If you serve in children's ministry, you are serving in the most strategic ministry in the church.
If your church is going to grow, it will be because your children's ministry starts growing.
If you emphasize the importance of children's ministry, you will have people step up and serve in children's ministry.
The most important physical space in your church, is your children's ministry space.
Remember this...
Children's ministries that have subpar space, will seem worse than the ministry really is.
Children's ministries that have excellent space, will seem better than the ministry really is.
Jesus believed in children's ministry. We often see Him taking time to minister to children.
Children's ministry is how you reach families. Think about how many times in Scripture when parents came to Jesus for one reason. They needed help for their child. Their first contact with Jesus was because of their children. This still rings true today. You can reach parents and grandparents through their children. I have seen this happen so many times.
When you make children's ministry a top priority, Jesus will bless your ministry. Every single time when we invested in children's ministry I saw the ministry begin to grow.
One of the churches where I served as children's pastor grew from a weekend attendance of 6,000 to 16,000 in three years. Guess when the growth explosion happened? After we build a new children's ministry area. This type of exponential growth can happen when you make children's ministry a top priority.
A church that maximizes children's ministry will maximize the blessings of Jesus. A church that minimizes children's ministry will minimize the blessings of Jesus.
Churches that are dying...and there are lots of them...are dying because they are not successfully passing off the faith to the next generation. If you do not reach the next generation, your church is terminal. You will eventually have to close the doors.
I often say, "Where there is no crying (nursery), your church is dying."
But you can change that. If you will turn and engage the next generation, you can see your church begin to grow and flourish. When churches die, it is often because the older generation isn't willing to let go of their preferences. Notice I said "preferences" because that is what it is. One of the biggies is worship music. The older generation doesn't want to introduce new worship songs that the next generation can connect with. In the "struggle" to keep the church tied down with their preferences, they are missing out on the opportunity to engage the next generation.
Personal preferences are often generational. Older generations like older hymns. The next generation likes worship music and style that is connected with their generation. Hence the battle of the worship preferences begins. I am not saying you can't sing any hymns. And I am not saying we should abandon great hymns like "Amazing Grace." But I am saying that new worship songs should be the predominate theme if you want to reach the next generation.
In closing...let me ask you this.
Are you willing to step up to the plate for the next generation?
Are you willing to change to reach the next generation?
Are you willing to make children's ministry a top priority?
If you want your church to grow and thrive...then that is what needs to happen.