Leadership Archives - Kids Ministry

September 9, 2019

Help! I’m a leader without a team!

“Do only what you can do then delegate everything else.”

We often hear or read that the best leaders are the best delegators, but what if there is no one on your team to delegate to? What if you are literally the only person on staff? What if you are the only person who is tasked with thinking about your area of ministry outside of Sunday mornings?

This is a reality for many leaders in ministries or smaller organizations. You might consider yourself a “one person show,” and the amount of work and energy needed to pull-off your ministry can be overwhelming.

Here are five tips for navigating times when you’re feeling that pressure as a leader without a team:

Check your heart and attitude. When you feel like you’re carrying a ministry or a workload all by yourself, it can be easy to grow bitter and entitled. “I should have a team like everyone else!” “I’m doing the work of 3 other people!” When you begin to feel these feelings, check your heart and attitude. Say a prayer and ask God to remove any entitlement or bitterness. Ask Him to remind you why He called you to your current position and to show you the impact you are making for His Kingdom through your hard work. Finally, sincerely thank God that you are able to be in a role that impacts the lives of others.
Seek out help and encouragement. As Christians, we know that it is not good to be alone. Even if you are the only one “on payroll” or on staff, it is vital that you seek out some help when you feel like the load is too much. Considering finding some volunteers who might have some free time during the week who can help you out for an hour or so. Don’t be afraid to ask a peer if they can spare 30 minutes to help you with a project occasionally. Find help wherever you can and always say “yes” when someone offers to help!
Grow yourself. Always be challenging yourself to grow as a leader. Maybe you need to grow with organization and productivity—find resources to help you! Maybe you need to grow your creative talents—find resources to help you! Make time to read books or listen to podcasts that grow you personally. Most importantly, be sure you are growing spiritually by spending time in the Word, praying, and engaging with the Christian community. As a leader, make it a priority to intentionally help yourself by devoting some time to your own personal growth.
Work hard when you work. Rest hard when you rest. Burnout is real. Burnout can come quickly, take everything you have, and spit you out on the other end exhausted. You are not meant to work 24/7 (even if you have a thousand things on your checklist that could take that long to finish.) Find ways to balance your schedule and have a healthy work schedule. When you’re at work or church, give it all you have! But when you are “off the clock” or “on vacation,” unplug from your email or notifications. Take time to recharge and fill yourself up before jumping back into work.
Communicate often and transparently with your leaders. If you’re struggling, overwhelmed, or feeling burned out because of the amount of work you do as a leader, have a conversation with your leadership as soon as possible. They may not realize the expectations that they have put on you or exactly what you deal with. It might be awkward at first, but having a great and transparent line of communication with your leadership could be the most rewarding thing as you lead. They could help you figure out solutions to issues, work through emotions you may be feeling, and could potentially make a plan to alleviate some of the demands on your plate. Be open, be honest, and (referring back to Tip 1), check your heart and approach every conversation with love and gentleness.

While being a leader without a team is definitely hard work, I hope that these tips can help you as you navigate this incredible calling you have. Know that you are not alone and there are countless others in ministry who understand and are also working tirelessly to make the gospel known to kids and families.

Micheal Walley serves as the LifeWay Kids Event Producer. He is a graduate of Mississippi College and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Micheal has been serving in Kids Ministry from the moment he was “promoted” out of kids ministry himself. He loves coffee, leadership, all things creative, and his wife, Anne Marie.

Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 29, 2019

Looking Forward

By Bill Emeott

In October 2002 I was approached by LifeWay to consider an opportunity to join their team as the Lead Childhood Ministry Specialist. To be honest, it was a dream come true. For years I had found that the favorite part of my work as a Children’s Minister was the opportunity to train and develop other leaders. It really wasn’t ever a struggle to move forward with LifeWay and one of the greatest blessings in my life was to be invited and then to accept the position as ministry specialist.

LifeWay is an incredible place to serve. Over the past 16+ years, God has allowed me to live my dream. Meeting thousands of KidMin leaders and having the opportunity to partner with you and in some way minister along side of you has been an incredible gift and a blessing that I don’t take lightly. Your trust and confidence in me has been both honoring and humbling. What a joy to do what God calls and creates you to do. Thank you for that privilege.

About a year ago, God started something new in my life. Something very unexpected and something I had really not considered as part of my future. I’ve often said, “God is preparing me for what He is preparing for me.” That’s exactly what was happening. I began to have conversations with an incredible team of ministers/friends and my heart started to be pulled back to the ministry in a local church. By January the conversations were in full swing and my heart was moving west.

After much prayer and with a humble heart I have accepted my next assignment by God as the Minister to Children at Houston’s First Baptist Church (Texas). I will join that awesome ministry team and begin a new chapter of God’s journey for me on August 1.

As I look to the future I take so much with me from you. Learning from church leaders and their experiences has prepared me for this time. When it comes to kids ministry, these three things stand out as pillars:

The Gospel: Children’s ministry should have at its core a desire to see boys and girls come to know Jesus Christ and experience heart transformation that only comes from a real encounter with Him. Children’s ministry should point boys and girls and their families to Jesus and His salvation with each program and activity “umbrellaed” by the Gospel; seeking opportunities to share the good news and equip parents, leaders, and kids to share the good news of Jesus, too.

Discipleship: We desperately need boys and girls to be salt and light in the world in which they live and to grow up to be culture shapers. Churches cannot continue to raise generations who don’t know what they believe. Many “church-attending” kids have no defense when the world rattles their faith and they too often cave to the pressures of political correctness and a lost culture.

Discipling boys and girls past the point of conversion, to a growing, loving relationship with Jesus must become a priority. Children’s Ministry must help kids understand and live out spiritual disciplines/habits/practices that lead them to become culture-changing Christians grounding kids. Knowledge and practice of spiritual habits (such as prayer, Bible reading and study, worship, stewardship, and service) will lead kids to become Great Commission, Great Commandment, Acts 1:8, culture shaping followers of Jesus.

Family: Healthy Children’s ministry recognizes the biblical role of parents and strives to undergird that role by seeing the kids ministry through the lens of family.

I believe that God intends for parents to be the primary spiritual leaders and faith developers of their children. Children’s ministry has the privilege of coming alongside parents to partner with them on their child’s spiritual journey. We have the opportunity to champion families, encourage and equip parents, and provide disciple-growing programs and events that undergird and promote the family.

So, these are the things I take with me as I look forward to this next phase of my ministry. These are the lessons/goals I walk away with as I strive to be the servant God has called me to be in Houston. However, I do have one last request of you. Please pray for me. Please pray that God will use me to achieve these (and many other) goals. Pray that I will be humble yet bold; moldable yet solid; vulnerable to new things yet strongly rooted. Pray that in all this, God will receive ALL the glory for it is only through Him that I have been able to do anything of eternal difference. And, it is only through His power that I will make the Kingdom difference that I desire.

Bill Emeott has served as Lead Ministry Specialist for LifeWay Kids since 2003. He is a graduate of Mercer University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Bill has served in Kids Ministry for almost 30 years and recently accepted the role as Minister to Children at Houston’s First Baptist Church.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Training

July 25, 2019

A Trained Volunteer is the BEST Volunteer!

By Micheal Walley

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Bill Emeott and Klista Storts chat about how to best train your kids ministry volunteers. This episode is hosted by Bill Emeott, produced by Micheal Walley, and sponsored by the ETCH Family Ministry Conference.

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Recruiting

July 24, 2019

End the Recruiting Woes: Recruit Like Jesus!

By Brian Dembowczyk

The temptation in recruiting leaders is to reduce the ask—to lower the bar—so that we increase the chances of people saying yes. But this can result in the wrong people saying yes for the wrong reasons. In this blog post, we will see that Jesus gives us a better way. The key is not to lower the bar in our recruiting, but rather to raise it.

It never ends. There aren’t even any breaks. Instead, it comes at us with a cruel relentlessness. You know what I am talking about.

Recruiting.

We all recruit. We all know we need to recruit. But none of us like to recruit. Actually, we can’t stand it. (Well, I’m sure there is someone out there who enjoys recruiting just like there are people who like okra.)

Perhaps the reason why we are always recruiting is that we experience too much turnover. And perhaps we experience too much turnover because we aren’t recruiting the best way—the right way.

Think about how recruiting is often done in kids ministry: it often feels more like begging and bartering than inviting. In our desperation to fill open slots, we either beg our church as a whole, or we go to people we feel might be more inclined to say “yes,” if we beg them enough. Our pitch often comes across as a guilt trip, which is another reason we don’t like to recruit. Our recruiting feels like we’re trying to coerce people into a toilet-paper-of-the-month multi-level marketing venture. Or, we go a different route and reduce the ask. We know someone committing to teach every week would be best—to build relationships and consistency—but our beggars-can’t-be-choosers posture leads us to settle for less—much less. “Are you breathing and are you willing to commit to whenever February 29th is a Sunday? Great, then sign right here!”

We might get more “yeses” this way, but not all yeses are created equal. Many of those yesses become uncommitted, unreliable leaders who usually drop out the first chance they get, meaning—you guessed it—we need to recruit again.

What if there were a better way? Actually, there is. It’s the way Jesus recruited followers, a way devoid of begging and bartering. It’s a way that does the exact opposite—it almost scares people off. We see it in Luke 14:25-33.

At the beginning of this passage, large crowds were chasing after Jesus. That was exactly what He wanted, right? Wrong. Jesus knew that these people were not following Him for the right reason. They were uncommitted and unreliable. They were superficial. Sound familiar? So what did He do? He gave them every reason not to stay, but rather to leave.

“Want to follow Me? Fine. It will cost you your family (v. 26), your possessions (v. 33), and even your own life (v. 26-27). It will cost you everything. So count the cost now or walk away (v. 28-32). OK, now who needs a pen to sign up?”

Do you see Jesus’ point? Following Him is a high calling. It means something. It’s not for the uncommitted or faint of heart.

The same is true of serving in kids ministry! We aren’t beggars with empty pockets turned inside-out. We don’t recruit from a posture of need, but rather from one of opportunity. We are inviting people to the high calling of partnering with us and parents to shepherd and disciple the next generation. Surely serving in kids ministry takes a sacrifice of time and energy, but only through the depth of that sacrifice are we able to find the depth of reward—kids hearing the gospel, responding to the gospel, being changed by the gospel, and living out the gospel.

My friends, don’t be ashamed of that which Christ is not. Don’t lower the bar that Jesus raised. Recruit the way Jesus did. And when you do, you might just find you will recruit less, and maybe—just maybe—you will miss it.

Brian Dembowczyk is the managing editor for The Gospel Project. He served in local church ministry for over 16 years before coming to LifeWay. Brian earned an M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his family live in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Discipleship, Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 15, 2019

Whom Are You Discipling?

By Landry Holmes

Ministry is time-consuming. There are so many details to handle, and daily interruptions often distract us. Yet, Jesus reminds us in Matthew 28:19-20 that our primary purpose is to “make disciples.” As KidMin leaders we have the opportunity to be disciple-makers of at least four groups.

Preschoolers: A true disciple is a follower of Christ, so how can preschoolers become disciples before they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior? They can’t, but they can learn about who Jesus is and how Jesus wants us to live. When we allow God to use us to build these spiritual foundations in the lives of preschoolers, we are preparing young children for a life of discipleship.
Elementary Kids: Similar to preschoolers who are not yet believers, we can teach kids the foundations of the faith. Once a child becomes a Christian, we have the responsibility of helping them grow in their faith by developing healthy spiritual habits such as Bible reading and prayer.
Parents: One of the ways we can disciple parents is by providing them with resources to disciple their own children. Also, we can encourage parents to develop their own personal spiritual habits. Remember, however, that some parents may not be believers. Part of the disciple-making process includes sharing the gospel with them.
Volunteers: God calls us to equip volunteers, which we do with resources, training, and encouragement. But, what about discipling volunteers? We can do this one-on-one and in group settings when we talk about what God is doing in our church and in our kids ministry. Also, we can encourage volunteers to develop healthy spiritual habits, including studying the Bible and worshipping with other adult believers. You might even consider starting a small group just for preschool and children’s teachers in your church.

Look back over the list. You may already be doing some of these things as part of your ministry. If not, consider making a few adjustments to reclaim your purpose as a disciple-maker.

Landry Holmes is the Manager of LifeWay Kids Ministry Publishing, Nashville, TN. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Landry served on church staffs before coming to LifeWay. He is a church leader, writer, workshop facilitator, and publisher. Landry also teaches children at his church in Middle Tennessee. He and his wife Janetta are the grandparents of three adorable grandbabies.

Kids Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 10, 2019

A wise plan of discipleship requires a PLAN! (GIVEAWAY)

By Jana Magruder

Prioritizing ministry goals and decisions is of utmost importance – especially in Kids Ministry. There are hundreds of decisions to make almost on a daily basis. Everything from programming Wednesday nights (or not), to which craft supplies are needed this month! Big decisions, medium and small decisions, optional decisions and mandatory decisions. In children’s ministry, I like to refer to these decisions as open and closed-hands decisions. Many if not most of the daily decisions we make are open-handed – meaning, there is not just one answer. You have choices (and sometimes that makes it harder!) These could include: how to set up classrooms, do we separate girls and boys in small groups?, which songs to sing in large group, should we do a mission project this year?, and so forth.

However, there are decisions we make that are bigger and more consequential. I put these in a different category – the closed-handed decisions. They are non-negotiable. One of these in the KidMin world is that you MUST have a wise plan of discipleship in place for your children. Cherry-picking content for Sunday mornings based on personal preferences could be detrimental to the spiritual health of the flock you are shepherding. I challenge you as a colleague in ministry to have a plan that helps keep you and your leaders on track in a way that acknowledges what children learn and when. This is beyond a study plan or a curriculum. This is a framework that guides and ensures that by the time kids leave your ministry and head to the Student ministry, they are ready.

In order to stay on track with a wise plan of discipleship, you need just that – a PLAN! Preschoolers, kids, preteens (all the way until adulthood) need to understand biblical concepts that help them engage and grow in God’s word. A plan that our team developed and freely give away in multiple formats is called The Levels of Biblical Learning. This framework centers around eight different age groups beginning with babies all the way through high school – yes, you can get your student minister on board with these! Each age group teaches children and teens ten biblical concepts in a way that makes sense for their developmental abilities. It’s a helpful tool to train volunteers and equip families. You can learn more about The Levels of Biblical Learning and even download free copies and train your team using our free videos by going to lifeway.com/lobl

I’d like to give away a package of 10 Levels of Biblical Learning, Growing In God’s Word booklets. Simply complete the form below to be a candidate. Look for more GIVEAWAYS each month.

Levels of Biblical Learning Booklet Giveaway (GIVEAWAY CLOSED 7/24/19)

Jana Magruder serves as the Director of LifeWay Kids. She is a Baylor graduate and offers a wealth of experience and passion for kids ministry, education, and publishing. She is the author of Nothing Less: Engaging Kids in a Lifetime of Faith, Kids Ministry that Nourishes: Three Essential Nutrients of a Healthy Kids Ministry, and Life Verse Creative Journal, which she co-authored with her teenage daughter. She and her husband, Michael, along with their three children reside in Nashville.

Encouragement, Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 8, 2019

When Leadership is Followership

By Landry Holmes

Are you a leader or a follower? The correct answer is, “Yes.” Sometimes God calls us to lead, and at other times God calls us to follow. Knowing the difference is key to being an effective preschool and/or children’s ministry leader.

Recognize that everyone has a leader. You may lead a paid staff and/or a group of volunteers. However, your immediate supervisor is your leader whether you’re a volunteer or on the church payroll. And your supervisor is under the authority of his/her leader. To take this concept to its logical conclusion the only church leader not under the authority of someone else is Jesus, the head of the church. (See Ephesians 4:15-16).
Adapt your role to the situation. When you’re in a church staff meeting you are probably a follower unless you’re the senior or executive pastor. You will want to yield to the authority over you, and when you disagree you can do so with love and Christlike deference to your leader. (See Romans 12:3-8,10).
Step back and let others lead. As a leader of people, I have to remind myself that I don’t always have to be in charge. I learned this from a colleague who models followership. When he asks someone to coordinate the setup and take-down of an event, my friend places himself under the authority of that individual. If you assign a volunteer to coordinate a KidMin event at church, then empower that person to tell you what to do. This simple, yet difficult act is what Jesus instructed us to do when He washed His disciples’ feet. (See John 13:13-15.)

Young children are prone to exclaim, “You’re not the boss of me!” Sometimes as adults we think the same thing. Nevertheless, in reality, every KidMin leader is a follower. Whom are you following? Are you modeling followership to the people you lead?

The Bible says to “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) Volunteers will more likely continue to follow a leader who is also a humble follower than someone who acts like the boss of everyone.

Kids Ministry, Leadership

July 1, 2019

Celebrate Children’s Ministry Day

By Delanee Williams

Churches throughout the Southern Baptist Convention will celebrate children’s ministry (ages birth-preteen) on Sunday, July 21, 2019. The special day was added to the Southern Baptist Convention calendar after the Executive Committee approved the motion made by a nine-year-old at the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. This is a great day to thank God for the ministry to kids, their families and their volunteers your church provides.

Use this day to remind kids of their importance in the church and how they can tell others about Jesus. Recognize and honor kids ministry volunteers who invest in the lives of children and their families. A variety of resources have been created for leaders to use in their church. Click here to find the downloadable items. Select and use the resources that best meet the needs of your church. How do you plan to celebrate Children’s Ministry Day in your church?

Delanee Williams serves as a Ministry Specialist with LifeWay Kids. She is a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Delanee has served in kids ministry for over twenty years and is passionate about developing, equipping and encouraging leaders.

Bible Study, Kids Ministry, Leadership

June 24, 2019

6 Things Kids Leaders Should Know about Curriculum: Part 6

By Brian Dembowczyk

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that I help produce Bible study curriculum. But, of course, it is so much more than the way I feed my family—it is a passion and a privilege, one I seek to steward well. With that deep care for curriculum in mind, I want to share six things that I wish every kids leader knew about curriculum. Knowing these things, I believe, can transform a ministry, which more importantly, can transform lives.

So far we have covered:

And finally…

A curriculum is just one part of a comprehensive discipleship strategy.

A good curriculum is an important part of a discipleship strategy, but it is not all of it. As we think about our call to disciple kids we have to think beyond curriculum. Discipleship takes the form of living life together side-by-side, participating in small groups, gathering in worship, and much more. A good curriculum can go a long way in your discipleship efforts, but it cannot cross the finish line by itself.

This means that we need to think about how the curriculum we are using complements our greater discipleship efforts. It’s not all up to the curriculum, as important of a role as it may play. But before we can consider that, we really need to be clear of what discipleship is.

In his book, The Drama of Doctrine, theologian Kevin Vanhoozer argues that Scripture should be read more like a drama—like a script intended not just to be read, but acted out. I like that analogy. Our goal is not to study the Bible to learn facts—although they are important. Our goal is to study the Bible as our script pointing us to what Jesus has done and what we are to do now in light of what He has done. This means that we need to consider carefully how the gospel affects how we live today in our unique context. That, to me, is a great way to think of discipleship. Discipleship is not about just learning data. Neither is it about just behaving in a set way. It is about knowing Christ and understanding the heart of the gospel such that we might be able to live in any and every context in accordance with God as we bring Him glory.

Do you see why a curriculum cannot be mistaken for a comprehensive discipleship strategy? It can only be one part of such a strategy because as we talked before about there being no perfect curriculum, your context is unique. And that unique context requires discipleship that cannot rest solely in a curriculum, no matter how good it might be.

So as you consider the curriculum you use, recognize its strengths and weaknesses. Recognize where it helps your context’s discipleship efforts and where it does not. Be aware of other ministry efforts (such as VBS) that cover the areas of discipleship the curriculum does not. Above all, be clear of any unique role the curriculum you use plays in your discipleship efforts.

Questions for reflection

How do you see the curriculum you use integrating into a larger discipleship strategy? Are there any unique aspects of discipleship that the curriculum and your Bible study time alone can fulfill?
Do you see yourself as a discipler of your kids? Why or why not?

Kids Ministry, Leadership, Ministry

June 17, 2019

Helping Kids who Deal with Anxiety Issues

By Tim Pollard

Anxiety!! Sometimes even the word brings a flutter to our hearts. For anyone who has experienced an anxious child, you know that this is something that has become more pervasive in the past few years. Kids today have a lot more external stressors that bring anxiety. Social media influences and an increase in peer pressure are all piling up on kids. Anxiety can take many forms, and, all of us deal with anxiety in some form almost every day. How we handle our anxiety, and how we guide kids to handle their anxiety, may sometimes be different. As adults, we have coping mechanisms that are better developed, however, these same mechanisms may not be as developed in kids. Here are a few things to think about as you help kids deal with this issue.

Acknowledge that the anxiety is real. Many times kids seem to be anxious over things that we as adults view as “non-essential” or “no big deal.” If you are going to help a kid deal with his anxiety, you must acknowledge that he is genuinely anxious about something that is real to him.
Don’t avoid activities that might cause anxiety. Kids can learn that things that may make them anxious, most often, won’t actually harm them. By avoiding situations that may cause anxiety, you may inadvertently create a situation where a child will never learn to deal with her anxiety.
Communicate. When talking about anxiety, really listen, and really talk. Make sure you ask questions that will help the child think through what is causing the anxiety and suggest possible solutions respecting the child’s feelings. Ask open-ended questions that aren’t leading. Share experiences you may have had with the same kind of stressor and how you handled the experience.
Model appropriate responses. One of the best ways to help a child deal with anxiety is to model for them appropriate responses to stressors. By modeling calm responses, kids can copy your behavior when they discover their anxiousness might not really be a threat to their safety.
Pray with the child. Pray for God’s peace in the situation. Prayer is important and by letting kids hear you pray for them by name, sometimes the anxious feelings they have will lessen.

I recently chatted with a child whom I know struggles with anxiety and asked what advice she could offer to kids struggling with anxiety. The answer I received was, “Trust that God is in control. When I start thinking about things that cause me stress, I try to pray and ask God to help me know that most of what I stress about never even happens.” Taking this advice, let kids know that God is in control and kids (and adults) can always turn to Him when struggling with anxious feelings.

Tim Pollard is passionate about helping kids dig deep into Scripture, which he pursues through his daily work as leader of the Explore the Bible: Kids team. Tim lives with his wife and daughters in Mount Juliet, TN.