Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Children's Ministry


We want our ministries to be effective, don't we?  But how do we measure effectiveness?  Here are some practical ways.  These are not blanket statements and there are lots of factors involved like what part of the country you live in, how densely populated your area is and the demographics of your community.  That being said, these measurements are a great place to start.

Measurement #1 - The Percentage of Children Attending Your Church
An effective children's ministry will be a minimum of 10% of the congregation.  In other words, if you have 100 total people in attendance, 10 of them will be children.  Highly effective children's ministries will make up 15-20% of the congregation.  I have seen some as high as 30%.  Here are some tips for growing your children's ministry.

Measurement #2 - Children Taking Spiritual Growth Steps
How many children are committing their life to Christ?  How many children are following Christ in baptism?  How many children are part of a small group?  How many children are practicing spiritual disciplines like reading their Bible, spending time with God, sharing their faith, serving, etc.?  Here are some tips for helping kids take spiritual growth steps.

Measurement #3 - Equipping Parents
How many parents are you equipping to disciple their kids?  What tools and resources are you providing them?  How many parents are taking parenting classes, child dedication classes, etc.?  Here are some tips for equipping parents to lead their children spiritually.

Measurement #4 - Percentage of Guests Returning
How many of your first-time guests are returning?  The national average is 7%.  Are you above or below that?  Here are some tips for seeing guests return.

Measurement #5 - Teaching That Sticks
Is your teaching making it into kids' long-term memory?  Do kids remember what you are teaching weeks later?  Months later?  Years later?  (here are some tips on how to embed your teaching into kids' long term memory)

Measurement #6 - Volunteer-to-Child Ratios
Do you have good volunteer-to-child ratios?  Here is a guide for this:

Here are some tips for building a volunteer team.

My prayer is that God will help our ministries be effective for His glory and the furtherance of His Gospel.