After serving just a few weeks at my current post, one of our long-time elders and his wife paid me a visit. After the opening pleasantries, he threw down the gauntlet with this provocative question: “Are you here to minister to ALL the children of our church, or just MOST of them?” All sorts of thoughts…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 10: Teach with Purpose
If the principal activity of Children’s Ministry is teaching, then this essential work must be tied to our overall goals for children. Teaching with passion is useless if you don’t know WHY you are teaching or have in mind WHAT outcome you desire. To put it another way, teaching that doesn’t elicit true learning ends…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 9: Teach with Passion
In a Christ-centered, gospel-driven children’s ministry, teaching is the fundamental activity. Unfortunately, the educational element of ministry to children has gradually receded into the background over the past decades, as more entertainment-styled programming has been thrust into the foreground. Correspondingly, teachers in the local church aren’t typically trained to be effective and productive, since knowledge and wisdom aren’t valued…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 8: Choose the Courses
In our last lesson, we discussed the general principles for choosing curriculum. Since curriculum is the “totality of student experiences in the educational process,” we refer to its components as “courses.” Think about it this way: A college curriculum is comprised of dozens of courses that must be taken before the student can graduate. So, what are the…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 7: Choose the Curriculum
Curriculum (n): The totality of student experiences in the educational process. This important term originates from the Latin “the course of a race,” which helps us to understand what choosing curriculum is truly all about. In children’s ministry, we have the high responsibility of “setting the course” on which our children will run. Prayerfully, the chosen curriculum…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 6: Recruit the Laborers
Do you enjoy rejection? Do you like it when people duck their heads to escape your gaze when they think you are “after them?” Do you relish the thought of getting dozens of “no’s” only to see some of the same overworked members step up to the plate? Well, welcome to the world of recruiting volunteers! Do I paint…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 5: Recruit the Team
The Word of God teaches that the Church is the Body of Christ (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12). This description has many rich implications for church life, including how we do the work of children’s ministry. To properly minister to our covenant children, the local church needs a team (a body) of gifted believers to do this work,…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 4: Set the Core
Whether you have inherited an existing children’s ministry or are working from the ground up, it’s vital to set the CORE of your ministry. These are the essential components that are (humanly speaking) unmovable and unchangeable–the backbone of your entire ministry to children. And, just like your own body’s “core,” your ongoing task is to strengthen…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 3: Set the Mission
Now that we have our dual starting points for children’s ministry (parents AND outreach), the next step is to set the mission. This essential part of the process is more than just writing a mission statement that goes on your website and letterhead. Setting the mission is all about establishing the foundation of the ministry and seeking…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 2: Begin with Outreach
No, there’s not a typo in the title. Yes, Lesson One was entitled “Begin with Parents.” So is it possible to have two different starting points in children’s ministry? It’s not only possible; it’s essential! To begin only with our members and our covenant children will potentially make us more inward rather than outward looking. Choosing…
Children’s Ministry 101. Lesson 1: Begin with Parents
So, you’ve been called to lead your church’s children’s ministry. Congratulations! You are entering into the vital work of telling “the next generation the glorious deeds of our LORD (Psalm 78:4).” What a privilege you have to direct a ministry which points children to Jesus. But where to begin? Maybe you have inherited a ministry that has a well-established…
Letting Children Choose…their Sexuality?
A new YouTube video featuring a California father’s response to his son’s choice of doll has gone viral, with millions of views to date. If one is to believe the comments attached to this self-promoting clip, this man is in line for the next Father-of-the-Century award. What does he say to his son that is…
One Story Ministries 