Here is solid help for those new to Kids Ministry, as well as those who’ve been serving for a long time.
1. Put first things first.
Your number one priority must be your relationship with Christ. More important than the budget, the big event, even the teacher/child ratio… is your personal relationship with God; your personal time with Him in prayer, Bible study, and quiet listening to His leadership for your life.
Kids ministers are good people; compassionate, loving, hard workers who are called to a great work. When we allow our relationship with Christ to be anything less than priority we put everything else at risk.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
It’s been said that if you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know if you get there. Similarly, some kids ministries have no idea where they’re heading and will never know if they’ve been effective.
Develop and grow a strong ministry philosophy. Then, make choices and decisions based on your philosophy. Work a plan that will help you reach your goals that were developed based on your philosophy. If it doesn’t fit the philosophy, don’t do it. If it doesn’t fit the plan, don’t buy it, if it doesn’t help reach the target, it’s not part of your ministry.
Don’t be easily swayed by what the church “down the street” is doing with attempts to imitate that ministry. “Be” the church down the street. Seek God’s plan for your ministry and then carefully plot the best way to achieve that goal.
3. Protect your ministry.
Don’t sit around and wait for something to happen; work to make sure nothing unexpected or unwanted attacks your ministry. Sadly, predators are looking for opportunities to take advantage of innocent children. Recognize this sad truth and be proactively to reduce and remove the risk of predators having success in your ministries.
Use volunteer applications then set up interviews with those wishing to work with minors. Follow up on references, and complete a criminal background checks. Be intentional about enforcing policies and procedures set in place and approved by the church.
4. Connect with kids and their families.
Connecting with Kids and their families will define your ministry. Time spent with people is an investment to your personal life and to your ministry. At the end of the day, it really isn’t how much you know, how well you know it, or even how well you execute what you know. It’s true, “they don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
5. Never stop learning.
If you think you know everything, you’ve just shown you don’t! Be a life-long learner. Always be looking for books to read, conferences to attend, websites to visit, and blogs to follow that will help you and your volunteers to stay on the cutting edge of Kids ministry.
Be open to new techniques, new approaches, and new ideas and teach others the things you’ve learned. Be a resource to those around you.
Bill Emeott Since 2003 Bill Emeott has served as a Kids Ministry Specialist for Lifeway. His passions include childhood ministry leadership training and development, leading children’s Bible Study, and being an Uncle! Bill has been teaching children at First Baptist Nashville for ten years.
