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Andrew Hudson joins the podcast to discuss how to build your team around you.
Taking Care of Yourself As A Leader
As a kids minister, it’s easy to find ourselves so busy serving others that we don’t make time to care for ourselves. As a leader, it’s imperative to take care of yourself in order to lead effectively. If you’re like me, you’ve heard these reminders before (maybe even multiple times). With the new year approaching, it’s a great time for these reminders.
Take Care of Yourself Spiritually. Your relationship with Christ is the most important relationship in your life. Make sure you’re spending time reading the Bible, praying, and memorizing Scripture. Commit to attending corporate worship. Take a day each week for your Sabbath. Don’t be so busy SERVING Christ, that you aren’t BEING with Christ.
Take Care of Yourself Physically. This reminder may seem silly to some of you, but I’ve found it’s the one people most often neglect. We find ourselves going and going and going until we literally can go no more. We must guard ourselves to prevent burnout. Get adequate sleep. Schedule time to walk or run (this is a great time to pray or memorize Scripture.) Aim for nutritious selections with your food.
Take Care of Yourself Mentally. Be a lifelong learner. Read for work and pleasure. Audio books and podcasts (Kids Ministry 101) are great to listen to while commuting, especially in traffic. Carve out time for your hobby.
Take Care of Yourself Socially. As a kids ministry leader, it’s easy to find yourself isolated from adults not in kids ministry. Seek to be a part of an adult group in your church. Better yet, one that you aren’t leading. Be a part of a network with other kids ministry leaders from your area or state. It’s imperative to connect with other kids ministry leaders who understand the challenges of kids ministry. Take time to be with family and friends.
If you’re not intentional about these aspects in your life, they won’t happen. As you reflect on this past year and look to the upcoming year, take time to reflect and pray. In what ways can you take better care of yourself in order to be a better leader in kids ministry?
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.
End the Recruiting Woes: Recruit Like Jesus!
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.
When Your Child is Anxious: 3 Ways You Can Help
Welcome back to KidsMinstry 101 guest blogger, Josh Straub!
We had a faulty smoke detector last week at our house. My refusal to spend more money on a new detector was the only thing that kept me from taking a sledgehammer to it. After changing out the batteries twice, I finally reset it—only to discover after loud chirping twelve hours later (at 6:00 AM) it was an entirely different detector that needed to be reset.
The chirping went on for days. One evening, as I tried to fix it, I thought it would be a good idea to tell our 4-year-old son, Landon, and 2-year-old daughter, Kennedy, what it meant if that beeping sound ever went off.
“When you hear this alarm,” I told them, “it means we have to get out of the house.”
“But why, Daddy?” asked our son, with a look of panic on his face.
“Well, buddy,” I replied…
BEEP! BEEP!
The system chirped again. Landon welled up with tears. “Daddy, we have to get out,” he said, visibly scared.
Kennedy started to cry too.
With an annoying smoke detector going off and two crying kids, I began to wish I had told them it was the ice cream truck outside. There’s nothing a good ice cream sandwich won’t fix.
Now, every time they hear a beeping sound, they talk about it — because surely the battery in the toaster oven, doorbell, or construction truck going backward is about to die. I’m just happy they’re learning to talk about it.
Here are three ways we can help our kids when they feel anxious.
1. Let them ask questions.
Putting language to what we feel is like emotional brain surgery. Simply allowing our kids to voice what they fear reduces anxiety. That’s because when their feeling neurons connect with language neurons in their brain, it helps them begin to make sense of their experience.
The other night I opened the windows in our kids’ playroom upstairs. Landon, Kennedy and I stood looking out the window at a neighbor’s cat and a rabbit nearby. Landon started to push his head against the screen. I told him not to push the screen because he could break it.
A few seconds later he asked me to read the sticker on the screen. Not knowing what it said, I just read it aloud. “Warning: Screen will not stop child from falling out window. Keep child away from open window.”
Yeah. And this happened the night after the beeping sound. Talk about overwhelming your already anxious child. Not much was said after that. Landon just slowly moved away from the window and played with his trains.
Later that night, at 2:30 AM, I felt a nudge beside my bed. “Daddy,” Landon said, “if I push on the screen, I’ll fall out of the window, right?”
Groggily, I stood up, walked him back to his bed and lay down with him. “We shouldn’t push on the screen,” I answered.
Knowing he was worried, I figured I would go sleep in his bed with him. Not more than five minutes later, Kennedy woke up. As I went to put her back to bed, Landon welled up with tears.
“Daddy, will you come back?”
This was out of the norm — so much that Christi, who was awake by now as well, heard Landon crying. She walked over to his room and lay down with him. “Buddy, what’s wrong?” she asked in a calm voice, “What questions do you have?”
Lord bless her, she lay with him for the next 30 minutes just talking. Landon asked questions; Christi answered them. Landon talked about his fears; Christi put them into perspective.
When Christi came back to bed she said, “He’s learning about the dangers of the world, but doesn’t know how to process them.”
Her calm voice and listening ear in the middle of the night was gold for our son’s brain. I was ready to settle for the bronze and just lie down and go back to sleep beside him.
2. Play with them.
Especially for children up until the age of 7, fantasy play is critical for calming their fears. Play is about power and powerlessness.
When Christi and I came home from a date night at 9:30 PM, Landon had waited up in his bed until we got home. He was so excited as I entered his room. Standing on his bed, arms spread wide, he said, “Daddy, you’re home!”
The next day I was playing with Landon and Kennedy. We built a fort. With Kennedy and I inside, Landon declared, “You guys lay down and pretend I just got home from work. When I come home, stand up and say, ‘Landon, you’re home!’”
Children use play to make sense of their feelings. Taking 20 minutes a day to enter into their world and allow them to dictate the play has powerful implications on emotional intelligence and self-competence later in life.
3. Be calm.
If we’re anxious, our kids don’t know if they can be safe. Anxiety has a trickle-down effect on kids. In fact, one research study shows that a parent’s ability to manage their own stress is the second-best parenting strategy — only behind love and affection — for getting the outcomes we desire most in our kids.
Be realistic about the reaction you give and the real danger of the situation. A skinned knee isn’t a disaster; it’s a mark of your kids having fun.
Joshua Straub, Ph.D. is a speaker, author, and marriage and leadership coach. He and his wife, Christi, cohost the In This Together podcast and are coauthors a new children’s book, What Am I Feeling? and a new Bible study, Homegrown: Cultivating Kids in the Fruit of the Spirit. Josh also is the author of Safe House: How Emotional Safety is the Key to Raising Kids Who Live, Love, and Lead Well. Josh equips leaders, military families, and churches in emotional intelligence and family wellness.
Looking for more? Connect with ParentLife online at facebook.com/parentlife. Order at lifeway.com/parentlife.
Whom Are You Discipling?
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.
A wise plan of discipleship requires a PLAN! (GIVEAWAY)
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.
When Leadership is Followership
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.
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.
Crossing the Checkpoints for Life’s Race
“Let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus…” Hebrews 12:1-2
Back in 2013, the highly-respected late Jerry Vogel wrote about a few of the spiritual mile markers to be celebrated in families’ lives (post). As many of us are planning for a new ministry year with kids transitioning to new classes, this seems like a good time to review these mile markers or checkpoints as I like to call them and consider how our ministries can partner with parents in anticipating and celebrating these spiritual mile markers.
In long-distance races, checkpoints are short stops along the path for runners to regain their strength for the next part of the race. It’s also a place where runners can be encouraged to continue on, nurse any injuries, reevaluate their strategy, and plan for adjustments as the race resumes. Checkpoints are places to revitalize runners and then send them back to the race. These life checkpoints provide natural opportunities to partner with parents to recoup, reevaluate, and realign strategies for moving forward.
Checkpoint #1 – Welcome to the Family
- Birth/Adoption – Whether it’s a family’s first child, second, or fifth, each new child adds new rhythms to a family’s life, celebrations and joys along with potential anxiety and challenges.
- “New Addition” Gift Bag – Consider creating a small gift bag to give to new families when a new baby is born or a child is adopted.
- Parenting classes/conference – A great idea for expectant parents is to offer them dedicated training on children’s spiritual growth. Such training should include theology of biblical parenting, trust development, and looking ahead toward future checkpoints.
- Baby/Parent/Family Dedication – This is a great checkpoint to provide additional training, like a class mentioned above, to young parents on God’s expectations for Christian parents, showing them how you desire to partner with them in their parenting journey.
Checkpoint #2 – First Steps
- Moving up to “Big Church” – Consider preparing “welcome to worship” bags for preschoolers who are transitioning into big church. Offering specific training to help parents/caregivers prepare for this change can help to soothe their nerves and remind them that children will learn how to worship best by watching adults worship.
- Learning to Read – Consider celebrating this checkpoint with a meaningful Bible presentation. If your budget allows, your church may purchase an age-appropriate Bible for each kindergartner or first grader. If your budget doesn’t allow or if you prefer to help parents choose their own Bible to give, be sure to guide parents in knowing what kind of Bible would be best for their child. LifeWay offers several options of age-appropriate Bibles at lifeway.com.
Checkpoint #3 – Growing in Faith
- “What Is a Christian?” class – Often times kids who regularly attend church will start asking questions about salvation and/or baptism, and parents will immediately jump to trying to schedule a child’s baptism. Having a checkpoint in your ministry to equip parents to ask good questions of their child will give them greater confidence in talking with their children about salvation and baptism.
- New Christian Class – An effective New Christian class can give children an opportunity to validate their response to Jesus, as well as give each child and parent confidence they are on a path that is firmly rooted in Scripture. LifeWay Kids’ “I’m a Christian Now” resources can lend structure this checkpoint.
- Baptism – Here are a few ideas for developing a strategy to partner with parents in celebrating this checkpoint:
- Provide parents with a one-sheet overview of your church’s theology of believer’s baptism.
- Create a “baptism checklist” to help guide families. Include items like meeting with you or your pastor (according to the practices of your church), mail/email invitations, plan a family meal, provide a “next steps” devotional to each child to guide them in developing healthy spiritual habits.\
- First Lord’s Supper – A child who is a new Christian will likely be very excited to finally participate in this church ordinance.
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- Help parents anticipate this moment with a dedicated family conversation. Provide a one-sheet overview of your church’s beliefs about the Lord’s Supper, including who is allowed to participate and why, how often it is observed, etc.
Checkpoint #4 – Next Steps
- Discipleship – Many parents feel uncertain how to help children grow in their newfound faith by developing healthy spiritual habits (spiritual disciplines). LifeWay Kids’ Growing in My Faith 90-day Devotional can be a helpful resource for families.
- Moving into the next age group in your ministry – A final checkpoint that would fall under your ministry would likely be to guide kids and families as they transition into student ministry. Many parents and preteens feel inadequately prepared to move through this checkpoint. Some options here might be: host a parent panel Q&A session with more seasoned parents, connect seasoned parents with parents of preteens in an informal mentor-type setting to allow for more intimate questions, training classes and resources for equipping parents to talk with their kids about all that is changing in their lives, and preteen weekend retreat.
There are other checkpoints that you may choose to include, but hopefully, this has helped you start or continue thinking about ways you can partner and celebrate with parents as the kids in your ministry cross each of life’s checkpoints. I encourage you to “run with endurance the race that lies before [you], keeping [your] eyes on Jesus… ” as you “pursue as [your] goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:1-2; Philippians 3:13-14)
Click here for a downloadable Checkpoints PDF to help you share your vision with families. There are 2 pages in this document. One with the checkpoints we’ve listed in this post, and one with blank boxes for your to write in your own.
Jeremy Carroll is the team leader for LifeWay Kids Discipleship Resources. Before coming to LifeWay, he has been active in local church ministry for nearly 20 years in TN, TX, and AL. Jeremy earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. A Middle Tennessee native, he and his family live in Murfreesboro, TN.
Celebrate Children’s Ministry Day
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.
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