With many churches back up and running or planning to reopen soon, I imagine that figuring out kids ministry in this “new normal” will present some new opportunities and also bring back some age-old challenges.
My role at my church is volunteering in kids ministry and I know one thing every church leader needs is dependable volunteers who can serve in ministry. Whether you have plenty of leaders or plenty of open spots, I challenge you to invest in teens as a part of your kids ministry’s future.
We know that kids don’t stay kids … they grow up and turn into crazy teenagers! But we know teens don’t stay teens … they grow up, have families, and figure out stuff in life. I believe there is a place for a person at any stage to serve in kids ministry! You can invest in teens (even those who were in kids ministry last year) and find a place for them to grow and learn about service in the church.
Begin to look for ways to encourage teens to have meaningful experiences and develop helpful skills. All opportunities may not all be in your ministry, but if you are the minister investing in them, trust that you are doing Kingdom work and that it will hopefully turn into more of them coming to serve!
Start with a couple of teens you know and encourage them to:
- Volunteer at church in some area of ministry
- Serve in VBS (if VBS is online this year, you better have some digital natives helping you pull off that event!)
- Coach or help in a sports league
- Volunteer as a tutor with a younger student
Challenge them with skills that pay off in other situations like:
- Doing things without their phone in tow … or at least on silent
- Learning to communicate clearly and concisely
- Overcoming apprehension talking with folks outside their peer group
If there are older teens or college students that you have relationships with or serving in your ministry encourage them to be a summer camp staffer. You get to send them out to get experience with us, we invest in them over a summer, and you get back an even stronger volunteer for your kids ministry going forward! See also “5 Not So Hidden Benefits of Serving on Camp Staff.”
CentriKid is for 2nd-6th graders, but it’s also a place for college students to serve! We’ve got camp staff roles for recreation staff, Bible study leaders, production roles, and worship band spots. We would love to meet students you trust in ministry and help develop them further! Point a potential applicant to centrikid.com/staff for more information.
