RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

The parents do not attend church. But they do bring their daughter to our mid-week program. 

I will be sharing the Gospel with the parents and their child together.  I am praying that the entire family will come to Christ.  

I believe God can use children to bring an entire family to Christ. 

Think about all the times in the Bible when people came to Jesus for one reason...they needed something for their child.  Their child was sick. Their child needed healing. Their child had died.  So their first contact with Jesus was because of their child. 

Fast forward. I believe the same thing happens today. People come to Jesus because of their children. God works in the heart of parents when they send their children to church. They want their child to have some kind of spiritual foundation. They may not even be able to put it into words, but they know something is missing in their family and they come seeking what that may be. 

In other instances, young adults drop out of church.  They walk away from their faith for the time being. But then they get married and have a child. They look at their child and God begins to work in their heart. They begin to think about their child getting some kind of spiritual foundation in their life and so they bring them to church. As God begins to work in the life of the child, He uses it to also work in the heart of the parents. 

Over the years, I have seen thousands of kids come to Jesus and follow Him in baptism.  That's good news, but there is more good news.  I have also seen hundreds of parents come to Christ as well because of their children's example.  

Here are a few tips on how to see parents come to Christ along with their children. 

Always be thinking about and praying for parents.  

Pray that God will work in the heart of parents. Pray that God will draw parents who don't know Jesus. Understand that parents are the greatest influence in the life of a child. 

When you reach a child, you change a life. When you reach parents, you change an entire family.

No matter how far a parent is from God, when you minister to their child, you have their attention. 

Share the Gospel with kids and parents together. 

I believe this is key. Rather than praying with a child for salvation, invite them to a class that they attend with their parents. In this class, share the Gospel clearly.  When you do this, you will see parents come to Christ along with their children. 

I created a class called Starting Point. The class is designed to share the Gospel with kids and parents together. It is a game-changer. You can get the class at this link.  

Invite parents to take a spiritual step with their child.

Invite parents and children to come to Christ. After they have stepped across the line of faith, invite them to attend a baptism class together. You can get the class at this link.  

I could tell you countless stories of seeing parents reached through their children. I once even saw 3 generations baptized together because we were intentional about sharing the Gospel with families.

I pray this article will encourage and inspire you to reach parents through their children. This is the greatest mission field in the world. The harvest is ripe. Will you labor in this field?   

Back in 2016, I shared an article about how to show your volunteers you appreciate them. This reminded me that caring for and appreciating volunteers is such an important part of leading them. 

Volunteers are at the heart of your ministry. Focus your appreciation efforts to retain their support and involvement with your mission. Developing a strong, volunteer recognition plan ensures that those who give their time to your organization feel appreciated in return.

With that in mind, here is an updated article with 20 more easy ways to show your volunteers you appreciate them. 

1. A handwritten note. In the day of electronic communication, a handwritten note is gold. 

2. Send them a text message and express your appreciation for them.

3. Have a picnic lunch with them after church. Provide the food.

4. Have a "shout out" wall where you put pictures of them serving and thank you notes.

5. Give them a small plant with a note that says "Thank you for helping the kids grow in their faith."

6. Say "thank you for serving and making a difference" every time they serve.

7. Send them a Christmas card and thank them for being a gift to the kids and families they serve.

8. Celebrate your volunteers through social media.

9. Honor them on their birthday.

10. Plan a thank you lunch or dinner with you, a volunteer, and the Senior Pastor.

11. A bag of microwave popcorn with a note that reads, “You are a POPular volunteer with the kids."

12. Host an appreciation dinner for your volunteers.

13. Video - make a quick, 30 ­second thank you video on your smartphone that you can share on social
media.

14. Wash their car for them. 

15. Host a cookout / BBQ for them.  Break out the grill and cook some hot dogs, burgers, and barbecue.  Be sure to have fun games to play while they are there, like badminton, corn hole, horseshoes, etc. 

16. Celebrate volunteer anniversaries through a years of service award. You can get a special gift or token to represent each year of service. Present special awards for 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and more years of service.

17. Recognize your volunteers in the church bulletin / newsletter. 

18. Make a "thank you" video with the kids. Have kids thank their teachers in a short video.

19. Give them a ministry shirt or other merch for serving.

20. Give them a small gift basket with some of their favorite snacks and drinks. 

You can get lots more ideas in my book - The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams - it is available at this link. 

Your turn. What are some other ways you show volunteers you appreciate them? Share your ideas in the comment section below.   

Do you need more volunteers? Of course you do. I've never met anyone who didn't need more volunteers. It is the number one need in children's ministry. 

I currently need many more volunteers. I am working on getting them. I added 6 new volunteers this past week. 

How did I get them? Let's talk about that. Here are 5 ways you can add more volunteers to your team. 

Invite people to a cause. 

People are not drawn to desperation. They are drawn to a cause.  Don't use words like "need" or "help"  or '"please ,when you are recruiting.  Instead, share about the opportunity it gives people to leave a legacy and impact people's life.

Help them catch a vision of what God can do in them and through them.  They will be ministering to people at the most important time in their life. So much growth happens in the early years of a person's life.  

When you serve in children's ministry,  you are laying the foundation for the future of the church.

Ask people one at a time.

Jesus set the example for this.  He invited people one at a time to come and follow Him. I believe the best way to enlist new volunteers is to simply ask people to serve.  You might hear a few "no's but you will also hear a lot of "yes's." 

Ask people every week at church.  That's how you build a volunteer team. One person at a time. One invite at a time. One person enlisted at a time.

lnvolve parents. 

I'm not a fan of "requiring" parents to serve. I want people to serve in children's ministry because they want to be there.  But I do think you can be intentional about inviting parents to serve once every quarter or so.  

Parents are the number one influence in a child's life and when kids see their parents serving it makes an impact. 

Move people from serving at big events to serving on a regular basis.

Our Fall Festival is just around the the corner.  I am inviting many people who don't normally serve to come and serve with us. Many of them will do this one-time serve. After the event, I will loop back around with them and invite them to join our team on a regular basis. I've had as high as 85% of people say "yes" with this approach. 

Pray for more volunteers. 

This is an amazing passage of Scripture. Look what it says in Matthew 9.

"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest'.”

Jesus saw the multitudes that needed His grace and forgiveness. He said we should pray for more laborer for the harvest.  The problem is not the harvest. There is world full of people who need to know Jesus. 

The need is for more laborers. Think about this with me.  Jesus would not have commanded us to pray for more volunteers if He wasn't willing to give them to us.  We have not because we ask not.  Spend time every single day asking Jesus for more volunteers. If you will do this, He will send them your way. 

So there you have it. 5 ways to add more volunteers to your team. What are some other ways you build your team?  Share with everyone in the comment section below.

p.s. Have you read my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams?" It is available at this link.