RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I believe kids are key to a church's success. Here's why...

Jesus made children's ministry a priority.  

In the midst of busy ministry, the disciples tried to divert children away from Jesus. 

But Jesus quickly made known His priority in the situation. He told the disciples to let the children come to Him. 

When a church makes children's ministry a top priority, it is inviting Jesus' presence and blessings upon it. 

Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 9. 

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes not only me but the One who sent me.” 

Welcoming children is about valuing them. If you want to see Jesus' blessings fall upon your church, make children's ministry a priority.

Many people come to Christ because of their children.

Think about this with me. Think about the many instances in Scripture where people came to Jesus for one reason. They needed something for their children. Healing. Deliverance. Raised back to life from death. 

Their introduction...their compelling need...their draw was because of their children. 

I have personally seen this happen thousands of times.  Parents bring their children to church because their child is starting to ask questions about what it means to follow Jesus or about baptism. 

Parents also bring their children to church because they want their children to get a good life foundation to build upon. 

In the process, the parents end up coming to Christ as well. One of the primary ways I have seen this happen is through parents bringing their child to a salvation class / milestone.  The parents get in the class with their child, hear the Gospel clearly, and realize they need to come to Christ as well. 

I have a class / milestone I use for this. It's called Starting Point.  You can get it at this link.  Use this class and I promise you that you will see kids and parents come to Christ. 

Children's ministry is a big reason why families pick a church. 

Here are the top 2 reasons why families pick a church.

How friendly are you?  

What do you have to offer my kids?

Tonight there will be a family who decides to go out to eat. They will drive past steak houses, nice Italian restaurants, and other high-end places to eat. 

They will end up going to McDonalds. Why? Because that's where the kids want to go. The kids want to get a kid's meal and they want to play on the playground. 

A church that is really serious about reaching families will make note of this phenomenon and will tailor their ministry after this. They will spend money on building an indoor playground. They will create spaces designed with kids in mind. They will make children's ministry a significant amount of their budget. They will hire quality staff for children's ministry. 

How many children's ministry staff members should you have?  I created a chart that can help you with this. It tells you what positions you should hire and when you should hire them.  Send me an email and I will send it to you free of charge.

Children are the greatest mission field in the world.

There are nearly 2 billion Gen Alpha kids in the world...most of them don't know Jesus. We know that about 80% of people who come to Christ do so before the age of 18. 

Children are the greatest mission field and we must reach them while we can. We must share Jesus with them while their hearts are young and tender to the things of God. 

Churches that focus on reaching children with the Gospel will be blessed.

Churches that consistently share the Gospel with children will have the anointing of God on their ministry.  

Churches that reflect the heart of God for children's salvation will be aligned with His heart.  

The next generation is the future of every church. 

I often drive by an empty, decaying church building. There is a for sale sign on the property. When I see this I am reminded that at one time they were babies crying in the nursery. At one time there were kids laughing in the hallways. At one time there were teenagers giggling in a classroom. 

But the church wasn't able to pass along the faith to them.  The baton got dropped.  Perhaps it was dropped because of tradition. Perhaps it was dropped because the older generation wasn't willing to change to reach the next generation. Perhaps it was dropped because of a lack of strategy to reach young families. Perhaps it was dropped because the church put rules before relationships. Perhaps it was dropped because children's ministry wasn't a priority. Perhaps it was dropped because of a lack of vision to pass along the faith to the generation that was coming behind them. 

Remember...without succession there is no success. 

Here's what I know.  If you look at the largest, fastest growing churches in the country, you will see children's ministry is a top priority for them.  Without exception. 

Bottom line...if you want your church to succeed you must make children's ministry a top priority. Kids are a key part of a church's success.

I remember as a child there was a prize inside the cereal box. As soon as we got back from the grocery store, my brother and I would be digging in the cereal box to find the toy. We chose the cereal we would eat based on which box had the coolest toy. 

Today, breakfast cereal sales have gone down. Sales have fallen more than 15% in the last five years, from 2.47 billion boxes sold in 2021 to 2.14 billion boxes sold in 2025. 

So companies like Kellogs are reviving their cereal box prizes for the first time in over a decade. Kelloggs is putting collectible spoon figurines from Toy Story 5 characters in their cereal boxes.

General Mills is partnering with the Jim Henson company to put textured puppets in their cereal. In October, they will include characters like Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry.

Consumer demand is bringing the prizes back. Parents remember finding toys in their cereal boxes and now they want to share that experience with their kids.  Today's parents are increasingly looking for simple, screen free moments of play with their children. Something as simple as the toy in a cereal box is something they can do with their child.

So...think about this with me. 

What's the "cereal box prize" you can offer kids and families?

Remember...they are looking for simple, screen free moments to share together. 

One thing I have done is to send children home with a small "prize" or toy that ties into the lesson.  Here's an example. If I share a lesson about Daniel and lion's den, I might send home a small, plastic lion figurine and encourage the kids and their parents to use it to talk about the story and lesson learned. They can even act out the lesson at home using the lion and then talk about some key questions together.

Another idea is to give first-time guests a small toy or other gift on their second visit.  Send them a postcard after their first visit and tell them what they will get when they return. I have personally seen this work very well. It actually helped us go from 7% of families returning for a second visit to 38% of families returning.

You can also give families a small craft or activity they can do together.  Hands on activities are a big hit for kids and parents to do together. 

Another factor...kids have great buying influence when families are at the grocery store picking out food.  

Who is going to make the final decision on which cereal to buy?  Most likely, it will be the children. 

The same can be said about picking a church. Children carry great influence in deciding which church the family will attend. In most cases, they are the final decision maker. 

Remember...it's the small things that make a big difference.  

You wouldn't think a small toy in a cereal box would be such a big, determining factor in choices.  It's a great reminder that excellence comes from doing the small things well. The small things add up to excellence. 

Excellence is the whisper that comes from doing the small things well. 

As cereal box toys return, I believe sales for these companies will go back up. Kids love to discover prizes...even when it's just a simple toy in a cereal box.   

I believe if you follow this pattern, your ministry can also grow and retain more new families.

Your turn.  Did you love cereal box toys when you were a kid?  What are some more ways we can implement this into reaching and discipling families?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

This post is going to be short and simple. But implement it and you will see kids beaming with smiles when they enter your building. 

Here it is. Have your greeters, check-in people, etc. wear these. 

Kids love seeing and interacting with greeters who are wearing these. You'll see lots of high 5's, fist bumps, etc. when your greeters are wearing these. 

We know that people decide if they are going to return to our church in the first 8 minutes. This simple step of greeters wearing these will help you create a great first impression.  When they see these, kids and parents will think "This is a fun place to be for my kids."  

Reach the kids and you will reach the entire family. 

I believe this one simple step of greeters bringing the fun factor will immediately help your children's ministry get to the next level.  

You can order the hands at Amazon at this link.

Here's another great resource for you to bring the fun factor.  It's the best selling book "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry."  It's filled with tons of ideas that will help you create irresistible environments for kids and families. You can order it at this link. 

 

Do you ever wonder how effective your communication is with parents?

Parents, like all of us, live in a data heavy world. We constantly have messages coming our way. 

It is easy for our communication with parents to get lost in the avalanche. 

But effectively communicating with parents is crucial if you want to help them disciple their children. 

Let's look at some methods and strategies to communicate with parents effectively.

Text messages

Text messages do get noticed - 95% of text messages get read - 93% within the first minute. Hard to beat that percentage. 

There are several ways you can use text messages to communicate with parents. 

Send a text message to new families after they visit for the first time. Keep it short and simple. Thanks for coming. Trust you had a great experience. Hope to see you again soon. Let us know how we can pray for your family. 

Send a text message to parents about what their child learned at church. Include a couple of follow-up questions they can ask their child.  I would send this out on Tuesday. 

Send a text message about an upcoming event or program.  It may have dropped off their radar. A quick reminder is helpful.

Facebook

I know what you are thinking. Facebook is outdated. Actually when it comes to mothers, 94% of Millennial mothers use Facebook on a regular basis.  Data shows that Facebook remains a leading social platform for mothers.

Create a Facebook page for the parents in your ministry. Post memory verses, parenting tips, lesson review questions, announcements, etc. 

Email

At the church where I serve as children's director, we send out a monthly email newsletter. We include lesson review questions, memory verse of the month, parenting tips, and upcoming teaching series information. 

Instagram

47-65% of young mothers (ages 18 to 39) use Instagram.  

Create an Instagram account for your ministry. Regularly post pictures, updates, reviews, etc. 

TikTok

Younger mothers show a high preference for TikTok compared to older mothers. Mothers use TikTok more frequently than fathers do. 42% of mothers active on TikTok are first-time mothers seeking peer advice and community.

Create short training videos and parenting tip videos to post on TikTok. 

Pinterest

Young mothers use Pinterest extensively as a visual search engine and community hub for parenting ideas, inspiration, and peer connection. 

Create an account and host active communities centered around early motherhood. Share practical child-rearing tips.

Old school take home papers

Take home papers can still be effective. The key is handing them to parents and encouraging them to use the tool during the week to help disciple their kiddos.  

Make sure you hand them to the parents and not the children. If you hand them to the children, they will end up in the parking lot. 

Your turn. What are some other effective ways to communicate with parents? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.