There are a lot of things you can do in children's ministry. Programs. Events. Camps.
All of these are good things and can help you disciple kids.
But today let's talk about 3 things you should be doing every week in children's ministry.
Great children's ministries are not built on programs or events. Rather, they are built by doing these 3 things week in and week out.
Are you really serious about building a children's ministry? Are you committed to doing some key things every single week?
Let's take a look at the 3 things.
#1 - Invite someone to serve with you.
Effective children's ministries are build and sustained by great volunteer teams. Let's be honest. It takes a lot of work to build a great volunteer team. You have to consistently invite people to serve with you.
Our church has an indoor playground area. We open it up after services so kids and their parents can hang out after church services are over.
Come visit us and you will see where I hang out after the service. I am at the indoor playground...asking people to join our volunteer team. This past weekend, I was able to personally invite 2 people to serve and one of them said "yes."
Do that every single week and I promise you that your volunteer team will grow. Don't complain about not having enough volunteers if you are not asking people to serve with you. Personal invites...it's the best way to build a great volunteer team.
If you haven't read my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams" you need to get it. In this book, I share how we built a volunteer team of over 2,000 in 9 years. You can use the same formula to grow your children's ministry volunteer team. The principles in the book will work in any size church. You can get the book today at this link.
#2 - Thank people for serving with you.
Did you know that 65% of volunteers have never heard the words "thank you?" Don't be that kind of leader. Say "thank you for serving and making a difference" every single week to all of your volunteers.
While building a team is where it all begins, showing gratitude to that team of people is where it is sustained. Personally thank every volunteer, every single week, for serving.
#3 - Share the Gospel.
There is nothing more important than sharing the Gospel. There are a lot of things that you can teach children. But the most important thing is the Gospel. Paul said this in Romans 1:16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The one and only way kids and families can know God and have eternal life is through the Gospel. That's some great news. The best news ever!
We only have a short window of time to reach children with the Gospel. We must make it count. Does that mean we should just talk about the Gospel each week. No. After children come to Christ, they should be discipled...but the Gospel is the starting point and it should be woven into the lesson each week.
So those are the 3 things I believe we should be doing each week. What do you think? Love to see your thoughts and insights in the comment section below.
