When was the last time you were in an adult worship service? If you are a children's minister / director, you may not be able to remember.
I find that for the average children's minister, they rarely attend the adult service. For some it has been months or even years since they were able to worship with other adults.
Why is this?
The biggest reason is lack of volunteers. They haven't been able to enlist and equip enough volunteers to run the children's ministry without them. If they tried to step out to get in the adult service, things would fall apart.
Another reason is they don't enjoy the adult service. I find that often children's ministers love children's ministry so much that they begin to feel restless when they try to sit in the adult service. They would rather be in the children's ministry area than in the adult service.
Another reason is because they feel like the ministry can't run without them on hand. They are striving for perfection and feel like the ministry will not function at a high level without them being involved every single minute.
A final reason is they feel guilty being in the adult service while their volunteers are serving. If they are asking their volunteers to serve, then they feel like they should be there as well all the time.
I understand these reasons. I have personally struggled with some of these as well. Now that these reasons have been established, let's talk about why children's ministers should attend the adult service.
Attending the adult service helps you stay connected to the church's overall vision and direction. It is easy to become a silo. You can become isolated from the rest of the church while you do your own thing in the world of children's ministry. Being part of the adult service helps you stay connected to the rest of the church.
Attending the adult service helps you grow spiritually. Hearing the Word of God taught is an important part of growing spiritually. It helps you stay healthy spiritually and keeps bitterness, resentment, discouragement, and disillusionment at bay.
Attending the adult service sets an example for your volunteers to follow. Hopefully you are making sure your volunteers are attending the adult service. In fact, you should make it a requirement if they want to serve in children's ministry. You should hold yourself to the same standard.
So what do you think?
What has been your experience in this?
Do you attend the adult service? Why or why not?
What are some other tips you can share about this?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
p.s. Here are some resources that can help you.
