnosis—like diabetes or seizures—and it jumps to 95%. It’s unimaginable. Why? Because the stress of being a parent is 24/7/365. You never get a break. And the church isn’t there to help these families.

75% of Jesus’ miracles listed in the Bible were done for individuals with special needs. He healed the lame, He healed the blind, He healed the deaf. Remember that every individual with special needs is created the image and likeness of God. There is no difference. God created them on purpose, for a purpose.

The Biblical Purpose

So, why do we need to do a special needs ministry? Because it is a biblical mandate.

Luke 14: 12-14 NIV says, “Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

This is the model of inclusion. Why? Because God’s Church needs those with disabilities just as much as those with disabilities need the Church.

We need to minister to and integrate those with special needs into the life of the church and give them opportunities to actively serve. You know, when I see and read the Great Commission, I don’t see any disclaimers on who should be included. It says we’re to go into all the world and share the gospel. No where does it say only those with an IQ over 70, only those who are able to walk, or only those who are able to speak. It says all.

It’s ministry with and ministry by. It’s where everyone is present, invited, welcomed, known, accepted, supported, cared for, befriended, needed, and loved.

3 Ways to Minister through Classrooms

There are three different ways that we can set up classrooms. There’s inclusion, segregation, and integration.

1. Let’s start by talking about inclusion. Pure inclusion is where the individual is in their typical class with a one-on-one buddy or an aide. They’re a guide on the side who can help them with everything. These classrooms are where all students are vital members of the class. They feel connected to their peers, and they have a meaningful general curriculum, but they have additional support to help them succeed. And, and so they’re in their age appropriate or their developmentally appropriate classroom.
   
2. Our second type is a self-contained or segregated classroom. This means having a special class for all the individuals with special needs and no neurotypical peers. This is best suited for those individuals who do not do well in or benefit from the typical classroom. So, when in a children’s ministry setting, we’re only talking about 5-10% of kids here.
   
3. The third is a combination where children with special needs have their own classroom, but it’s in with everybody else. They can still be with all their friends in the beginning for worship, etc., but they’ve got their special learning time that can be tailored for them and really help them in learning everything that they need to as they go through all that.

With all of these types, it may also be great to have a sensory room for children to go to when they feel overwhelmed.

Getting the Right Volunteers

I think the four most important letters in the alphabet are I-C-N-U (I see in you). And let me tell you how this works. Each and every one of you, your main job every Sunday is not making sure all the volunteers are in place, not making sure all the kids are in their ministry, not making sure everything is good, the curriculum’s ready, and you’ve got your lesson down. Your most important job is observing every single person who comes into your ministry area.

Because just about every church I know follows an 80-20 rule, 80% of the work’s done by 20% of the people.

That tells me 80% of your church walk into your service, sit there, collect dust during the message, stand up, knock off the dust, and walk out to get their kids. That’s who we have to go after. Go up to them and say something like this:

I-C-N-U: I See in You

“I’ve been observing you the last couple of weeks. And I just have to tell you, I see in you. I see in you someone who has an amazing heart for people. I see in you someone who loves people. And I’ve got a simple question for you. Can you be a friend?”

Guess what! I’ve never had anyone tell me, no, they can’t be a friend. Ask them to pray about it for a couple of weeks. I’ve also never had anyone tell me, no, they won’t pray. Ask them to search their heart and see if they could be a friend to someone with special needs. Tell them you’ll train them and help them if the answer is yes, but first ask them to pray.

And if they come back with a yes, work with them. Don’t make them serve more than they can and appreciate them for what they can give.

For your first training, call it anything but a training. And if you want people to show up, bring snacks. Play a quick game, share a quick word, and then get into it. Be sure to end your time with fellowship.

This is the beginning of something beautiful in your ministry when you love God and love people really well.

HeartShaper

Instilling God’s Word in every child’s heart

With our easy-to-follow lessons, teachers can focus on kids’ unique needs while helping them hide God’s Word in their hearts.

Learn more

If we’re really honest, what’s meant to be a time celebrating the Prince of Peace turns into a time of balancing chaos and stress.

Outside of typically having to run the adorable, tiring, well-worth-it Christmas children’s program, we also host something special the weekend before Christmas, find a time to celebrate and gift our volunteers, all while getting the extras prepped for our regularly scheduled programming. We’re balancing relationships and longer-than-normal task lists.

It’s easy to get swept into the seemingly endless preparation of the Christmas season for crafts, special projects, festive snacks, volunteer gifts, and all the other things we do outside of our church responsibilities.

It can leave us tired, weary, and cranky. And it can put us in a space where we aren’t experiencing the joy of Christmas. But we can’t let that happen!

So, how do we avoid the Christmas burnout? Here are 5 ways to prepare and protect your joy this Christmas season.

5 Ways to Protect Your Christmas Joy in Ministry

Prepare to get things done.

Yes! Prepare, prepare, prepare!

There is a lot to do in the Christmas season. During this time, it is especially important to make sure we stay organized, on task, and prepped so that we can get things done as early as possible. It’s also important to delegate in anticipation of this busy season.

Delegating appropriately gives you space to get your follow-up systems in place and helps you avoid as many ‘last minute’ tasks as possible. It’s not just ministry leaders who are especially busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Take care of your soul and take mental breaks.

Between home, work, and church, life seems to be non-stop. If we aren’t careful, we can run ourselves dry very quickly.

It’s key to stay rooted in Scripture, prayer, and worship in all the seasons we walk through. Times of busyness can’t be excluded from that.

Find ways to take mental breaks. Find the things that work for you and do them. Stop at your favorite coffee shop and sit and enjoy a moment before you go to work. Take a short walk around your church to get out of your office. Play a game with your fellow staff members and enjoy one another’s company for no other reason but to connect.

Take 10-15 minutes when you need it. It can really help in times of stress!

How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

Download your ministry burnout guide

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How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

Download your ministry burnout guide

Free Guide

How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

Download your ministry burnout guide

Free Guide

Remind yourself of the why of this Christmas season.

We are not doing what we do in order to bolster the numbers, put on an impressive program, or wow anyone with festive decorations. We are doing what we do because of the very meaning behind this season. So keep your joy and your peace!

What reminds you of that? It could be as simple as reading a portion of the Christmas story every day. Post a sign on your office door. Or maybe even go all out and wear one of those pins with that saying on it!

And to help you in this, stay extra connected to your family in this time. God did not call you to lead your children’s ministry at the expense of your family. It is so easy, especially during a busy season such as this, to allow our ministry to overtake our family. We all have to adjust to make sure this doesn’t happen, so we encourage you to find the ways that work for you.

Attend a worship service for worship (and nothing more).

Attending services is always important for children’s and family ministry leaders and volunteers, but it rings especially true in this season of Advent.

We understand that it’s difficult sometimes with your requirements to oversee your program. But please find a way! Even if it means attending another church’s service this time of year. Sit with your family, your spouse, your children as a member of their family and not as the children’s pastor. And rest in His goodness!

Finally, bless your volunteers.

Children’s ministry thrives for many reasons, not the least of which is our volunteers. It matters how we care for our volunteers. We must find ways to serve them and bless them throughout the year, but Christmas is an especially opportune time to do this.

• Give them permission to not volunteer in additional Christmas programs.
• Send them a personal note of thanks, not only for all that they do, but for who they are to you.
• Make an effort to make sure they attend the special Christmas services and events, not just serve in them.
• Personally drop by to give them a small gift of thanks for their commitment to children’s ministry.
• Have the kids in their class (or better yet, also the parents) sign a card expressing their appreciation and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Christmas is a time of celebration, but it still takes hard work and commitment from our volunteers. Take this natural opportunity to say thanks and bless the volunteers who work so hard with you and on behalf of your kids and families.

More for Christmas

• Over 100 Christmas Activities for Your Children’s Ministry
• 10 Easy Ways to Engage Families this Christmas
• 43 Colorful Christmas Crafts to Celebrate Jesus’ Birth
• How the Hopeful Anticipation of Advent Draws Us to God
• The Birth of Jesus (Elementary Lesson)
• Names of Jesus: Messiah (Elementary Lesson)
• 10 Simple Advent Wreath Ideas That Will Make Your Classroom Beautiful
• How to Lead Your Kids’ Ministry Through a Beautiful Advent

As we seek to engage children, there are 4 things that every child needs and wants—even though they won’t articulate them.

Including these 4 things in your interactions will help bring the complexity and simplicity together. These are competencies every leader needs.

4 Things Children Want from Adults

Appropriate Physical Interaction

A pat on the back, a high five, a fist bump—kids respond to appropriate touch. It’s been said that physical touch is one of the first languages we learn, and it can be a powerful communication tool.

It can communicate approval, respect, appreciation, and love. It can guide, calm, and direct. And appropriate physical touch can unlock the door to receiving the other 3 elements.

A terrific resource for parents or ministry leaders, which includes the value of physical touch, is The 5 Love Languages of Children.

Emotional Connection

We often communicate that ministry happens best through relationships.

Relationships are about emotional connections. Knowing one another. Understanding one another. This is why it is critical that we don’t just show up and “do our thing” in ministry.

It’s imperative that we know the kids, know the parents, and know all the staff and volunteers who are part of our ministry. Emotionally safe environments and meaningful connections can send our ministry impact through the roof.

Mental Stimulation

Too often we take the everyone’s a winner mentality from the sports field to the church. Instead of distilling information to kids, we end up lowering our teaching to the lowest possible denominator and fail to truly challenge our kids.

Don’t do that. Don’t cut out pieces of Scripture or avoid hard questions, because kids will miss the fullness of who God is (note: you can be age appropriate, without nullifying Scripture).

If there is one thing we’ve learned from experienced ministry leaders, it’s that children are far more capable of understanding and experiencing the awe of the greatness of God than we typically give them credit for.

Yes, we need to be age appropriate in our teaching, but don’t be afraid to set the bar high and challenge them. They are capable of more than we realize. And they need us to create opportunities for them to wonder at our amazing God!

Spiritual Truth

Spiritual truth goes hand in hand with the need for mental stimulation.

You see, not only do our methods need to stimulate children’s minds, but our content needs to challenge them spiritually. And this can only be done by telling them the truth of the Gospel, the truth of God’s Word.

When it comes to doctrine and theology, children can handle far more than we usually give them credit for.

If we as leaders make a habit of practicing these elements on a consistent basis, we will see the engagement level in our ministries increase significantly. And the more engaged our kids, parents, and volunteers are, the more we will see disciples of all ages growing in their love and wonder of God.

Curriculum Evaluation Checklist

Need help evaluating curriculum? Grab this downloadable list and follow the questions to a wise curriculum choice that equips you and your teachers for life-changing children’s ministry.

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Free Guide

Curriculum Evaluation Checklist

Need help evaluating curriculum? Grab this downloadable list and follow the questions to a wise curriculum choice that equips you and your teachers for life-changing children’s ministry.

Download your Curriculum Checklist

Free Guide

Curriculum Evaluation Checklist

Need help evaluating curriculum? Grab this downloadable list and follow the questions to a wise curriculum choice that equips you and your teachers for life-changing children’s ministry.

Download Your Curriculum Checklist

Free Guide

More Articles for Your Children’s Ministry

• God Is Personal: Why Story Matters in Children’s Ministry
• 10 Tough Questions to Ask Yourself as a Children’s Ministry Leader
• Children’s Ministry Events You Won’t Want to Miss
• 5 Ideas for Welcoming New Families in Your Children’s Ministry
• The Most Important Item on Your Children’s Ministry To-Do List
• Proclaiming the Whole Will of God in Children’s Ministry
• 13+ Children’s Ministry Bible Games that Spark Joy

That’s right. Today we are going to face our fears and enter …

The Children’s Ministry Supply Room.

This combination of “hodge podge” and treasure trove is not for the faint of heart. Only the strong and organized survive. But if you can tame the pipe cleaners, rice bins, old VBS curriculum, and (gasp) glitter, you’ll see the benefits. You can show your volunteers great appreciation by supplying their every need, and you can save your time, budget, and sanity.

I will admit, I am not the person who gets a thrill out of organizing things. But I love and appreciate organization. And I am really good at finding people who actually love to organize. For every supply room, there is someone in the church who looks at that room, dreams of well-ordered shelves and bins, and starts printing labels in anticipation of all that they will put away.

So, while I cannot give a first-hand account of organizing a supply room, I can share some principles that may help your own frame of mind and the state of your supply room.

4 Principles for The Children’s Ministry Supply Closet

1. There is likely someone in your congregation who would love to organize your supply room.

It may be someone who feels useless in other ministries, but when you give them the trust and freedom to set up a great organization system, they will have found their place in the church! You know your student ministries has a “black hole” of a closet as well, so this volunteer clearly will not run out of things to organize.

Give them a budget for any organizational supplies and give them freedom to come up with a system. Before they get started, it could be good for them observe on a weekend to see how staff and volunteers use the room.

Ask if they would like you to recruit a team of “Clutter Buster” volunteers to help them, and if they would be willing to come in once a week (or month) and make sure things are staying under control and are stocked. Be a leader of leaders, and empower them to own their role.

2. Organizing your supply room shows value to your volunteers, your kids, and your church.

Volunteers have limited time, so having their supplies ready for them shows you value their time and talents. When you have age-appropriate supplies readily available and you spend the budget allotted to you, you show value to the kids in your ministry.

Remember that your church generously gives to allow you to buy crayons, markers, and glue. We always like to think that for every $20 we spend, someone had to earn $200 and choose to tithe on that, in order for us to have what we need to teach kids. So, taking care of and stewarding those resources shows that you value your church members.

12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

Download your free guide

Free Guide

12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

Download your free guide

Free Guide

12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

Download your free guide

Free Guide

3. Sometimes, the value of items changes in the supply closet.

If you have a lot of old curriculum that you’ve been holding on to just because you spent money on it years ago and you might use it again, it’s probably not worth the storage space it is taking up. You could give away or throw away that curriculum and use the space for something your kids currently need.

This also applies to supplies that can be readily obtained, such as milk jugs or water bottles. One simple request to your church or even just to a few small groups will fill a need for empty water bottles or paper towel tubes without filling that space you may be using to store such supplies.

You also may sometimes have a few leftovers from craft kits you’ve purchased. While those were valuable when you were using them for a classroom, just a few leftovers don’t have the same value.

Take all of those extras and store them in one cabinet or bin. Use those few for times when you don’t have set children’s programming or set them out and let the kids “freestyle” craft using the odds and ends.

4. It is OK to throw things away!

Repeat that one more time. If throwing things away in the children’s ministry supply closet is really hard for you, let me pass along a tip I received from one of those amazing organizing volunteers I mentioned before: use black trash bags.

If you have someone clean out your space, give them good parameters, full freedom, and a roll of black trash bags. This way, you can’t see through the bags and drag things back in.

Sometimes being a good steward means letting go of things that are broken or can’t be used anymore. Also, when we take donations “in kind,” meaning donations of goods or services, that may not be what our ministry needs.

When someone offers a donation of toys or supplies, it is OK for you to preface your reception of the donation with, “I appreciate you thinking of us, so I want to let you know that if we cannot use the items, we can either return them to you, donate them to another church or organization, or dispose of them. Which would you prefer?”

Let’s eliminate these children’s ministry supply closets of fear and darkness and restore order with a team of Tidy Titans! And if you find teacher Ethel in that closet when you’re finally cleaning it out, make sure she has her popsicle sticks and googly eyes, and take her out for coffee!

Read more from Courtney Wilson here!

Then she volunteered for VBS the next year and said, “I get it now. It’s not about the T-shirt. It’s about how he feels in the shirt because it reminds him of this amazing week—the fun, the community he built, and God.”

That one conversation solidified the importance of special events in children’s ministry as part of my ministry philosophy. Her feedback reminded me of the importance of creating shared memories for kids and families and how those experiences create an inviting environment where discipleship can flourish.

Special Events Are Important

Whether it’s a traditional VBS, a sports camp, a family night, a preteen game night, or some crazy mixture of all of the above, special events are vital to the heartbeat of a thriving children’s ministry.

Research has shown that church attendance is declining, with fewer and fewer families attending weekly. Lower attendance means ministry leaders have to be creative and think outside the box (and outside of Sunday mornings) to connect with families.

That’s where special events come in.

How Can Special Events Serve My Ministry?

Special events come in all shapes and sizes: VBS, egg hunts, holiday events, family events, age-specific events, overnight camps, sports camps, day camps, etc. Basically, anything that happens outside of regular Sunday morning or mid-week programming is a special event.

These gatherings go beyond regular programming, creating memorable experiences that strengthen relationships and build a sense of belonging.

Special events make space for kids and families inside your church and your community to connect with one another. They reach kids, families, and your local community through fun, engaging opportunities that create relationships and connection points. They foster community, provide outreach opportunities, and create shared memories.

This might step on some toes, but real relationships aren’t typically formed on Sunday mornings. They form on the playground, at the ball field, during a movie night, and over a consistent period of time that allows lives to intersect.

Special events provide those opportunities for kids and families to get to know each other on a deeper level and in a fun way.

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Practical Tips for Hosting Special Events

I will always go to bat for the importance of special events in children’s ministry, but I also advocate for intentional events that are wise with the limited time, resources, and people available to ministry leaders.

So, while you’re considering your next special event, keep these tips in mind to ensure they’re worth your energy.

Remember your why.

Always keep the main goal(s) of your event front and center when planning, so you can ensure that every decision going into the event will help you accomplish that goal.

Is the goal to develop biblical literacy in kids? To help kids form friendships? To model family discipleship?

While special events may encompass a combination of these, the main priority will always drive the schedule created, the budget set, and the decisions made for a particular event.

Keep it simple—with the overall calendar and the event itself.

Be mindful of the ministry calendar you offer to families, being careful not to put too many events on the schedule, which can lead to burnout for you and the families you serve. One large special event per quarter or semester is a good pace, and you might also consider creating smaller special events for niches within your ministry.

The parents in my ministry love Preschool Playdates and special events designed just for the littles, while our preteens enjoy a special preteen-only Game Night each semester.

These don’t have to be big and extravagant or include the entire ministry to be effective. I’ve served at churches where VBS is a Disney-level immersive experience for kids, and I’ve served at churches where the only decorations we had were some extra posters on the walls.

Both met the goals of the church in reaching the community and helping kids grow deeper in their faith.

Build a team.

You can’t (and shouldn’t) host a special event on your own.

Think about the people you can invite into the planning and hosting process and give them room to use their God-given talents and gifts. Consider who may enjoy prepping supplies, planning certain aspects, or greeting during the event.

Curate a team of people to serve with you at each special event, from preparation to clean up.

Plan ahead and promote.

Start planning well in advance to ensure everything runs smoothly. Make a checklist of tasks, set deadlines, and delegate responsibilities to team members. Then use various modes of communication to promote the event to potential attendees.

Announce it in service (both kids’ and the main service, if applicable), share about it on social media, send out emails, hand out flyers, and put up posters to ensure everyone knows when and where it’s happening. Families can’t attend if they don’t know about the event well enough in advance.

Give attendees a next step.

Before families leave your special event, make them aware of a next opportunity to connect with your church or ministry. Invite them to a Sunday morning service, provide details about the next special event, or help them connect with another church member.

Providing another touch point after a special event is a great way to create consistency in interactions that allows relationships to form. 

Evaluate.

After each event, always take time to evaluate and gather feedback from your team and the attendees. Ask questions, consider what might need to change, and celebrate the wins from the event. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we want to point kids toward Jesus. But we can’t do that unless they know that they are loved and valued and worth investing in. 

So, host the special event. Create the shared memories. Do the messy, fun thing that sparks interest and engagement.

Whether it’s a festive holiday celebration, a fun-filled family game night, or an outreach initiative, special events are vital for nurturing connections and fostering a vibrant, supportive environment that allows true discipleship to take root and thrive.

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Having a Mission Mindset: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

As children’s ministry leaders, this call can seem daunting as we lead God’s children. We are not about to pack up all the church vans with a week’s supply of goldfish and animal crackers to take our kids on a mission! However, we can intentionally look around our community and find ways to live into Christ’s call for our lives.

As we dive into the idea of having a mission mindset, I think it’s first important to consider how we are living into local and global missions with our kids. We have a powerful opportunity to engage our kids in what is going on around them and show them a glimpse of what is happening in our world. Kids are powerful change makers. It is incredibly empowering for them to see the difference they can make in the world.

When considering local missions, first start by looking into the mission work that is already happening around you. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Rather than starting a brand-new mission idea for your children’s ministry, consider a partnership with established organizations in your community.

What is going on in your local school district? Are there food/clothing drives? Community clean-up days? What can you join in on?

While engaging community organizations, you are showing the community that your church is willing and open to serve alongside them. You can also add a mission component to an established program you have already.

Getting Your Children’s Ministry Involved

One of my favorite memories in children’s ministry was a VBS mission project. During the week of VBS, we hosted a “Change Challenge.” Kids brought in their loose change and put it into the bucket of the pastor they would like to see painted by the end of the week. It was so much fun!

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

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Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

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Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

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By the end of the week, volunteers and kids were pushing tin cans up to the front of the sanctuary for the pastor they would like to see painted. All of this change went to an organization that provides art supplies and craft kits for children in the hospital. This is a local ministry started by a mother who spent a lot of time in the hospital with her own daughter.

On the last day of VBS, we had the founder of this organization come in and speak to the kids about the organization and how all the change would be used. The speaker shared a video that had kids who received the crafts talking about the impact of this organization.

It was amazing to look around the sanctuary and see these kids’ eyes glued to the screen in realization that there are kids just like them who are going through some really tough circumstances.

When revealed we had raised over $1,000 for this organization, the cheers and excitement created a high and holy moment. The kids in the room were ecstatic about the impact they had made for kids just like them! I will say, there was no loose change left in our little town by the end of that week!

Building Partnerships

One of the most impactful ways we can put a mission mindset into practice is by building partnerships that last. The story of this art ministry started a drive within our kids to keep supporting the organization. They wanted to help pack craft kits and find more ways to raise money for this organization.

When considering a global focus, find something and stick with it. One of my favorite things to do with kids is sponsor a child as a class. They love receiving letters back from their sponsored child as well as writing to them.

They enjoy hearing from their sponsored child year after year and seeing the growth. Consistently raising money can be hard. I learned that figuring out what the cost per year is and doing one big effort to raise money for the entire year of sponsorship is one of the best practices. You could do a Father’s Day car wash, make Christmas ornaments and sell them, make peanut butter eggs, or any number of ideas.

Think about your context and what would be fun for your kids to work on and excite your congregation to support their efforts.

Let Kids Have a Voice

A final thought on considering local and global missions: what are your kids’ ideas? I absolutely love it when kids come bounding into Sunday school with an idea to help their community or the world. When the unrest began in the Ukraine, a child asked me if we could take a special offering—and we did. Do everything it takes to bring their ideas to fruition.

The Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts. We get the privilege in partnering with God to help their faith grow.

Finally, friends I want to leave you with this encouragement. At the start of this article, I referenced the Great Commission. This is the heart of why we do what we do. I want to remind us of Jesus’ words at the end of this passage.

“I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28)

This is God’s promise to us. As we fulfill the call to make disciples, may these last words of Christ comfort you and guide you in your efforts to lead kids in missions locally and globally.

God created us for relationship with one another and with Him. When we model faith for kids, they are more likely to grasp it for themselves.

What is informational discipleship and what is transformational discipleship? And why is the distinction important?

While both are important in ministry, our focus should lean toward transformational.

Informational discipleship is focused on delivering content to children. This is having a focus on Bible stories, character qualities, and spiritual truth. All of these things are important and necessary in ministry.

However, if we stop there, we are only giving information. It’s simply not enough.

Transformational discipleship is focused on relational investment first, then delivery. You see, relationship allows for real-life interactions that give us space to journey together. For example, we can teach about grace, forgiveness, and the power of the Holy Spirit. But when a child not only hears it, but sees it in action, then the potential for transformation is multiplied.

That’s not to say that God is not in Himself sufficient, because He is.

But He created us for relationship with one another and with Him. When we model faith for kids (instead of just telling them about faith), they are more likely to grasp it for themselves.

So, take the time and ask yourself: Am I only practicing informational or am I also practicing transformational discipleship?

4 Ideas for Taking Ministry from Informational to Transformational

1. Live Transformed

Be transformed by the Spirit and walk with Him. And expect your leaders to do so as well.

Ministry should flow from a transformed life. We should be characterized by a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus. And a commitment to being in the Word and praying should be lifelong, non-negotiable practices.

It’s so important that we depend on the Holy Spirit in our lives, our teaching, and in every interaction. He should be evident. It is by Him that we are able to live transformed as we help point others to Him.

Making an Impact in Your Children’s Ministry

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2. Create a Relational Culture in Ministry

The culture of your ministry, begins with you as the leader! We have to live out the culture we want our teams to live, whether staff or volunteers. As we teach and lead in this way, it’s always done best through modeling.

Firstly, begin with the recruiting conversation and let the idea of relationship be infused in every conversation forward. Teach your team to speak the same language and live it out in every interaction.

3. Find Ways for Every Child to Be Connected

A natural part of building relationships is making connections. It’s key that we find ways for every child to be known and seen in our ministries. We must be intentional about meeting their needs.

While discipleship as a group is important, we have to do more than simply have the kids show up, hear us speak, and then go home. They need relationship!

Because the one child whose family is struggling doesn’t only need to hear the story of how God used Noah today, He needs to be seen by someone. He needs connection and someone to speak life into him. We can’t do that without connection.

Be aware and listen to the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to lead you as you create connection points for children in ministry.

4. Partner with Parents

Partnership with parents is key to a thriving ministry. The investment by mom and dad (or another guardian) is critical. Their relationship with the child is the one that really matters more than any other.

As church leaders, we need to understand that most parents want to invest in their children, but most feel completely inadequate to do so. Take time to encourage parents in leading their children! It’s one of the greatest discipleship opportunities we’ll have as leaders!

But thinking big can result in missing many of the important little things that bear the real fruit of our ministry. We sometimes miss the little things that make a big difference and, when added together, bring a big impact.

So we don’t miss out on the importance of the small things, we need to act small even while thinking big. Here are a few ideas for you!

Think Big, Act Small

Think Vision, Act Details

As leaders, it’s key that we think beyond next Sunday. Although we don’t know what will happen 6 months or 3 years from now, it’s important that we have a long-term vision for our ministries and the people in them.

Keeping our focus on the vision will help us reach the goals we’re working toward.

However, it’s equally important that we pursue vision while understanding the details that will build the vision. Like a house.

A house is built brick by brick, piece by piece—not all at once. Our vision will be accomplished as we tend to the details of that vision. We need to maintain a standard of excellence. We need to create systems and processes which facilitate our goals. And we need to tend to individual needs as well as the collective needs of our kids, parents, and volunteers.

Successfully managing details enables pursuit of a vision!

Growing Volunteers: Building the Body of Christ in Ministry to Kids and Families

Ministry coach Byron Ragains empowers you minister TO your volunteers, not just through them. It’s a game changer!

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Growing Volunteers: Building the Body of Christ in Ministry to Kids and Families

Ministry coach Byron Ragains empowers you minister TO your volunteers, not just through them. It’s a game changer!

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Growing Volunteers: Building the Body of Christ in Ministry to Kids and Families

Ministry coach Byron Ragains empowers you minister TO your volunteers, not just through them. It’s a game changer!

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Think Programs, Act People

Programs are the structure within which we do ministry. They are essential. We need to plan carefully and build a program fit for the vision of our ministry and the church as a whole.

But programs should never take priority over people. As we all know, ministry happens best through relationships.

So, while we need a solid program structure that clearly leads to our vision, we have to think in terms of the relationships within that program structure. We need to think people and relationships first and create a culture that embraces this kind of thinking.

Think Equipping Parents, Act Engaging Kids

Maybe you have ten, one hundred, or even thousands of kids in your ministry every week. We eat, sleep, and breathe all things children’s ministry. And we have to engage with kids in order to make the time we have with them count.

We have to care for their physical, spiritual, and emotional safety as we teach them in age-appropriate ways. It’s important that we have a spiritual formation plan and support it with our programs. As we act in terms of engaging kids, we have to keep these things in mind.

But ultimately, parents have the most impact on the spiritual formation of their kids. And because of this, we have to think along these lines. How do we support and partner with parents to connect the home and the church?

What does it look like to share a vision with parents in a child’s spiritual formation? What are the ways we can equip them through practical teaching?

Think Leaders, Act Volunteers

Leadership matters in children’s ministry, as it does in every ministry within the church. Without it, we will end up somewhere we never intended to be.

As leaders, we need to be growing as individuals, and the same is to be said about our team. As we grow, it’s key that we develop leaders and create a growth-mindset culture. And we’re not talking numbers, we’re talking depth.

You see, our ministries, with the help of the Lord, will only grow if we are faithful and steward them well.

But our teams also need to be able to do the work of the ministry while seeing the bigger picture (Ephesians 4:12). So, they need to be trained to do the tasks that are involved with their role on the team. This might be teaching, leading worship, or taking care of the resource center. Whatever it is, they need to be equipped to do the work.

Developing leaders and equipping volunteers go hand in hand.

In thinking big but acting small, both things matter. The big things matter, and the small things matter. One doesn’t thrive without the other. Be encouraged today and remember that you can do this! Because our good God in heaven is with you!

The basics of children’s ministry are foundational to how we run our ministries. So, when asked to speak on this topic, I went back to a verse that really frames my personal ministry. It’s from Psalm 71: 17-19.

If that’s not a basic, I don’t know what is. These are the truths that we want each of the kids who come through our ministry to proclaim. We want them to know that they are known and loved by God. And we hope that they recognize that knowing and that loving from their very earliest childhood—that’s why we do what we do.

As ministers, we want to be used by God to proclaim these truths, to tell these stories, to inspire the faith of the next generation.

But how do we begin? What are the basics? What are the essentials a children’s ministry that enable us to stay laser focused on what we want our kids to know about God and about themselves?

Back to the Basics of Children’s Ministry

As we look at the basics of children’s ministry, I’d like to hit on four key points:

• Know your story.
• Center your vision and values.
• Prioritize relationships.
• Never cease praying.

Basics of Children’s Ministry 1: Know Your Story

We are wired for story, are we not? So the first thing we need to know is our own story—our own faith journey. How does following God impact my life? And why is it important for me to share with the kids that I serve?

Simon Sinek has made “Know your Why” a popular phrase. And that phrase is repeated by a million different people. And when I feel discouraged or burnt out, or I need to remember why I’m doing what I’m doing, I can go back to my own faith story and focus on my own why.

So, the church that I grew up in celebrated its 100th birthday in 1986. was in elementary school for that celebration. So as you can imagine, it was multi-generational, it was well established, it was in a rural community, and it was a place that was as much home to me as my own home was.

And some of my fondest memories from my childhood were running around my church, playing games with my friends who were really more like cousins to me, or making meals with my mom and my grandma to take to new babies or families who were struggling attending potlucks and weddings and funerals.

We shared life together from cradle to grave.

Sharing Life in Faith

And it was on this foundation that my faith journey began, and it’s there that I began to understand who God was, my need for Jesus, and how to live in community.

Many, many people in that church beyond my immediate family modeled Christlikeness in front of me, and this went beyond just modeling. They actually spoke words of life to me. They showed me my need for Jesus and made clear the way of salvation for me. So they earned the right to do that, to say those words, to call me into community, to hold me accountable, because we had relationship. They were my community.

And that’s God’s beautiful design, right? For us to live in community with one another, to share life and faith together. And as I grew up, I realized that my faith community had shaped me in a way that I wanted for my own children.

Foundation for Their Faith Journey

I have four children I wanted to experience that. Honestly, when I came to a pain point around church a few years ago, and I stepped out of church community, it was this foundation, my story, my faith story that drew me back, drew me back to the church, drew me back in to church community. And I gave church another chance because I wanted my own kids to have that.

I know that church is an imperfect community, and we don’t always get things right, but it’s given to me much more than it’s ever cost me. And so knowing and remembering my faith story and my why, help keep me following Jesus. Because I follow Jesus and I have that story, I want to share that story with the next generation. So there’s a second part to our story. We need to know our personal faith story of course, but we also need to know our church’s story.

Making an Impact in Your Children’s Ministry

Why Your Curriculum Matters and How to Choose the Right One
This guide was created to help you dive into some of the topics facing your ministries today and lead into why your curriculum matters and how to choose the right one depending on your needs.

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How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

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How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

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Download your ministry burnout guide

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Know Your Church’s Story—Your Community

Catherine Stonehouse—if you don’t know her, she’s a great voice in children’s ministry—says in her book, Children Matter that every church has a story. A story happens in a particular time and place with a distinct cast of characters. And just as each person is unique, each church community is distinct.

Now we all see the social media feeds full of shiny new great things in children’s ministry. We’re part of networks, and we have colleagues who are doing amazing things in their church ministries that we want to emulate. But one of our main jobs in our role as children’s ministry leaders in unique and distinct churches is to discern the needs of our own community. We need to know our church’s story and be a student of the church that we serve, the kids that we serve, the families that we serve.

I grew up in a rural church. My first ministry job was in an inner-city urban context. And now I serve in a large suburban affluent church. And so every church that I’ve been a part of has had really distinct needs. Some of the churches needed really strong community programming. Some churches had really practical needs.

Every Church Looks Different

When I was serving at a church plant in an urban ministry context, a social worker was on speed dial. My friend who was a social worker, because the kids and families I served at that church had practical needs that needed met before they ever could hear about Jesus or gain any Bible knowledge.

Sometimes they needed access to food or electricity. And I worked within the school community to help meet some of those practical needs of the families that we served.

You may have other needs in your community. In the church I serve in now, families are maxed out. Their kids are pulled in a million directions on sports teams, so they need more simplicity. They need us to really streamline access to resources and programming.

Knowing the context where you serve will really help you most effectively serve the families that you’re there with—the actual families you’re serving.

Reading and responding to our community and their needs at a particular time and place is one of the basics that is worth focusing on as children’s ministry directors. That brings us to our second basic: centering our vision and values.

Basics of Children’s Ministry 2: Centering Our Vision and Values

Our values are timeless. They speak to the need of every human being. So we need to ask ourselves, what are the values that only the church can provide in the life of kids and families?

Reggie Joyner says that churches need to innovate on the original intent of the church instead of the new of culture. So when we center our vision around a very few essentials, we can recognize the things that we really want to say yes to and the things that we really need to say no to.

Carrie Nieuwhof says that vision is a leader’s best friend, and it’s free.

If you don’t dream big dreams for your church, who will?

Children’s ministry leaders develop and hold the vision and values for the families in our communities. How are we going to take these ministry ideas and use them to serve our kids and families? Keeping them at the forefront of the conversation in our church communities is one of the essentials of our job.

So I lead a family life team that actually serves two congregations, and we regularly sit down and ask ourselves, what are the essential lessons, experiences, and milestones that we want all of our kids to have by the time that we launch them into the world? We really try to take a long view and then develop our ministry around those essentials.

I want to share just a few of those with you that we’ve come up with for our congregations. But I encourage you to take time with your teams in your context, knowing that every ministry is unique and develop these values for yourself.

Bible Content

One of our biggest values is Bible content. We want our kids to know the word of God because we believe it brings life and it’s essential. It’s central to the Christian faith. So we want from the earliest days for our kids to interact and engage with and know the Word of God.

Sacramental Experiences

We serve in an Anglican context. And if you know anything about Anglicanism, it’s liturgical and sacramental.

So sacramental experiences are really huge in our church. Baptism, first communion, and confirmation.

And the church calendar plays a big role in our ministry planning. The seasons of Advent and Lent are really central in our context. So we plan unique ministry experiences for those seasons. They’re really hallmarks of our ministry.

Spiritual Practices

Our third value is spiritual practices. We want an embodied faith. We don’t want just them to have head knowledge, but we want them to taste, feel, hear, see, and experience God. So the spiritual practices of worship, prayer, confession, Bible memory, are core for us. There are lots of spiritual practices that could work really well in your context.

Experiences

And finally, experiences. We want our kids to have experiences inside our church walls and outside our church walls. Some of those are fun experiences. Some of those are service opportunities or mission trips in our own community.

Those are some of the experiences that we really want all our kids to have, so that by 18, they’re launched into the world as kind of fully formed disciples, right? We must think about all of the different aspects so they’re fully formed before they leave.

It’s also important to remember the things that you want repeated over and over week after week, year after year, so that they’re deeply cemented in the identity of each child.

The elementary curriculum that we use right now, Wonder Ink, has very simple statements that we repeat weekly. God knows me. Jesus loves me. The Holy Spirit leads me. I am a child of God. We made posters of these truths and put them on the wall.

By the time they leave elementary school, we want our kids to have those repeated values as identity markers on their hearts.

Vision

At our church, we also have a vision statement that’s church wide. I really find a lot of value in aligning our vision with the overall church vision. Our church vision is to be a people fully alive in God’s kingdom. We also say that we want our kids to come fully alive in Christ.

And we ask them to do that by making three key connections: to God through Jesus Christ and His Word, to adults through community, and to one another.

So aligning your family ministry with your church’s vision and values allows you to really have a cohesive statement, a cohesive goal that you’re all working toward together.

Children’s minister Scottie May asks that if the teenagers in our congregation were to read the statements used in their baptism or dedication, would they say, yes, my church kept those promises, or would they feel betrayed?

When we center our vision and our values, we can more easily keep those promises by reinforcing those truths over and over.

Basics of Children’s Ministry 3: Prioritize Relationships

We are built for relationship.

Many studies of faith formation say that 80% of people who follow Christ made the decision to follow Him before age 18. And many of us forget that the gospel came to us through faithful parents and godparents and grandparents and Sunday school teachers who valued us enough to share the gospel with us.

We all know that life change happens in the context of relationships, and we all need guides and mentors—even as adults—to guide us and lead us to deeper levels of knowledge and faithfulness.

We were made to want to be known not only by God, but by others. It’s a basic human need. And we can’t lead people well unless we know them well, both adults and kids.

As a children’s ministry director, those people fall into three categories.

Knowing Your Team Members

The first category is the leaders I call to serve. And I ask myself, do I know this volunteer? Will I get to know them personally? Not just as someone who can fill a slot for me on Sunday morning, but will I know them?

Will I know their day job? Will I know their family makeup, their gifts, their struggles?

And that can take a lot of time and a lot of energy. But the more we know our leaders, the more we can pour into them, the more equipped they are to serve the kids who we ask them to serve.

A lot of times in a large church context like mine, volunteers don’t have a lot of one-on-one interaction with a clergy member. So a lot of times I become the main pastor, if you will, that a volunteer knows.

I’m the one who gets called when their life falls apart or when they’re having a struggle or they’re having a joy. I’m there when they have things going on that they’re celebrating.

One of my longtime volunteers just last week, graduated from nursing school at the age of 50. And it was so fun to celebrate that victory in her life!

Knowing Your Kids

The kids who come through our doors need us to know them. They need us to delight in them.

So how can we prioritize knowing the kids who are in our ministries? If you’re a large church like mine, a lot of times that takes some social media interaction with the family so I can kind of scroll through and know what sport the kid is involved in, what grade are they in, what their personality is.

Know simple things like birthdays and deeper things like knowing what the kids are going through in their family.

Is there a new baby? Or is there a divorce? Is there something going on that can impact their ability to come on Sunday morning and hear from God?

Knowing those things and praying for our kids is important. Walking in faith together happens best when there is trusted relationship. It’s one of the joys of serving with kids.

Knowing Parents

Our parents need us to support them. The truth is, as children’s ministry leaders, we only have about 25 hours (give or take) of engagement with kids in our ministry per year. That’s not very much, but parents have thousands of hours with their kids each year.

So the question we must ask ourselves is, how are we equipping parents so that they are empowered to build those faith relationships with their kids, to walk this spiritual journey together as a family?

I’ve learned the hard way through the years about what works and what doesn’t work.

Keep resources accessible and really streamline them so that parents can get a win, that’s what we want. Listen to what parents really need. This goes back to the story concept of knowing your church context. Ask: What do families really want?

Give Simple Ideas

I know a lot of churches and families who can do a 30-minute family devotional, but a lot of other families can’t, and that’s okay. Don’t expect them to.

One resource I’ve created is a little table tent. It’s a simple piece of card stock. On the front is a family mealtime prayer that they could say together and some practices that they could engage with throughout the week. And on the back was a simple Bible reading that they could do together as a family if they wanted to.

We’ve used this for several series in our church when the adults and kids were studying the same thing. They could set it on their coffee table or dinner table, and it was a win because they could just say the prayer together.

Look for ways to give the parents a win.

And the second thing is just to encourage any effort. A lot of times parents will come to me and say, well, all we really do is pray at bedtime. And that’s the opportunity for you to encourage them with something like: Do you know the impression that will leave on your kids their whole life long? That is amazing.

Look for every opportunity to encourage your parents in what they are doing right now. Build on that.

Families are not one size fits all. So make your resources flexible.

Basics of Children’s Ministry 4: Never Cease Praying

Our final basic is really just the foundation of everything that we do in life, and that’s to never cease in your prayers. My first impulse is always to take action. But our first impulse really needs to be prayer.

Success in ministry begins and ends with prayer.

We can forget that everything we do comes from the hand of the father. For me, ministry has been one of the most faith-building exercises of my life because, at the end of the day, as high as my capacity is, I cannot make Sunday mornings happen in my own power. I can never get the volunteer matrix perfect, and I can never have the right number of volunteers.

I can’t do it. There’s no way I can do it alone. And every single week on Sunday, I’m amazed at how God is faithful and brings it all together. He makes it happen. No matter what fretting I was doing on Saturday night, Sunday morning the Lord is faithful.

And ministry happens and kids hear those repeated phrases, and their identity is formed in Christ.

Prayer Is Central

My practical encouragement is to set aside time in your ministry each week to devote yourself to prayer as a staff. We do that in our church together on Thursday mornings. It’s a sweet time when we can bring all our ministry needs to the foot of the cross. It is a good reminder that the Holy Spirit does things in His power that we could never do in our own.

Pray at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. It’s foundational to our ministry and one of the most important basics of children’s ministry.

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Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them.”

Matthew 19:14 NIRV

Jesus didn’t limit His welcome to the clean compliant kids, the children who are able to move from room to room without assistance and articulate their needs through words, or the children who do what they are told the first time.

He does not specify which kids He is welcoming; therefore, I believe He’s telling us that He welcomes them all, and we are to welcome them all too. Regardless of their backgrounds, abilities, or energy levels we are to provide safe spaces. We want ALL kids to belong, know Jesus, and grow in their faith.

Kids who don’t fit in at school should find a place to belong at church. Children who may be left out in some spaces should be welcomed with open arms in our churches.  

Inclusion in Children’s Ministry: Welcoming Families with Open Arms

Unfortunately, research has shown that families with kids with special needs or disabilities don’t always feel welcome in church. Studies show that one out of three families parenting kids with special needs or disabilities have left at least one church because their child was not included or welcomed.

If we have true inclusion in children’s ministry, families feel welcome.

Families who are following James 1:27 in caring for orphans are encouraged by their church families to adopt or provide foster care. But when they bring their new child into the church, many share that due to their child’s behavior or special needs they do not feel welcome. And in some cases, they are even asked to leave.

I think we all would agree we want to do better. We can do better.

The kids more likely to be excluded at church are the ones with less visible disabilities including autism, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and oppositional defiance disorder. These are disabilities that affect behavior.

These invisible disabilities are often misidentified by ministry leaders as behaviors that need to be stopped or corrected. Unfortunately as I work with church leaders who are struggling to respond to challenging behavior in kids and students, I often see that their focus is on “fixing” or eliminating the behavior. But these aren’t “bad” kids.

Often, kids and student who exhibit challenging behaviors are overwhelmed, don’t have coping strategies, or have needs or disabilities that affect their behavior. Instead of moving straight to judgment, let’s be curious and connect with the child while digging beneath the behavior.

Connect and Be Curious

Here’s a way we can be curious while connecting.

A friend recently shared about a situation at church. Right before church started, her son had a meltdown. He had been through a lot, moving from one family member to another, then into foster care, all during his first 6 ½ years of life.

While he looks like a typical child, his experiences have been anything but typical. In the midst of the meltdown, my friend sat right down in the church lobby with all her kids, including the one screaming.

As they sat, many people walked by. Some stared. A few gave a smile and kept walking.

But then one person offered to sit with them, right there in the middle of the lobby. Another individual said she understood and was available for whatever they needed. Someone else offered to get some water for the mom and her still screaming child. And a friend stopped and took the other kids to get checked into their classrooms.

This mom said, “To feel seen and understood is so important.”  These simple acts of kindness made a huge difference.

Inclusion in Children’s Ministry: Beyond Behavior

We typically don’t know what is going on beneath the behavior. While we may think, or judge, that the child is out of control and just needs some discipline, there are so many things that could be happening.

Many special needs or disabilities are invisible, so while a child may look “typical” they may have unique needs. Trauma can also greatly influence a child’s behavior, but we often aren’t aware of what a child has experienced before they walk through our doors.

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So how might we build an environment in our churches that is welcoming to all? How can we truly have inclusion in children’s ministry?

Here are some questions to ask.

What is best for your child?

A few years ago, as a child who had been diagnosed with autism was preparing for first communion, his priest, Father Joe, began considering possible challenges for him during a typical first communion ceremony.

Father Joe got curious and asked the family “What would be best for your child?” As they talked, Father Joe realized the environment for first communion, with all the people and noise, would not be best for this child. Rather than force the child to change, Father Joe changed the environment.

This child’s first communion was held midweek in the church in front of his invited guests. The church provided flowers and a program specially designed for this midweek communion.

Asking parents, “What is best for your child?” can start a great discussion on how to best meet their needs. 

How can we adjust the environment?

This quote by Alexander Den Heijer shows the importance of focusing on how we might adjust to better meet the needs of the child, rather than insisting the child change: “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

For a child with sensory issues, free time may be difficult with the noise and high level of activity. Consider making a quiet corner with some noise canceling headphones and activities like play doh or pipe cleaners.

A child with autism may have difficulty sitting in the middle of a large group of kids. So, consider another option so the child can still participate and feel safe. Watching from the door or the back of the room with a leader may be more comfortable initially for the child.

What is the need beneath the behavior?

A friend shared about a child who was labeled “out of control” by many leaders in the ministry. Rather than accept that label, my friend got curious and dug beneath the behavior.

Considering this child’s home life, she knew that his family frequented the food pantry at their church and this child received free lunch at school. So, she started wondering, could this child be hungry? The next time he arrived on Sunday morning, she had a granola bar and cup of water waiting for him.

After several Sundays of this routine, his behavior greatly improved. This was not an out-of-control kid, this was a hungry child.

Something as simple as offering a granola bar won’t resolve all challenging behaviors. But it does point to the need to dig beneath the behavior to discover the real need of the child.

How can we support this family?

Parents raising kids with special needs or disabilities experience levels of exhaustion and stress that most of us cannot even imagine.

Check in with these families. Ask what helpful support would look like for their family.

For a family with a child in a wheelchair, reserve a table at family-night dinners to provide them easy access and have volunteers ready to assist them to get the food to their table.

If a child loves trains (many kids with autism have “enthusiasms” so use these to help welcome them to your church), make sure a train is waiting for him each week in his classroom to help ease the separation from parents and to show parents that their child is known and loved.

Inclusion Benefits Everyone

Jesus included all, and we can too.

The most important elements in providing a welcoming and inclusive ministry aren’t fancy equipment or dedicated spaces. Instead, the most inclusive environments have leaders who are curious, who are willing to listen and adapt as needed to meet the needs of a child, and who partner with the family to determine what is best for their child.

A great first step to being more inclusive is to talk to families in your church and community who are parenting kids with special needs or disabilities.

Ask questions like, “What would inclusion and acceptance look like to you?”

Listen, then gather your team and pray about how you might meet those needs. It can seem overwhelming, but it’s what God tells us to do. Providing safe and welcoming spaces for all kids to know Jesus and grow in their faith requires intentionality and teamwork.

It requires a plan for inclusion in children’s ministry.

It may take time.

And it will definitely take effort.

The reward is watching families see their children engaging with other kids, being welcomed by leaders who are excited to see them, and growing in their faith in a community of their peers and safe and loving adults. The reward is showing others how we can welcome and accept people who are different than we are.

Providing a space for everyone benefits all.

Developmentally, children often struggle with abstract concepts, but showing them how to apply biblical concepts in real-life situations helps them grasp the concepts more fully by giving them real-life examples of following Jesus.

If we want to help kids gain an understanding of the Bible that leads to life change, our teaching approach and children’s ministry curriculum must incorporate life application.  

What is life application?

Life application in children’s ministry refers to helping kids process the practical integration of biblical principles into their daily lives. It emphasizes the relevance of faith and helps kids understand and apply their faith to their life experiences.

Life application encourages children to respond to the Bible story by putting their faith into action, allowing God’s lessons from the Bible to influence their relationships, decision-making, and responses to challenges.

Jesus included life application in His teachings. Each of His parables teaches an important lesson using an everyday item or scenario. The parables explain theological truths and encourage listeners to apply those truths.

Ultimately, life application gives kids a call to action from the teaching, inviting them to practice their faith outside the four walls of the church.

Why does life application matter?

Children are much more receptive to teaching when it is applicable and obviously relevant. Kids want to know how what they are learning connects to the real world and how it applies to them in real life. Including life application in our teaching gives the learning process meaning for kids and equips them to develop a lifelong faith.

When children see how the Bible relates to their lives, they develop a personal connection with their faith. This connection promotes engagement, curiosity, and a desire to seek a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

Life application also equips children with tools to navigate life’s challenges and make wise decisions. It encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and discernment, empowering children to apply biblical principles in practical ways. These skills prepare them to face the complexities of the world with confidence, resilience, and a solid foundation in their faith.

Teaching without life application leads to a transfer of knowledge but lacks true impact. Without life application, biblical teachings become another set of history facts for kids to memorize rather than a living relationship with their Creator that influences everything they do.

Teaching that includes life application fosters a lifelong faith by showing kids that God’s Word is relevant and applicable to their lives.

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How do I equip volunteers and families to incorporate life application?

While you can include life application points in the overall teaching time, the best space for kids to explore life application is in places where they can work out their faith—like in small groups and at home.

One way to include life application in your teaching is to invite other real-life people into the teaching. This may look like volunteers who share their faith stories, other leaders within the church, guest speakers, or a FaceTime call with a missionary.

When kids see and hear about people living out their faith, they explore ways they can live out their faith in the context of school, home, sports, and more.

During small group time, train volunteers to invite questions, foster brainstorming discussions, and offer opportunities to role play. We must provide space for kids to explore the questions they have about their faith so we can help them discover the answers. 

Asking questions allows kids to process and integrate their faith with their daily lives.

Having discussions where kids brainstorm ways to apply their faith in real-life situations also gives them an opportunity to process the lesson on a basic level and understand how it applies to them. Role-play games and scenarios provide kids a safe environment to experiment with putting their faith in action. 

Leaders can provide resources and encouragement for parents to help them apply each Sunday’s lesson at home. Weekly text messages or social media posts with discussion questions for mealtimes or short examples of how to use various daily routines (bath time, brushing teeth, etc.) for a faith conversation are helpful resources.

By providing ways to invite kids and families to interact with Bible stories from Sunday mornings throughout the week, ministry leaders essentially enable families to “Talk about [the Bible] when [they] sit at home and when [they] walk along the road, when [they] lie down and when [they] get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7 NIV^TM).

Helping parents see that life application can happen in the mundane, routine moments removes some of the fear and intimidation parents may feel when thinking about discipling their kids.

Word of Caution

Sometimes an emphasis on life application can slip into a focus on behavior modification rather than heart transformation. In these circumstances, our choices and lives become the main focus of the lesson. That emphasis isn’t a bad thing, but it shouldn’t be the foundation of our teaching.

God must remain central every time.

We shouldn’t forfeit an emphasis on God’s role in the story in exchange for life application.

For example, in the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John 6:1-15, we can include a life application point about sharing what we have with others like the little boy who shared his lunch, but the main point of the story should focus on Jesus’ powerful miracle and how God provides even when a situation seems impossible.

Leaders can avoid this misdirection of attention by ensuring that the lesson invites kids to wonder, explore, and experiment with God’s role in the story just as much as discussing life application.

Ultimately, combining life application with opportunities to develop a personal relationship with God allows us to create learning experiences for kids that lead to lifelong faith.

Connecting the Bible to things kids experience and helping them see how to live out the lesson fosters ownership of their faith and resilience as they grow.

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66 Short Bible Verses Perfect for Kids to Memorize

Memorized verses are the rails the Spirit’s instructions run on. How much track have we laid? Download this guide on Short Bible Verses. With 1 verse from every book, kids will learn to hide God’s Word in their hearts!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

66 Short Bible Verses Perfect for Kids to Memorize

Memorized verses are the rails the Spirit’s instructions run on. How much track have we laid? Download this guide on Short Bible Verses. With 1 verse from every book, kids will learn to hide God’s Word in their hearts!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Ask God to show you new hope for your ministry to kids.

Summer programming can take us to new places. I like finding new ways to do things. At least once a week, I take a wrong turn on my way to work.

Before anyone thinks I’m crazy or a terrible driver, I do this on purpose. Research has shown that breaking your normal routine and driving route has benefits for your brain. The challenge improves your mental sharpness and increases creativity. I’ve found the break from “what I always do” is a great spark for new ideas, new energy, and a new level of productivity.

Ministry can become routine and mundane just like a familiar drive. Week in and week out, we prepare lessons, gather supplies, and communicate with volunteers. As soon as we say goodbye to the last child, our minds start thinking about and preparing for the next ministry gathering.

The motto of children’s ministry leaders is Sunday is always coming.

Our brains—and more importantly our hearts—need a break from “what we always do.” The summer months may be the perfect time to take a wrong turn!

Whether your goal is to give volunteers a break, have more fun, or just survive the summer months, here are a few creative changes you can make this summer to spark new energy and new life into your ministry.

Ideas for Changing Up Your Summer Programming

Utilize a Large Group Model

If you tend to group kids with peers of similar ages, summer is a great time to combine ages in a large group model. This model creates the opportunity for kids to worship together. And they’ll hear the Bible taught by your most experienced teachers or special guests, while also giving some of your regular volunteers a break from serving.

This model also creates some fun interactions between younger and older kids. In a large group model, the energy of younger kids often enhances times of corporate worship with older kids. These worship moments are also opportunities for older kids to serve by assisting younger kids and setting an example for them during worship.

If your ministry meets in small groups or classrooms throughout the school year, kids may find it fun and engaging to meet in a larger space and see more of their friends. Because the space is larger, you can utilize games and hands-on activities to reinforce Bible lessons.

Try to think of things you’d never be able to do in the normal routine and use the large group model to give kids a new experience!

Create a Theme

Another way to break the monotony of the ministry year is by creating a theme for the summer. You could invite kids on a treasure hunt to get them excited to dig into God’s Word and discover the treasures it has for us this summer. You can do this by decorating your space like the set of an Indiana Jones movie, having volunteers dress like adventurers, prepping for activities by hiding the craft supplies, and burying clues for snacks in a sandbox!

Summer attendance can be a challenge. But themed Sundays can really help to draw kids back to church week after week.

A fun Sunday might be a team Sunday, where kids can wear a jersey to support their favorite sports team. You can invite kids to wear their pajamas and bedhead for a pajama day. Other ideas might be crazy hair day, wacky socks/hat day, or superhero Sunday. Have fun with a theme that gets kids excited about being at church and learning more about Jesus!

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Ask Students to Lead in the Summer

Another change to bring energy and creativity to your ministry this summer is to invite high school students to lead. You likely have some students who are super-star volunteers throughout the year. Ask them to recruit other students to serve as Bible teachers, game leaders, and room hosts.

Rather than just using students as volunteers, ask them to help plan the curriculum, events, and activities throughout the summer.

Give them ownership and responsibility in the ministry to show them how valuable they are as leaders.

If you have a few students who lead during the summer, you may consider giving part of your budget or the children’s ministry offering to scholarships for camps or mission trips.

Student leaders are guaranteed to bring creativity and energy to your ministry. Working with these students gives you the chance to pour into them as leaders in the church!

Host a Volunteer Training Cookout

Even if you can’t radically change your ministry programming during the summer months, there are ways to inject creativity and new life into your volunteers this summer. Rather than waiting until August or September to host volunteer training for the new ministry year, why not have a volunteer training cookout this summer?

Host a cookout with burgers, hot dogs, watermelon, and popsicles. Provide outdoor activities like bounce houses, water games, or bubble machines for kids. Cap off the fun by casting vision and giving helpful training for your volunteers.

Hopefully using the summer to host a training will reduce the stress and schedule fatigue of your team in the fall, and the laid-back atmosphere of a cookout will help you make it through your 15^th year of volunteer training!

Spark Creativity this Summer

How will you use this summer to spark creativity and energy into your ministry? My wrong turn on the way to work is intentional. It is a choice I make to help me break out of the normal and find something new.

Decide today to do something different in your summer programming—to break out of the normal ministry routine. And ask God to show you new hope for your ministry to kids.

As the anticipation and excitement build for kids, the same countdown produces anxiety in many parents as they seek out childcare or look for ways to keep their kids engaged in community. Most of us do not want our kids in front of screens for their approximate 12 weeks of freedom. But it’s hard!

When summer officially begins, the constraints of time come off for kids, and the pressure is on for parents and for churches. We find ourselves with fewer children on the weekends and endless hours to reach children during the week.

It’s tempting to shut down our children’s ministry summer programming and enjoy our own time with warmer weather and kids out of school. It may even be tempting see summer as a ministry constraint as we see lower weekend numbers with families on vacation.

But what if we reframe these constraints and instead see opportunities to explore something new? We can get creative in the ways we reach kids and families who find themselves seeking the new innovative opportunities in the summer.

Stay on Mission in Your Children’s Ministry Summer Programming

Before we look into any programming opportunities, we need to remember that our mission should remain the same no matter the season. If your church or children’s ministry has a mission statement, begin your summer planning there.

• What can you plan that will fit within the mission God has given you?
• What are the things that might sound fun but do not necessarily fulfill that mission?

Your mission statement will define your “yes’s” and your “no’s.”

For example, when I first came to my church, I walked into a HUGE summer program. Over 700 kids would come for one week to learn about God, worship, and do amazingly fun activities. Walking into the auditorium, you would think we had somehow found the formula to reaching kids and could put this event on repeat for years to come.

But that was the last year we held that program.

Try Something New

Over the next few years, our staff team would develop a new all-day summer camp program that now has such an incredible reputation in the community. It’s so sought after that it completely sold out within hours of opening registration this year.

• The previous program had served 700 kids for one week. Our day camp program has space for 300 kids per week for 10 weeks.
• The previous program was half days, making it conducive to parents who were not working and had the freedom to transport kids to and from a mid-day program. Our day camp serves working parents in our community.
• Our previous program was mostly made up of kids from our church and the churches to the north and south of us. Our day camp program serves an overwhelming majority of families who do not attend a church when they sign up.
• Our previous program had lots of volunteers who served for one week, and we celebrate that as a win. But our day camp program employs high school and college students who have gone on to become incredible leaders in their chosen fields. Many of these student leaders choose full time vocational ministry, and some have ended up joining our full-time church staff.
• Most importantly, our day camp program fulfills our mission to “make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ who are belonging, growing, serving, and reaching.”

One simple reassessment of our mission statement brought us to a decision that has shaped our church and our community.

This is why your first step to assessing your summer opportunities (and your fall, winter, and spring opportunities) needs to be praying about what you are called to do and what you should say no to.

Use your mission statement as a framework for those prayers. It will give you clarity.

Think Big

After submitting the creative process to the Creator, ask “what if” questions. Think big! We serve a big God, and there are millions of children who need to be reached! Let the “what if” process go long enough that you get to the most creative ideas. Once you get to those, ask “why not” and “how could we” questions.

As you think through the things that might constrain your children’s ministry summer programming ideas, carefully consider what would get you past that barrier!

• What if?
• Why not?
• How could we?

Space constraints might mean you need to head to a local park or school, budget constraints might mean you call another church in the area to partner with them, and fearing low numbers of kids might mean you need to call a local day care program or community center and offer your programming to their kids.

Take on a VBS alternative! Or if you do plan a VBS, plan it well!

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Overcome 4 Common “Constraints”

Small Church

“We are a small church, and not many kids show up for our programs.”

Have you considered local organizations you could partner with to reach kids? Could you serve a population that is typically underserved? For example, serve children at a local women’s shelter or children with special needs or disabilities.

If your mission statement includes reaching kids and making disciples, this is a great opportunity to reach outside the walls of your church!

Small Budget

“Our budget is too small to do anything significant.”

You have a few options here.

One, call a few other churches and ask them to partner together for an event at a park, or a serving project for the community that you all love! Another option is to get creative with low-cost opportunities.

For example, I once held a “Touch-a-Truck” event in our church parking lot, where local landscaping companies brought their big trucks and parked them in our lot, fire trucks came out, some farmers brought tractors. The event was entirely free!

We recruited outgoing parents to stay for the day and talk to people about the church and specifically about the children’s ministry as families took pictures with all of the cool trucks. And we saw people come to church the next week!

Maybe you host a kids’ entrepreneurship class, including a session on financial management, and then follow it up with a fair where they can sell things from the businesses they create. Events like these create opportunities to teach kids biblical principles in ways that even non-churched parents are OK with, and it doesn’t have to cost you anything but your time!

No Space

“Our location isn’t great” or “We don’t have the space.”

Train your families to go out into their neighborhoods to reach other families!

Make up “Block Party Buckets” that include different items for your families to plan and execute an awesome block party, a neighborhood talent show, or some kind of weekday or weeknight program for the kids in their neighborhoods!

You can purchase some larger items that families can borrow to make their own community outreach really special—maybe a bounce house, video projector, or giant inflatable sprinkler.

If you’d like these events to have more of a children’s ministry feel, provide the scripts for any teaching, supplies for craft projects, and any communications they might need to invite their neighbors.

No Volunteers

“We can’t find volunteers in the summer.”

Start a Leadership Project for the middle and high school students in your church! Middle schoolers generally still need summer supervision, and high school students need resume builders, so this is a wonderful time to build into the next generation of leaders!

Start with a week of “Leadership Camp” for the student leaders, utilizing your church staff to teach general biblical leadership as well as specific ways to work with children, lead small groups, and any other specific skills they may need.

You could even have this group plan what your summer programs and outreach for kids will look like. By inviting them into the conversation, they will be more invested.

You’ve Got This

That countdown to summer can hold the same feelings of anticipation and excitement that it does for the kids in your community as it does for you, as you consider what you can do within your children’s ministry summer programming. Run after the standards of your mission statement with the Creator of the Universe on your side!

It was going to be a place that she called her own. A place where she would grow physically and emotionally. Now you’re probably wondering what that has to do with kidmin, but I promise you it’s more relevant than you think.

Each week, you’re privileged to have kids walk into your children’s ministry space. The question is, “Whose space is it?” Like my daughter, the kids in your ministry are looking at your space and thinking, “Will I be comfortable here? Will this be the space where I can make friends? Will this be the space that I learn about Jesus? Is this a safe place for me?”

It’s more than just a room. Week after week, you have the opportunity to create a physical and emotional space for the kids in your ministry. Let’s make it the best we can.

3 Questions to Ask About Your Physical Children’s Ministry Spaces

A lot happens in our rooms. Kids will smile, laugh, cry, make friends, grow their faith, fall asleep (literally), and so much more. It’s more than paint and cutouts on a wall. It’s about creating a space they want to be in. One they’d be comfortable bringing their friends to. It’s about creating a space they would want to show their parents.

And before we get sidetracked by money, a big budget isn’t the only way to achieve this. Ask these three questions no matter what size space and budget you have.

1. Is It Relevant?

Let’s go ahead and make an agreement here. Let’s leave “back in my day…” back in the day. It only took a few times of my kids telling me “Dad, that’s old” for me to realize that being relevant matters.

Does your children’s ministry space look like a place where kids want to be? I’m not saying you have to deck the whole thing out, but it needs to feel like a place kids would choose to spend time.

Is the music up to date? Are the colors appealing? Do kids frown or are they excited when they come? Get feedback from kids and parents. When you’re recreating a space, let kids be part of the brainstorming. The worst thing we can do is force our kids and families to just fit into our environment. We want them to love it and know it’s theirs.

2. Is It Fun?

Sounds simple right? Kids’ ministry needs fun. Nobody wants to be in a boring space. Just think about the most boring meeting you’ve ever been in. Now multiply that by 10. That’s how dramatic kids act when things aren’t fun.

I’m not saying you need to go out and create a circus. But would you want to be there? Would you want your kids or family to be there?

There are already so many distractions for a kid. Let’s not have the lack of fun be one of them.

3. Is It Safe?

Safety is more than just about locks, tags, and officers. Creating safe children’s ministry spaces allows kids to be themselves. Creating a safe place helps parents to have trust.

When a family walks into your space, what do they see? What do they feel? How do parents feel when they leave their kids in your space?

It doesn’t need to be Fort Knox, but you’re caring for the future generation, and that’s worth making sure your space is safe.

Emotional Children’s Ministry Spaces

It’s easy to focus on our physical space and forget that there’s an entire emotional space to the ministry we do. I remember researching schools as we prepared to move. While I was focused on the location, stats, and if it would create a great environment, I imagine my children were asking some of these questions.

Will I be accepted? Will I belong? Will I be loved?

There’s beauty when a kid has the opportunity to be themselves in our spaces. So as we evaluate our spaces, we need to ask some emotional questions.

1. Will I Be Accepted?

Acceptance is deeper than just getting in the door. Kids, just like us, have a desire to feel accepted, and our space can help foster that. It starts with our websites, promotional material, guest experiences, classrooms, and so much more.

You see, not only do you have to help each child feel accepted, you have to help their parents know their child will be accepted. It takes time and consistency to build trust. The idea of loving your neighbor as yourself means accepting them for who they are. Helping them know they are there for a reason.

That reason is to encounter people who love Jesus and love them too. I bet just hearing that, you would feel accepted. Let’s offer that and more to our children and families.

2. Will I Belong?

I remember my grandmother coming to my little league basketball game and saying, “Drae, you belong here.” I never understood that until I started working in kids’ ministry. When our space allows kids to make friends, see themselves, and not just feel like another number, life change can happen.

Kids won’t just be coming to a service you created, they’ll be part of something much greater. When kids belong, it breaks down mental and emotional barriers and allows them to do what we truly hope they will do: fall in love with Jesus.

3. Will I Be Loved?

Kids in your ministry are most likely hearing that God loves them so much, but are they feeling that? We get to help kids experience God’s love. A love that’s unconditional. A love that’s worth sharing.

In your space, do they see these affirmations? Do they hear these affirmations? Do they feel these affirmations?

It’s so important for the kids to feel this love, and it starts with us as leaders and volunteers. Our overflow of God’s love will make all the difference for our kids. So let’s fill up and change the lives of our kiddos.

Impact of Your Children’s Ministry Spaces

So, what do we do now? I was listening to a podcast, and the host mentioned this idea of getting 1% better each day. Not overdoing it, but simply setting a goal to just get better.

That’s what we have to do.

Maybe your children’s ministry space needs some updating. Maybe your experience team needs to assess the emotional needs of the kids you serve. Ask yourself, “What’s at stake if we don’t look at our physical and emotional space?”

The next generation of kids, leaders, and volunteers is at stake. Our ministries need to be places where all kids and families can come.

So let’s get better. Even if it’s 1% a day.

More Articles You May Like

• Innovative Children’s Ministry Room Designs that Will Inspire You
• 6 Easy Ways to Renovate Your Children’s Ministry Space
• How to Make Space for Worship Response in Your Kidmin
• Sensory Spaces for Kids in the COVID-19 Church
• Make Space for The Holy Spirit to Teach Kids
• Making Space for the Holy Spirit in Your Ministry
• Making Room for Wonder: The Benefits of an Organized Space
• Wonder-filled Conversation & Making Space for God in Your Kidmin
• How to Create a Sensory Room for Students with Special Needs

Children are each created to be known by God, loved by Jesus, and led by the Holy Spirit. When they know these truths and choose Jesus, we get to walk in our kingdom identity as His kids.

How should we begin this conversation in our kidmin? How can we intentionally make space for God to do the things that only He can?

Read this full article here.

What This Article Walks Through

Start with the Big Picture of God’s Big Story in Your Kidmin

In this section, you’ll discover the importance of giving kids a big-picture view of the Bible.

A Story to Live By: The Formative Power of God’s Story

To know the Story of God, we need to give context around the stories we teach and repeat the stories to help kids understand the big picture. They need to know the story so they have the opportunity to meet God in His Story.

Kids Meet God in His Story

Our kids need to both experience the wonder of God and ask their questions. Wondering and questioning are not the same thing, and both are important!

The Importance of Reflective Engagement in Your Kidmin

The Bible is full of real people with real stories. It’s impactful. But it can be more impactful depending on how we teach.

Our Own View of God Influences How We Teach

As you read stories in Scripture, what picture are you painting of God or Jesus as you read? What tone of voice are you hearing? How has your view of God impacted how you teach?

Give Kids Opportunities to Be with God

Give your kids some space to simply be with God. It’s the idea of being in this ministry with kids, rather than doing it to or for kids. They get to have a bigger part when there is space for them to be with God and respond to Him.

Worship Response in Your Kidmin Culture

Worship response offers a path for kids to encounter God, commune with Him, and then respond to Him. God will meet with them. Our job is to set the table. In this section, you’ll get some ideas on what that can look like!

Affirm Identity in Christ

We must give our kids language to know and affirm their identity in Christ and to help them live out who God created them to be. At our church, we always remind our community that “Sunday is not the main event. Our lives are the actual event.”

Read this full article here.

Wonder Ink

What if Sunday morning was just the starting point? Wonder Ink is a customizable digital curriculum and toolkit for creatively engaging kids and families in God’s Word. Wonder Ink sparks curiosity and guides children on a journey of faith through the wonder of God.

Explore Wonder Ink

Wonder Ink

What if Sunday morning was just the starting point? Wonder Ink is a customizable digital curriculum and toolkit for creatively engaging kids and families in God’s Word. Wonder Ink sparks curiosity and guides children on a journey of faith through the wonder of God.

Explore Wonder Ink

Wonder Ink

What if Sunday morning was just the starting point? Wonder Ink is a customizable digital curriculum and toolkit for creatively engaging kids and families in God’s Word. Wonder Ink sparks curiosity and guides children on a journey of faith through the wonder of God.

Explore Wonder Ink

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV

We begin here. The significance of the spiritual work that you are about to embark on must first prompt you to pause and reflect on God and His Scripture. The work you have been placed in His Kingdom to do can only go as far as you follow Him.

Understanding the weight and gravity of God’s work is heavy. But rest in the truth that He, the Creator of all things, placed great gifts in you as His follower. Allow humbleness, a gentle spirit, patience, and love to permeate all that you do and say.

Remembering how you got here will be an inspirational life jacket when you experience some of the tough days and seasons ahead. When the heavy wind, rain, and those chopping waves come (and they will come), your memory of His calling you will stand like a strong lighthouse pointing you back to the truth.

New Children’s Ministry Leader, Look Before You Leap

One of ministry’s most beautiful and active words is “change.” Change can be stressful, unnecessary, premature, and reckless. Change can also be fluid, necessary, and purposeful. The execution and timing of change is most critical.

As you begin a new ministry, resist the temptation to leap into changes before you have done the work of observing and listening—asking key volunteers, parents, staff members, and yourself the right questions.

Start by asking yourself some questions:

• Why do we do our Sunday morning programming/teaching this way?
• What is God calling us to? What is our vision?
• Does our current setup lead us to His call? Are we on mission?
• How do our volunteers, children, and families respond to change?
• How can I help facilitate the change needed in order to get us on track with our vision?

Grab coffee and a safe spot with the “gatekeepers” of the church’s historical knowledge. Gatekeepers are the people who inhabit history and context. When you meet with them, ask good questions, listen, take notes, listen even closer, and begin to measure and analyze what you’ve heard.

It’s About People

When I speak with leaders, I am often reminded of these simple, yet powerful, words by author Hans Finzel in his book Top 10 Mistakes Leaders Make. He says, “It’s about people not programs.”

At the core of what we do, it’s about the people we serve. God has called us to ministry to point others to Him. He uses each of us as His vessels to share His Word and His love.

When this gets hard is when you feel the pressure and expectancy of leadership to create the best children’s and family ministry in your community.

You can only create, craft, architect, and build a thriving ministry by recognizing early on that this will be accomplished and sustained by placing people above programs and God’s vision for your ministry above any background noise.

If Christ is our example of leadership, we need to study Him closely through the gospels.

Following Jesus as a New Children’s Ministry Leader

We see first and foremost His Father’s business was not filled with staff meetings outside the synagogue walls, programming at the Sea of Galilee, or even budget forecasting meetings with an ocean view.

Jesus was at work by being present, eating meals, and taking long walks where He was spending time loving on people as He engaged in creating community and relationship. This isn’t to negate programming. Much of our programming supports the God-given vision to teach children about the good news of Jesus, about who He is, so that they can experience Him and develop relationship with Him.

Programming is not wrong. But it’s specifically right when it is used to assist in loving and leading people. As a new children’s ministry leader, you have the opportunity to set this course.

I can just hear Jesus asking, “Byron, how’s your prayer life, what does it look like? Who are you discipling? I see the heart and soul of your wayward son or daughter. How can I pray for them and you?”

The theological truth is Jesus already knows the answers but wants to ask the questions! He wants relationship with us. Follow Jesus as you lead and everything else will be done well.

Become Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

I respect and applaud ministry leaders who read, go to conferences, and listen to podcasts. We all become more like Jesus and lead better when we lean into other leaders and work on our leadership development.

Networking and collaborating conversations are imperative. Regardless of your comfort level, I want to encourage you to reach across your city to a few churches where your co-laborers minister and gather for prayer, inspiration, ideation, and even reminding others of their calling.

Connection with others who stand where your stand, who have felt the weight of ministry, who have seen God move can give your mind, heart, and soul great comfort and encouragement. Imagine what the Church could do together. Keep plowing forward!

Keep the Gospel at the Center

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Romans 1:16 NIV

Please print this passage from your favorite translation and frame it in your office and recite daily!

Over the last several years I have been grieved and often wondered how Father God and Son Jesus see Christ followers and His Church with the respect, teaching, preaching, and handling the Gospel.

And when I speak of the Gospel, I’m speaking of His Holy Bible.

Do we really handle it like it is Holy? It is this Gospel that God gave His only Son for to die in my place so that I might live forever! Has there ever been a greater love than this?

But I see the Gospel being pushed to the margins, the edges, in a lot of ways. It’s been moved—or in some cases removed—and must be moved back to the center, the core. Keeping the Gospel at center is an exercise where you measure programming, Sunday school curriculum, VBS curriculum, parenting resources, volunteer resources, and all other resources for your ministry.

If you can without any doubt claim God’s Word is at the center in all your ministry expressions, you’ll find that you’re in a great place! If the answer is any different, sound the alarm, throw away anything without it, and recenter on it. One doesn’t have to look far to find resources that embrace the Gospel unapologetically.

If not for the Gospel, why then do we do what we do?

Here We Go!

As you begin to run in your calling, remember these things:

• Follow God and don’t veer off for pretty strategies, distractions, or anything else. Stay right in His footsteps.
• Look before you leap. As you make changes, make sure you’re making the right ones.
• It’s all about people. Follow Jesus’ example of what leadership should look like.
• Get comfortable with the uncomfortable and make community with other leaders who you can learn from and grow together with.
• Keep the Gospel at the center—where it was always meant to be.

Plus, children’s ministry closets and cabinets are stuffed with equipment and creative supplies that are just bursting to be unleashed with unlimited possibilities for your families. Together, we can reimagine summer connections with families at the forefront.

So let’s begin dreaming.

Dream Big (and Small)

When you shift the summer focus to family connections, you can target specific needs your congregation has expressed. There are so many possibilities, but here are just a few examples:

• Intentionally connecting dads and supporting them as primary faith leaders in their homes.
• Curating age-appropriate activities for families regarding social, emotional, physical, and spiritual skills.
• Providing a family camp opportunity that connects younger parents to seasoned mentors in the church.
• Targeting loving our neighbors through family connections.

So how do we begin? Pray. Ask God to lead you to conversations with families and volunteers about ways to expand your ministry to make family connections. You will likely discover that many families have been craving the opportunity to meet others and would jump on board to help.

I love summer ministry because it allows me to playfully explore building family connections at different levels. Think of a zero-entry swimming pool as the perfect image for summer connections. There is a variety of depths so you can venture in where you feel safe and secure.

Zero-Entry Ideas

Family Connection activities at that zero-entry depth should target getting all ages to gather and provide space for natural introductions and connections. Another rule of thumb is that families should be able to easily invite neighbors or guests and feel comfortable at the event.

Outdoor BBQ Yard Party

Fire up those grills with burgers and dogs. Toss out hula hoops, soccer balls, footballs, bag toss games, and other yard games and encourage play. Have nametags on the food table to help make connections and invite a few amateur photographers to come and snap pictures. After the event, put the photos on display in your ministry space to help remind people of who they met.

Pool / Park Party

Everyone loves being at the pool and the park in the summer. These are already natural connecting places, so be strategic. Rent out a pool or a park shelter for the evening. Provide special snacks and drinks for your guests. Consider planning a couple of large group games to get the connections started.

Noodling Around

Host pool noodle games and a family-style pasta dinner. Pinterest is loaded with pool noodle activities, from racing to picking up the meatballs and spaghetti (beach balls and pool noodles), noodle limbo, long jumps, and more. Then, like a big Italian family, sit down to some fine dining, slurping up spaghetti and sauce.

Shallow-End Ideas

The shallow end of the pool is for those growing in confidence. This is the perfect space to build age-appropriate themed events. At this level, you want to engage families to see and understand their connections around children in the same phase. These family connections can lead to ongoing emotional support and encouragement.

My team developed a variety of Phase Nights over the years that highlighted parents and kids making connections specifically around social, emotional, physical, and spiritual phases. Our goal was to build deeper relationships by understanding how their child was growing.

We also provided spiritual resources for our families, such as books, games, and music.

Infant / Crawler Phase Night

Since touch is the number one way a parent communicates at this stage, we brought in an infant massage specialist to train parents.

Pre-School Phase Night

Why, why, why? An evening where wonder and science experiments produce conversations and connections between adults and kids around “how?” and “why?” questions!

Upper Elementary Phase Night

An Escape Room with riddles, locks, and multiple levels of problems provide non-stop interaction and connections between fourth and fifth graders and their parents. Parents of this age group are often experiencing the dance between independence and dependency.

The variety of problems initiates the give-and-take of knowledge from everyone to be a success.

Deep-End Ideas

The deep-end experience involves trusting God enough to let go of any predetermined must-do programs or events of the past and moving forward where the spirit is leading. Imagine what can happen if you let go of your typical summer programming and say, “God, lead us. We will follow.”

He is the God of the unimaginable. He may lead you to the most incredible ministry revival for families this century.

• Exchange Kids Camp for Family Camp
• Swap Vacation Bible School for Family Week Experience
• Substitute Sunday Worship for Family Worship

Any idea you would consider a DEEP END needs to be communicated well to church leadership and families. Who could be on the team to reimagine this idea? How does this engage differently than what you’ve in the past? In what ways do you imagine growth? What connection impact would be the benefit of doing something fresh?

High-Dive Ideas

Daring, exciting, and bold. These words describe the brave children’s pastor who looks at the pool before them and wants to jump in and explore the depths. When we focus on meeting families’ needs at the church or at our event spaces, we create a dependency on ministry.

Imagine if you set families on a path to discover how to connect with their neighbors and friends. These new connections could impact the city’s neighborhoods, schools, and businesses.

Imagine if you equipped your church families’ homes to be the neighborhood houses where people felt known, cared for, and loved. Target mentoring a few households to host Zero-Entry Events on their driveways or in their backyards by inviting neighbors and friends to bring their families.

Your ministry could sponsor one of the following ideas.

• Saturday Morning Donuts on the Driveway
• Popsicles at the Park
• Hotdogs and Wiffleball
• Backyard Games Kits
• Glow Party

Summer Is the Time

Summer is the perfect time to be playful and purposefully connect your families by reimagining ministry. Imagine the connection opportunities you might have when your families are on mission for Christ together—deepening their friendships and faith.

Trust God’s lead. Take a chance this summer. Reimagine opportunities for families. And then share with us how you saw God show up!

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Zipped To-Gather: A Summer Programming Guide

Zipped To-Gather is an outreach program that invites and encourages parents to get involved in ministry to your community. You will simply provide the easy-to-find supplies (listed in this guide), and the parents will take it from there. Check it out!

Download your free guide

Free Guide

Even though I knew I was supposed to stay on the road, I did what the GPS told me to do. As soon as I took the exit, it told me to get back on the interstate! I needed clarity on the path set before me and the direction I should go if I was going to get to my destination. Clarity would help me keep from getting sidetracked or distracted and taking wrong exits!

Setting Vision for Your Children’s Ministry

Vision in your children’s ministry sets the direction that gives clarity on where you’re going and what you’ll do to get there—the direction and the destination. Children’s ministries need a clear vision so you don’t take wrong exits and go down wrong paths. Vision brings clarity about the future for your ministry. If you know where you’re going, you can move in that direction and stay on the right road, even when distractions come.

I once heard a story of a person who was following a GPS that led her right into a lake! We need to not only have clarity about where we’re going, but also make sure our eyes are fixed on the right path. A children’s ministry without a clear vision may attempt to be and do too many things. Doing too many things can lead to distraction, ineffectiveness, and discouragement.

As you develop and evaluate your children’s ministry’s vision, remember these five things:

1. The vision comes from God.
2. The vision directs the “why” for your ministry.
3. The vision motivates your people.
4. The children’s ministry’s vision flows from the vision of the whole church.
5. The vision is clear, concise, and memorable.

The vision comes from God.

The vision is the God-breathed future for your ministry. It answers the questions: “Where is our children’s ministry going?” and “What does God want for our children’s ministry?” It should be an inspiring and hope-filled picture from the heart of God.

As you develop your children’s ministry vision, begin by seeking the heart of God through prayer, with an open heart to hear from Him. Listen, dream, and be still before Him. Ask Him to reveal His vision for your ministry. The vision should be big enough that you can’t do it without God.

Ultimately, it’s not about crafting your own vision, but discovering His vision for your ministry. Saturate the entire process in prayer and spend time with God as you’re developing the vision statement.

The vision directs the “why” for your children’s ministry.

The vision tells people where your children’s ministry is going and clarifies the purpose. A compelling and inspiring vision will attract volunteers who want to serve in your ministry. People want to be a part of something life-changing and purposeful.

When you have a clear vision, you don’t just ask people to volunteer in your children’s ministry; you invite them to be part of the God-given vision and give them a deeper reason to serve.

The vision motivates your people.

A vision statement encourages unity, creates energy, brings life, and provides purpose for your volunteers, staff, kids, and families. It can unify your team and move your people toward action as everyone rallies around the vision. This type of change can be so good.

I’ve worked in churches with clear and compelling vision, but I’ve also been part of churches that didn’t know where they were going and what was important. The ones with clear vision grew not only in numbers and influence but were filled with people growing strong and deep in their faith as they lived out the God-give vision and served passionately to help fulfill it.  

The vision should not be one of low stakes or low expectations. Children’s ministry should be life changing and earth shaking. Your vision should move kids and families to grow in their faith and discover their place in God’s big story.

It should impact and influence the programming your ministry executes, your teaching methods, your curriculum choice, your events, your values, your outreach, your church’s role in the community, the way you communicate with families, your volunteer roles—even your physical space and décor can be a vessel for vision-casting!

The children’s ministry’s vision flows from the vision of the whole church.

Your children’s ministry vision should be aligned with the vision of your church. An aligned vision brings unity and deeper impact. If you’re experiencing tension or discouragement, you may be out of alignment with your church’s vision.

As you develop your children’s ministry vision, you should ensure the destination for the entire church is mapped out and everyone is traveling in the same direction toward the same destination.

The vision is clear, concise, and memorable.

The vision should be easy for volunteers, kids, and parents to learn and declare. Repeat it often and in many ways. Look for opportunities to cast the vision through storytelling when God impacts lives through the ministry and celebrating wins. If it’s not memorable and understandable, it won’t stay at the forefront of people’s minds

Questions to ask as you’re developing your vision statement for children’s ministry:

• What is your church’s vision?
• Where is the church going?
• How can your children’s ministry go in the same direction as the church?
• How do you envision your children’s ministry in the future?
• What is your ministry’s unique calling to meet the needs of its congregation and surrounding community?
• What does God want to accomplish through your children’s ministry?
• What does our ministry need to look like to accomplish this?
• What kind of children’s ministry do we want to be? 
• What characterizes your ministry?

Questions to ask when evaluating your vision statement:

• Does our vision statement inspire and connect with people?
• Is the vision statement clear, concise, and memorable?
• Does the statement incorporate the values that are important to your church?
• Can someone who does not attend your church understand who your children’s ministry serves and desires to reach?
• Does the vision accurately reflect the church’s values?
• Can your volunteers easily remember and share the statement?
• How will you communicate your vision?
• What is the mission of your church and children’s ministry? What are the core values?

A vision statement is different from a mission statement, because a mission statement focuses on your ministry today and a vision statement focuses on your ministry’s future. Your mission statement determines what and how your ministry accomplishes the goals each day. The vision paints the dreams God has for your church’s future.

You won’t be tempted to take a wrong exit or drive your car into a lake when you have a clear path to your destination. A clear and compelling vision can combat discouragement, distraction, low-attendance, lack of volunteer commitment and passion, shallow faith, and lukewarm engagement and connection.

God already has a unique role for your children’s ministry in your community. He has brought the people to your church for a specific purpose. As a children’s ministry leader, you can discover how God is already moving in your ministry and articulate that in a compelling, challenging, and inspirational way through a vision statement.

When you know and follow the God-breathed vision for your children’s ministry, you’ll experience tremendous kingdom impact as kids and families grow in their faith and understand their identity as a child of God and their place in God’s big story.

However, the areas of safety and liability is one of the most important aspects of children’s ministry. It’s imperative that we provide a safe environment for our kids and families.

By providing a safe environment, we gain trust with parents and the community we serve. And when we provide a secure environment, we create space to share the love of Christ. The level of safety we offer can impact the reputation of our church, and, ultimately, the effectiveness of our ministry.

When thinking about providing a safe ministry environment for kids, there are a plethora of areas and specifics that could fall under this category. The information below can serve as a beginner’s checklist to help ensure you’re covering all the bases.

General Safety Considerations in Children’s Ministry

There are basic children’s ministry safety guidelines that each ministry should follow, whether leading weekly worship experiences or hosting your summer VBS and all the fun in between. And these guidelines should be readily available to your team—if possible, through a handbook.

Volunteer Requirements: Safety in Children’s Ministry

Administer Background Checks

All volunteers should have a background check completed prior to serving in your ministry area. While it may be tempting to fill holes with any kind and willing people you know when volunteers call out, it is not a good practice or worth the risk.

To minimize the need to ask people to volunteer who have not passed a background check, consider creating a volunteer substitute list. These volunteers are people who have had a background check but may not want to serve on a consistent basis.

Age Requirements and Job Descriptions

Determine the minimum age requirement for your volunteers. Children’s ministry is a great place for middle and high school students to serve in the Body of Christ. It is also a great place for them to learn from others. Your kids’ ministry environment can have teens serve alongside adults in addition to the adult-to-kid ratios set in place.

And be sure to have a job descriptions for each position you need filled. It will help you determine what ages are appropriate for those roles.

Adult-to-Child Ratios

Create volunteer-to-child ratios for each of the areas in your ministry. These ratios can be informed by your state’s child development center standards and by talking to other children’s ministry leaders. Younger children should have more adults per child than older children in your ministry.

Even in rooms with a small number of children, practice the rule of two: always ensure that there is a minimum of two volunteers in every room with kids. As an added layer of protection, we ensure that a non-family member volunteers with any couples or family members who are serving together in the same room.

Volunteer Training

All volunteers should be properly trained as part of their onboarding process. In addition, schedule times throughout the year when current volunteers are given a refresher course in the policies and procedures of your ministry area.

I begin each new year by reviewing our policies and procedures with my volunteers. I make this review time fun by gamifying it complete with candy for prizes.

Below are some of the areas your volunteer trainings should cover:

• Check-in/out procedures: in addition to the standard procedures, cover how families can inform your team of any special circumstances involving child custody (for example, how should a family make your team aware if there are individuals with whom a child cannot leave an event? How do you ensure this important information is shared with the right volunteers each week?)
• Emergency evacuation and active shooter procedures
• Inclement weather protocol
• Allergy awareness and policy concerning Epi-pen administration
• Mandatory reporting guidelines

Mandatory Reporting

Your volunteers are considered to be mandatory reporters. They are required by law to report any suspicions of neglect or abuse. Clearly communicate this expectation to your volunteers. You might offer training around signs of neglect or abuse in addition to guidelines for how to submit a report.

Special Event Safety Considerations

In addition to the safety protocols you have in place for your standard ministry events, there are extra considerations for special events like Vacation Bible School or a seasonal event.

Typically, you’ll need to consider what your church’s insurance policy covers before making decisions regarding these events, as these events may bring more people to your ministry area than during a typical week and sometimes have fun elements that are not part of a standard Sunday experience. Because church policies vary from church to church, check with the person in charge of the insurance policy.

The following are examples of scenarios when you would want to consult your church’s insurance policy:

• Transportation for kids is being provided by the church
• Events in or around water
• Events where inflatables are in use
• If bringing in an outside provider for a ministry event, make sure they have their own insurance policies.
• Waivers for church events: consider having families sign waivers giving your ministry area the permission to seek 911 in the event of an emergency

Part of having an effective ministry for kids is ensuring that they are safe. Parents care about this, and we should too! While we cannot foresee or prevent every dangerous situation, we can do our due diligence to protect those precious ones with whose care we have been entrusted.

If that’s where you find yourself right now, you are in the right place! To help you acclimate to your new role, let’s walk through a few necessary first steps to build a healthy foundation for your leadership and those you lead.

Stay Focused!

First things first, we desperately need your role in the Church. But it can be easy to lose focus when you find yourself in a new season. You will often feel the rush of the coming Sunday. It can tempt you to spend time on tasks that seem urgent but aren’t the most important. While this is a common trap to fall into, adopting this rhythm will prevent you from moving forward with purpose.

To manage the tension between the urgent and the most important, I encourage you to pause each day, commit time to prayer, and reflect on what you’ve learned. As we know, the first few months will contain a great amount of learning! This doesn’t have to be a long span of time.

For me, creating the right rhythm has often looked like 30 minutes to reflect on what I have learned and the questions I have about moving forward in my role. Then, asking God for His grace and wisdom as He guides my steps into a place of newness and uncertainty that day.

Once you are grounded in focus, there are three areas to begin pouring into. They are intentional relationship building, learning your ministry, and seeking feedback.

Intentional Relationship Building

Now and in the future, remember to not do it alone. This applies to the majority of your work as a ministry leader. As Ephesians 4:12 states, our roles exist “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up …”

A great place to start is by reaching out to your volunteers and introducing yourself. You may already know some, or all, of the volunteers you are working with. Still, reach out and use the opportunity to cast some vision! Share with volunteers your excitement to serve with them, ask them about their experience volunteering, and share your passion with them.

With a larger team, this step can seem daunting. I recently began a role with a team of over 150 volunteers and daunting was a great way to describe it! For the first few months, I made a goal to reach out to one volunteer at a set time each day to introduce myself and get to know them. While I did not get on the phone with everyone, the conversations I had were a meaningful starting point. Many on the team were grateful, and we were building relationships outside of Sunday services.

This rhythm doesn’t need to be limited to volunteers—you can also include parents in the mix! In the first few months, identify who your committed, core families are. (You can ask your volunteers to help with this if you’re unsure!) Investing in families right from the start builds trust and communicates to parents that their child’s ministry leader is a hands-on influence in their child’s discipleship.

Learn Your Ministry

You may have come into your role with a clear vision. Or you may find yourself feeling unsure and full of questions. In either situation you may find yourself in, there is no need to fear. There is no need to expect yourself to come into your ministry role with a fully formed plan and methodology to execute on day one.

I have learned that before I can plan and set goals, I need to learn about my new ministry as quickly as I can. With an open mind, these are five general areas you can seek to understand within your first month:

1. Curriculum

First, study what is being taught in each age group of your ministry. This includes an understanding of the components of each lesson, the scope and sequence of lesson plans, and the Scripture and truths that are taught.

2. Programming

What does a weekend service or midweek program typically look like? What is the flow of service? Are there large group, technology, or worship components within services and events?

3. Volunteers

In addition to building relationships with volunteers, it is important to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your team in order to build an even stronger one. Who are the strong, committed leaders who may be open to higher levels of leadership if needed? Where are the areas for your team to be developed? What does volunteer onboarding and training look like for your team?

4. Parent Partnerships

This one is often overlooked, but don’t undervalue the importance of your parent partners! Does your ministry have a strategy for engaging and partnering with parents? If so, become an expert on that process and seek to know parents who are engaging.

5. Logistics

As parents trust their children to our care, we want to lead ministries that value safety and a positive experience for all who participate. As a start, begin with key safety measures, including the check-in and check-out processes.

Seek Feedback

As you learn, ask questions, and study, it will be helpful to consider perspectives outside of your own. I encourage you to create an attainable goal for receiving feedback from both parents and volunteers in your ministry.

This may look like coming up with two or three intentional, conversational questions and striking up a conversation with one volunteer or parent each week. You can gear your questions toward areas of your ministry where you would like to have a deeper understanding. (Bonus point—this is a great way to build relationships and cast vision as well!)

Evaluate

As you “learn your ministry” well, you’ll want to carve out time to sit down and evaluate as you go. Pausing and acknowledging what you’ve learned can go a long way in establishing a ministry mission statement, strategy, and values down the road. Here are three easy and helpful questions to ask as you reflect:

1. What is going well?
2. What is a challenge?
3. What is a problem that needs to be fixed?

Remember Your Why

Some of the best advice I’ve received when beginning a new ministry role is, “not everything needs to be done in a day (or a week, or month, or year).” You will likely face moments of inadequacy and uncertainty. Instead of letting those moments stir up fear, let them be an opportunity to trust God’s plan for you and the people you lead.

When challenging moments rise up, resist the temptation to work harder and faster. Instead, pause and remember your “why.” Why are you doing this? Why did you feel called here? What do you hope God will do?

And then, talk to your Father who loves you and is equipping you in every moment. Leading in children’s ministry is a beautiful honor and privilege. There is an opportunity for a fun, joy-filled road ahead of you.

Like anything worthwhile, it can be challenging. But remain focused on the opportunity God has given you to introduce the next generation of your church and community to their Savior.

I pray that, as you go, you will have those wonder-filled moments of gratitude when you say, “Thank you, Lord, that I get to do this work and be used by You.”

How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

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How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

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How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout

There are moments in every leader’s journey that defines whether they move forward or give up. Things happen, life gets hard, and opportunities come and go. Download this guide to be encouraged in your leadership walk with the Lord!

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But here is what the walk wasn’t: it was not random. While it was varied and offered surprises, it wasn’t unknown, untraveled, or unmarked. There were boundaries and borders, fences, and footpaths. We were on St. Cuthbert’s Way—a centuries-old pilgrimage walked by thousands before us.

And there was a guidepost every so often that reminded us we were on the right track marked with a known symbol.

Now, these small, yellowed circles with a cross symbol didn’t show up with any regularity. It was just assumed that “this” is the way until another guidepost would steer us otherwise.

And when more time had passed than felt comfortable, all of us would begin to wonder if we’d missed a marker somewhere along the way.

Trusting the Guidebook

There was one afternoon when we realized that, at the top of our highest climb, it appeared that there was one hill seemingly higher than the one on which we stood. Naturally, we let the kids decide if we should also climb that hill. Equally naturally, of course, they wanted to.

There was one concession: climbing the next hill would take us off the path, and we wouldn’t necessarily find a guidepost on the other side. We would have to trust the guidebook (which was more poetic than geographically useful), and each other.

After that extra hill, a fenced wood full of bear traps (Lion? Tiger? Wolf? Who’s to say, really …), and a climb over a barbed wire fence, we found ourselves at the main road that would eventually lead to our bed and breakfast for the day (even though it was after dark when we arrived).

It turns out we only needed that sense of adventure once to realize there was plenty to see on the predetermined path from there on out.

Walking Through the Good Book

Reading the Bible is like a long walk. But I wonder if we are sometimes so concerned with ensuring kids know the stories of Scripture that we miss the opportunity to show them how to wander through the pages and find their way to Jesus.

I wonder if we spend more time introducing them to other people’s stories rather than to who they are because of who He is.

I wonder if we could invite kids to run free in an open meadow where sheep graze, trusting that there are guideposts along the way? What do our kids need to know about Scripture to feel free enough to wander yet be safe enough to explore?

We want kids to be biblically literate: familiar with both the content of Scripture and the character of God who invites us to know Him intimately. But such understanding comes from first deciding: what is our goal?

On the walk, the goal was to get to Holy Island. For me, the goal with Scripture is to point to Jesus, and God’s great big plan for us, His kids, and His Kingdom. We learn from those who have gone before us, and we learn how to go on a long walk with Jesus, in the ways that He walked.

Guideposts for Engaging Kids in God’s Word

Let’s stake out a few guideposts to keep leading kids toward the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 15), the very Word of God Himself (John 1). When we decide in advance how we want kids to engage with the Bible, we can help shape how it shows up in their lives as disciples:

Always Point to God

The Bible is more of a love letter than a textbook. Rather than pointing to facts alone, what if every moment of it points to a God whose love knows no limits? What if it’s less about the type of wood Noah used than the fact that Noah would be used by the God He loved with his whole life?

God’s Big Story

Every piece of Scripture is tied to the whole—nothing stands alone. We can tell stories one at a time, but not one is isolated from a greater vision for us all. The Bible is one story.

The Hope of the Gospel

Sin doesn’t get the headline—it points us back to the gospel.​ Sin matters—of course it does. But the gospel is good news. The story of Jesus is good. His life is good. And He was sinless. Starting His story with what we’ve done (sin) is like starting your story with how you hurt your best friend’s feelings. It just might not be the best place to start.

The People of Scripture

The people of Scripture are not characters or superheroes—they are real people. People who have big dreams, are curious, and believe with their whole hearts. They are people who make mistakes. People like you and me. Their relatability is a child’s invitation to participate. God can use all people, any people, available people.

Biblical Language

If we want kids to know the language of Scripture, let’s teach it in the context of Scripture. Try this: every time you read the Bible with kids, put your hand up and say “Stop!” when a word is said that they wouldn’t use in everyday life. Ask what it means. Explain what it means. Carry on. Over time, biblical literacy will shift to comprehension.

Our Identity

Our identity is rooted in the same way our faith is: being confident of what we hope for in Jesus.​ Who we were made to be is found in the pages of Scripture. Knowing the Bible helps us to know Jesus. Knowing Jesus leads to becoming like Jesus. But if the goal of knowing Scripture is to simply know Scripture, a child may never find their story where it was first written.

God’s Word Is Alive

Character develops through becoming, not simply by knowing the rules of good behavior. The Bible is no more a playbook than a textbook. It is living and active. It will speak, shape, and sharpen those who choose to know it, trust it, and be led by it because it is also loving.

Moving with Wonder

So, I wonder: can we trust the Holy Spirit to speak truth through Scripture to our kids while we unpack it with them? Can we trust that the way markers are visible—not hiding—and that He is calling them by name in the right direction? Our job is to lead them to Jesus, and the Bible is like that beautiful guidebook: poetic, helpful, rich with history and ways to stay the course, but not a geographical survey.

Here’s what I didn’t tell you about that moment when we found ourselves at the road with so far still to go: we phoned a friend. She came and drove us the rest of the way. If we teach our kids anything about knowing the Bible, may they know that it makes more sense, sounds more possible, and reads more like a legacy when we share it together.

Make space for questions. Let “I don’t know” be a good answer and “Who do you want to explore that with?” be an invitation offered often.

When they aren’t sure which way to go, remind them what the way markers look like so that they may find their way back to Jesus. And even when a child decides to climb a hill, may you both know that Jesus goes with them and that He leads them over and beyond the trap-filled woods.

You can read more from Christie here.

Wonder Ink

What if Sunday morning was just the starting point? Wonder Ink is a customizable digital curriculum and toolkit for creatively engaging kids and families in God’s Word. Wonder Ink sparks curiosity and guides children on a journey of faith through the wonder of God.

Explore Wonder Ink

I responded that I work on children’s Bible curriculum. Her eyes got big, and she exclaimed, “That’s so great!” I thought perhaps she is a regular church attender but learned that she once attended a mom’s group at a church and heard devotionals.

Through that experience, she learned she doesn’t want others to tell her what the Bible means. She wants to read it for herself.

“I researched and bought a once-a-day chronological Bible. It was very helpful.” She went on, “I kept up with it for a while. It answered some of my questions, and I still have more.”

“I’m glad!” It was time to go in so I let her know, “If you ever want to talk more about the Bible, I completely nerd out over the Bible and would love to chat.”

At the end of the conversation, I felt relieved this mom didn’t start trying to read all of Genesis and move through the Bible from there. Although the Bible starts with creation, soon the pages get into all kinds of people from Noah to Abraham to Joseph.

Then, in between, we have Cain killing his brother, Esau trading his birthright for stew, and Laban tricking Jacob. It could cause one to wonder, what is happening? And then shut the Bible while missing the point.

Where to Start in Exploring the People of the Bible

The point is that the Bible is about God. He is who it is all about. He moves His Story along. He has a plan for mankind. His plan includes Jesus.

Where would I suggest a new Bible reader begin then? The book of John.

In the first few verses of John, we encounter the same main idea found in the first few chapters of Genesis. Jesus is the Word. He was there in the beginning. Nothing was made without Him. Nothing is redeemed without Him.

He is everything.

In fact, if we were to ask the average person who at least attends church at Christmas, they could probably tell you that Jesus is central to Scripture. They would know simple facts about Him too, like that fact Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

But would those same people know why Jesus was born in Bethlehem and how that whole event came to be?

For that story to make sense, we need Abraham’s lineage in Genesis. Then, we need God’s promise to Moses in Exodus. After that, there’s Joshua entering the land that later has Bethlehem. Foreigner Ruth lands in Bethlehem. The prophet Samuel anoints David in Bethlehem. We haven’t even hit what the prophets say.

Now we have ourselves a story! And it’s all connected to Jesus.

People of the Bible: Through a Cultural Lens

Once upon a time, God told a man named Abraham to sacrifice his only son—the miracle son it took years to receive—on a mountain. Abraham agreed, and up the mountain he went with his son Isaac in tow.

Now, let’s compare God to the other gods of that time. Cultural understanding can help us understand that the other gods people worshipped were heartless and terrible. The people in surrounding countries sacrificed their children to appease their gods. They were afraid. They made these harmful choices because they thought these actions would keep them alive.

Thus, when God called out to Abraham and told him to kill his son, Abraham agreed. But what happened on that mountaintop? God, the true God who worked through Abraham to later bring Jesus into the world, provided an animal to sacrifice. He showed Abraham that He is not like other gods. He is good. God is loving. He saves.

In the New Testament, it helps to recognize that Jesus grew up Jewish. He participated in Jewish traditions. He memorized the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) because that’s what Jewish boys did. Before I realized such things, I thought Jesus knew Scripture because He was God, not because He learned it along with His peers.

Understanding ancient culture helps us understand why God did what He did at those times in history. It helps us to see more about what God is doing through His people, whether it’s the Old Testament or the New Testament.

Remember the Overarching Narrative

It’s easy to look at some of the amazing things people in the Bible did and want to model their courage, faith, and willingness to obey God in our own lives. We also may use these stories about people in Scripture to instill character into the kids we teach.

Certainly, good character is … well … good. It is even the result of faith (Romans 5:1-3). But it is not the point. To get to the point of a passage, it helps to ask these questions:

What is God doing here? How does this fit into God’s Story? Where do we see God working through His people and for His people?

Where Are They in the Story?

When teaching a Bible story or lesson, it’s important to help kids understand the times when different people in the Bible lived. Otherwise, kids may begin to imagine that Moses lived at the same time as Peter. But God was working in very different ways when these different men lived!

One way of helping kids realize the order of people in God’s story is a timeline. You can create your own or search online for a resource.

Within Scripture, it can be effective to take time to stop at places where the genealogies of God’s people are listed such as Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Do the kids recognize any names? What name is first? What name is last?

Additionally, the apostles gave overviews of God’s narrative multiple times in the New Testament. Some of the places that can be found are Acts 2 and 3. Many people in the early church believed in God because they heard how He had worked through His people over thousands of years.

One other important place to get a view of God’s faithfulness is in Hebrews 11. In this passage, children can see their place among the other people of the Bible. God is at work in their lives too, just as He was thousands of years ago and will be forever. From Noah to Joseph to Rahab and Deborah and Peter and Paul, we are all an important part of what God has planned since the beginning of time.

All these people were praised because they had faith. But none of them received what God had promised. That’s because God had planned something better for us. So they would only be made perfect together with us.

Hebrews 11:39-40 NLT

And, finally, it’s important that we recognize the people of the Bible are just that—real people. People who experienced joys and fears and hopes and dreams—just like we do. When kids understand they are not characters, but, in fact, people just like them, it comes all the more alive to them.

Helpful Resources from David C Cook

The Good Book for Kids

The Action Bible

The Action Storybook Bible

Wonder Ink Curriculum

The Action Bible Anytime Easter Lessons

For ministry leaders to share with families—whether you’re teaching at church or equipping parents at home! Celebrate Easter with 4 lesson videos and all the resources you need for sharing with kids and families. Resources include Scripture and prayer prompts, lesson application ideas, and more.

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The Action Bible Coloring Pages

Need coloring pages for the families in your ministry? We’ve got you covered with a download featuring 5 coloring pages from The Action Bible Coloring Book.

Download your coloring pages

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The Action Bible Coloring Pages

Need coloring pages for the families in your ministry? We’ve got you covered with a download featuring 5 coloring pages from The Action Bible Coloring Book.

Download your coloring pages

Free Activity

These moments are met with squeals of delight, giggles, and eyes filled with wonder. Often the excitement is so overwhelming that their whole little bodies jump for joy with hands clapping. 

Brain Facts

In the early childhood years, so much brain development is happening. Did you know that a newborn is equipped—at birth—with all the brain cells they will need for the rest of their life? The connections between these cells are the critical action that makes the brain work.

Early childhood, ages birth thru five, are crucial years for these connections. With these connections, we can think, move, communicate with others, and so much more. New neural connections are happening at an incredible rate during these young years, with over one million per second.

This is unique to early childhood as the rate of growth is more than at any other time in our lives. As teachers of young children, we are tasked with a valuable job to allow children experiences to promote healthy brain development.   

An Easy Answer

What a joy it is to work with the youngest of these! One morning I walked by an adult Bible study group that was deep in discussion. They called me to come in. “We are stuck. It says in the Scriptures unless you become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What does it mean to become childlike? We thought you might have an idea because you work with young children daily.”

It did seem like an easy answer for me. Children have so many wonderful personality qualities. Perhaps the greatest asset a young child has is complete trust, which I believe our Father in heaven wants us all to have.

During one of our sanctuary visits with the children and our pastor, he was telling the children about a missionary trip that a group of people was going to be taking. As he was talking to them, he was telling them about all the things that “we would be doing.”

One of the 3-year-old children leaned forward and asked if “we” would all be flying on the same plane to get there. That child demonstrated complete trust. If the leaders would have asked him to board a plan for a mission trip, he would have gone with them. 

I love their purity and innocence. As I have worked with young children, I have observed that they are genuinely honest. Sometimes almost hurtfully honest.  One day, a child walked up to one of our mature and experienced teachers and asked her why she had cracks on her face.

Ouch! One never has to wonder what they think, as they just come out and say it. 

Independent Explorers

Have you ever watched a child try to put together a puzzle? They will move each piece in various positions to get the right fit. Sometimes they have the correct piece in their hand, but it is not at the right angle, so they put it down and grab another piece.

After trial and error, they finally get the right piece into the right position. This is cause for celebration! They are eager to show how proud they are of their accomplishments.

Children are creative in their exploration. They do not have a sense of failure and, as such, are not afraid to try new things. In their eyes, anything is possible. Children use their imaginations to find new and creative ways to do things.

With each new discovery, it is delightful to see the joy and the smiles on their faces. 

As a leader, it is sometimes difficult to step back and watch the process. A person’s natural inclination may be to want to jump in to help them. But when observing a child, one can see their sometimes messy and amazing learning process.   

As they explore, they demonstrate flexibility and resilience. Providing opportunities for children to explore is crucial for their brain development and social/emotional well-being. 

The Wonder of Perspective

As we work with young children, each day is a little different, which makes it interesting and exciting. With their sense of curiosity, they are continuously exploring. They remind me of sponges, eager to soak up any new knowledge they can. Young kids bring enthusiasm, curiosity, and joy into each situation. 

I see it as an honor, but also a big responsibility, to work with children in the earliest years. It gives a person an opportunity to be a role model during the crucial part of each child’s development. As we guide them, we get to witness the wonderful world of “firsts.” Their successful responses are filled with smiles and glee.

Working with young children reminds me of how exciting the world can be. It is so fun to see the world through their eyes. They will notice and point out the simplest joys in life, such as capturing a leaf blowing in the wind or eagerly picking a beautiful bouquet of dandelions to be given as a gift. It has reminded me to watch for little things to celebrate each day. 

Each time I see the first snowfall of the season, I am reminded of the squeals of delight of three-year-olds as they watch snowflakes emerge each winter. 

I’ll See You There!

During one of our monthly sanctuary visits with our Sr. Pastor, he was trying to carefully tell the children the Easter story. Children can be afraid of death and not completely understand it, so it can be a challenging story to relay to them.

As he finished the story and the children started to leave, one of the children walked past him and asked him, “Are you going to heaven?” The Pastor replied that he hoped to be there one day. The child responded with complete confidence, “OK then, I guess I’ll see you there!” 

That is perhaps the best example of childlike faith that I can share. My sincere prayer for you, as an early childhood leader, is that you can see your own examples of God at work in His littlest, and perhaps mightiest, creations.

12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

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12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

Download your free guide

Free Guide

12 Awesome Bible Games for Kids of All Ages

Bible learning is serious business, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Choose from games for toddlers to preteens and help kids know that God loves them.

Download your free guide

Free Guide