I’m often asked, “What’s the most important thing in Kid’s Ministry?” That’s a good question. Is it…
- Bible study groups?
- Discipleship?
- Vacation Bible School?
- Praise and Worship?
- Music?
- Mission’s Education?
- Special Events?
- Fellowships and Socials?
I guess it kind of depends on what perspective you’re coming from. My answer is, “none of the above…” unless they include one key ingredient, relationships!
Building relationships with parents, kids, leadership, staff… other human beings… is (in my opinion) the most important thing we do in kid’s ministry. Don’t get me wrong, all the ministry programming we do is important, but NOT more important that building relationships. Building relationships will grow your ministry. Building relationship will win you leadership. Building relationships will grow your ministry base, and in turn, grow your ministry effectiveness to boys and girls.
Bottom Line: Make relationships a priority. It’s true, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” What do you think?
ministry and relationships-neither can’t stand alone just like faith and works for either to be totally effective, relevant and complete both components are needed. One without the other negates it-faith without works is dead just as ministry without relationships is incomplete and vice versa.
bottom line can’t have one without the other.
Hey Bill just wanted to check out your blog.
Bill-I completely agree with you about the importance of relationships…a quote that Joe Palmer from centrifuge shared with me years ago was: “lifechange takes place best in the context of relationship.” It has always stuck with me…and now guides our work with CentriKid camps and my minisrty through my church too.
I totally agree, we are only at church a couple hours a week. We must build relationships with parents and kids outside the four walls of the church building. What better way for a child to know how much you care. When you show up at their scholl in front of their peers and yes even eating cafeteria food, with them.
Jesus demonstrated the importance of relationships through out His ministry. The book of Mark does an excellent job of giving us a glimpse of this as he relates to His disciples, to those He touched, healed, taught and and most of all spent time with. I was reminded that it doesn’t matter how much you know, what all you do, what all you share, what all you give, unless people know you truly care about them. Relationships is the glue that holds everything we do in His name together.