Do you want to know if your church is healthy?
Here's a simple, but profound way to answer that question.
Is your children's ministry healthy?
A healthy church will have a healthy children's ministry.
On the way to work each day, I drive by a church building. There are weeds growing over everything. The roof is falling in. There is a "for sale" sign in the front yard.
I am sure at one time it was healthy church. There were babies in the nursery. You could hear the pitter patter of preschoolers. You could hear the laughter and giggles of pre-teens as they interacted with each other.
But something happened.
I can tell you what happened. Somewhere along the way, they lost sight of the importance of children's ministry. They didn't realize or forgot that Jesus says when you welcome children, you are welcoming Him.
They didn't make children's ministry a priority and so the church became unhealthy. Eventually, it became so unhealthy, they had to shut the doors and close down for good. This story could be repeated time and time again in churches across the nation.
Our goal should be for kids to be dragging their parents to church. Not the opposite, where parents are having to drag their children to church.So what are some indicators that your children's ministry is healthy?
In a healthy church, the children's ministry should be 18-25% of the total church attendance.
I would encourage you to sit down and look at your overall ministry. What percentage of your church is children? If it's under 18%, you need to take a hard look and make some changes.
In a healthy church, the children's ministry will have adequate staffing.
Ideally a church will have one full-time staff person for every 125-150 kids. Take some time to see where you are at with this. I have a chart that tells what staff to add and when. Email me at dale@buildingchildrensministry.com and I will be glad to send it to you.
In a healthy church, the children's ministry will have lots of people serving.
Serving in children's ministry will be one of the best areas to serve in. The best volunteers in the church will be found in the children's ministry.
In a healthy church, parents of children will come to Christ on a regular basis.
Not only will children come to Christ, but their parents as well. Think with me about the times in the Bible when people's first contact with Jesus was through their children. Their child was sick and so they came to Jesus. Their child had died and they came to Jesus for help. Their children could not walk and so they brought the child to Jesus.
The same thing can happen today. God can and will use children to reach their parents. The best way I have found to see this happen is to have a salvation class for children who are asking about following Jesus. Invite the child and their parents to attend the class together. No drop-offs.
Once you get the parent in the room with their child and clearly share the Gospel, you will be surprised how many parents will also come to Christ and they and their child will get baptized together.
I have a class called Starting Point for this. Churches across the country are using this and seeing many parents come to Christ. You can get more info. about Starting Point at this link.
In a healthy church, the budget for children's ministry will be more than adequate.
Major dollars will be poured into children's ministry. When a church invests in children financially, the blessings of Jesus will come.
In a healthy church, children's ministry will be a top priority.
The children won't be stuck off in the basement. Rather it will be elevated as one of the most important ministries in the church. It will be highly visible and will be promoted on a regular basis.
Healthy Children's Ministry = Healthy Church
How healthy is your church?
Be the champion for children's ministry at your church and let God use you to impact the entire church through your ministry.
