This past weekend, I spoke at Forest Park Church in Joplin. My friend, Mike Jakaitis, is the children's pastor at this church.
They have a strong volunteer team with people that are committed to reaching the next generation.
Here is a look at some of their children's ministry facilities.
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Here are five things people won't tell you about Children's Ministry. I learned these things the hard way...ministry trial and error.
Hopefully, I can save you some frustrating time and energy by sharing these things with you now.
If you are a rookie, these may be surprising to you. If you are a veteran in children's ministry, it is helpful to be reminded of these things.
Ready? Let's talk about these five things .
Children's ministry is more about leading volunteers than it is about children.
I often say this...
The success of your children's ministry rises and falls on the strength of your volunteer team.
You can be great with kids, but if you can't build and lead a volunteer team, you will have a hard time building a children's ministry.
You should spend as much or even more time investing in volunteers than you do investing in children.
Learn how to enlist volunteers.
Learn how to equip volunteers.
Learn how to engage volunteers.
Learn how to encourage volunteers.
Learn how to empower volunteers.
If you haven't read my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams" then get your copy today. It will reveal how I built a team of over 2,000 volunteers in a local church. It will give you valuable ideas and insight on how to build a great volunteer team. It is available at this link.
You should spent a big percentage of your time connecting with and engaging parents in your ministry.
Think about it. Parents have the greatest influence in a child's life.
If you want to influence kids, then you have to influence their parents.
Always be thinking about parents.
How can you engage them?
How can you equip them?
How can you influence them?
One big way you can influence parents is by involving them in key milestone moments.
Parent and child dedication. Salvation. Baptism. Spiritual growth. Transition into middle school.
You can get more info. about Milestones kits at this link.
No matter what you do...some families and volunteers will walk away from you.
Volunteers you have poured your time and energy into will quit serving.
Families that you have invested in will leave the church.
Get used to it. It's going to happen and often there is nothing you can do about it. You have to let them go.
If you want to grow the ministry, you have to grow yourself first.
You can't have a 10 children's ministry, if you are a 5 leader.
Look what Rick Warren said.
Years ago I stopped worrying about how to grow our church and instead focused on growing me. As I grew, our church grew.
Growing churches require growing pastors. The moment you stop growing, your church stops growing.
Focus on your own personal leadership growth. Read leadership blogs. Listen to podcasts that will help you grow. Read leadership books. Attend conferences. Join a coaching group.
I have a 6 month coaching experience designed specifically to help children's ministry leaders grow. You can get more information at this link.
Families will only attend your ministry one to two times a month.
This can be frustrating, but it is reality.
The average family only shows up a few times a month.
Parents will make unwise decisions by putting their children in sports' leagues that play on Sunday.
The family dynamics of divorce will cause children to only be able to attend every other weekend.
Families' will have wrong priorities that hinders their church attendance patterns.
Then we wonder why children grow up and don't make church attendance a priority.
Encourage families to be faithful and consistent in their church attendance, but don't be surprised when they continue to make unwise decisions regarding this.
May God continue to give you wisdom and insight as you serve in children's ministry.
Think about this with me - nothing of eternal value happens without prayer.
It is crucial that you and your team spend significant time praying for your children's ministry.
When you pray, here are 10 things you should ask God for.
More volunteers.
In Luke 10:2, Jesus tells us to pray for this.
There is an enemy that wants to kill, steal, and destroy your ministry. We see examples of this when there is a church shooting. We see examples of this when there is abuse.
We must do everything in our power to protect the ministry with background checks, safety and security rules, and pro-active guidelines.
But we must also spend time praying for God to protect the ministry.
Spiritual growth.
We want to see the kids in our ministry grow in their faith. We want to see the families in our ministry grow in their faith. We want to see our volunteers grow in their faith.
Pray that God would create a hunger and thirst in their lives for the things of God.
Pray that God would use your lessons to grow kids' faith.
Pray that God would use the lessons to grow the faith of your volunteers. I often hear volunteers say that they learned as much as the kids did as they prepared and shared their lesson.
Unity.
Jesus says this in John 17.
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
Jesus prayed for unity. We should pray for unity.
It takes unity to grow a ministry. It takes unity to have the power of God. It takes unity to show the world that our faith is real.
We often have to make changes and adjustments in the ministry. Sometimes people have a hard time dealing with change. Disunity can try to sneak in and disrupt your ministry. Pray for unity.
Vision.
Pray that God would give you vision. Pray that people would catch the vision God gives you for the ministry.
We know that without vision people perish. Without vision volunteers grow complacent. Without vision the ministry will grow stagnant.
People will engage with and follow a God-sized vision.
Wisdom.
It takes wisdom to lead a ministry. It takes wisdom to make critical decisions. It takes wisdom to navigate choppy waters.
The good news...God says in James that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us.
Pray for it every day.
Strength.
Are you tired? Do you feel like you are running a ministry marathon and you are out of breath? Are you dangerously depleted?
We all get there at times.
The answer: spend time with Jesus in prayer.
Isaiah 40:31 tells us that "Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Relying on God brings revitalized power, endurance, and spiritual uplift. It enables believers to overcome challenges with supernatural resilience, like soaring eagles or tireless runners. This "waiting" isn't passive but an active posture of dependence.
Salvation.
