RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Why a Thriving Children's Ministry = a Thriving Church

8:09 AM Dale Hudson

Show me a church that is thriving and I will show you a church that has a thriving children's ministry. Each year, Outreach magazine reports on the fastest growing church's and the largest churches. Last year I researched the top 20 churches in growth. Without exception, every one of them has a thriving children's ministry.

See...I believe God will bless churches that make children's ministry a top priority. Look what it says in Mark 9:37.

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”

When you welcome children, you open the door for God to bless your ministry.

Do you know the top two reasons people pick a church?

1. How friendly are you?

2. What do you have for my children?

In the last few weeks, I have seen two children come to Jesus.

One is a 5th grader who was brought by a friend. His parents do not attend church. I called and shared with his mother that he is asking about being baptized. She brought him to the church one afternoon and I shared the Gospel with them. He will be baptized next week and his unchurched family is coming to his baptism. I am praying that the entire family will come to Jesus.

The other child is a 6th grader who lives in the neighborhood that our church is located in. She rides her bike to church each week. On her own. No encouragement from home. She has also come to Christ and now she wants to be baptized. I am talking with her mother about this. Mom has given permission for her to be baptized and I am praying all of her family will come to see her baptized so they can hear the Gospel as well.

I have seen this happen hundreds of times. God uses a child to reach an entire family. Think about how many times in the Bible when people came to Jesus through their children. Their first contact with Jesus was because of their children. They needed their child to be healed. They needed their child to be brought back to life. They needed their children to be blessed by Jesus.

Reaching children is crucial if you want your church to be healthy and thriving. I often say this...

"If you can't hear any crying...then your church is dying."

A church that is not reaching children and young families is dying.

That being established, here are some ways to help your children's ministry thrive.

Make the children's ministry budget a priority.

Put your best people (volunteers) in children's ministry.

Make children's ministry a high priority.

Place a gifted leader over your children's ministry.

Make your children's ministry physical space the best space in the church building.

You want to see your church thrive? Then share this article with your Pastor and church leaders.

Why Miley Cyrus Walked Away From the Faith

7:25 AM Dale Hudson

Miley Cyrus was born in 1992 to Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus. She grew up on her family's farm near Franklin, Tennessee. She lived on the farm until she was about 14 years old.

Miley was raised in a Christian household and was baptized in a Southern Baptist Church. She attended church faithfully and wore a purity ring.

Her personal pilot said the young star had a sincere faith and moral convictions. He felt confident she would not trade her character for fame.

Miley left the farm and grew into a celebrity in television, movies, and music. She catapulted into stardom with her performance on the television show Hannah Montana.

As Miley grew into stardom she began to pull away from her Christian roots. Her first step of departure was when she stopped attending church. She has stated that she left the church because her gay friends were not being accepted and were forced to undergo conversion therapy.

As Miley slipped farther and farther away from church, she also began to walk away from the faith. Her performances turned raunchy and risque as she grew older.

You can see from the following statements how she has abandoned the faith.

She shared a photo on Twitter with a quote that says "You are all stardust. You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded. So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live."

She recently said "God is a gay man. If you don't believe me look at the length of his hair."

"I'm allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult, that doesn't have to be aligned with the way that it was when I was brought up".

(referring to Noah's Ark) "That's [expletive] insane. We've outgrown that fairy tale, like we've outgrown [expletive] Santa and the tooth fairy."

"I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult—anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me. I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl."

"I love my parents, but they are conservative [expletive] mother [expletive]."

In my book "Fertile Soil..See Kids' Faith Grow and Flourish for a Lifetime" (order here) I share the three big reasons why kids grow up and walk away from the faith.

25% walk away because they have grown disillusioned with the church.
50% walk away because they don't believe in the Bible or God anymore.
25% walk away because they say they are too busy.

I think Miley falls into the group that has grown disillusioned with the church. This is reflected in her "LGBPTQ" views and and not being able to reconcile that with the conservative beliefs of the churches she was part of as a child.

I think Miley obviously also falls into the category that doesn't believe any more. Her views of God and the Bible are way off course.

I think Miley also falls into the category of being too busy. The lure of fame and fortune has taken over her life and left little to no time for God.

Miley is a snapshot of the many, many young adults who grew up in church but have now walked away.

Our prayers are with these grown up kids who have wondered away. I pray that God will draw them back to His side. We know that the prodigals are on the heart of God and should be on our hearts as well. No matter how far away they may be, He is longing for them to come home. He is a God of abundant grace and hasn't given up on them and neither should we.

In my book "Fertile Soil...See Kids' Faith Grow and Flourish for a Lifetime" (order it here) I share how we can create Fertile Soil. I share the ingredients we need to place in the soil to make it fertile. I believe when kids are planted in fertile soil, they can grow up to love and follow Jesus for a lifetime.

Will you join me in praying for Miley? I don't think God has given up on her and neither should we. Pray she and the other prodigals will come home to Jesus.

10 Tips to Improve Your Preschool MInistry

7:41 AM Dale Hudson

I believe preschool ministry is one of the most important ministries in the church. It is ministering to people at one of the most critical times in their life. So much growth happens in the first few years of a person's life.

If you want to improve your ministry, then preschool ministry should be at the top of the list.

Let's look at 10 tips that can help you improve your preschool ministry.

Tip #1 - Eye Contact.

Children need to be looked in the eye when engaged in conversation to feel you're genuinely interested in them. This usually means getting down to preschoolers' eye level.

Tip #2 - Recognition.

Every child wants to be known and to know that he or she is valued. Preschoolers need to be recognized and called by name. Learn children's names and use them. Every week find at least one good thing to recognize about each child and acknowledge it.

Tip #3 - Use Play as a Teaching Tool.

Knowing facts alone isn't enough. Just because a preschool can repeat something, doesn't mean he or she has learned it. Children learn from meaningful experiences. Play that is hands-on, interactive, and focused promotes learning that lasts. Companies have discovered this and are producing toys that teach. Offer guided play opportunities that teach God's Word.

Tip #4 - Stories.

Kids (and adults) love stories. Use stories to communicate truth. Present each story in an engaging and exciting way. The way you tell the story is important.

Tip #5 - Age-appropriate songs and leaders.

Use fun, energetic worship leaders. People who have of smiles will set the atmosphere for children. Middle school and high school kids make great worship leaders for preschoolers.

Tip #6 - Have good ratios.

When you have good ratios safety is increased, leader retention is increased, and parent confidence increases. Here are the ratios I follow:

3-year-olds - 1 to 8

4-year-olds - 1 to 8

5-year-olds - 1 to 10

Tip #7 - Work with adult ministry.

Your ministry to preschool parents is vitally important because when you influence parents, you influence the primary source of spiritual formation in preschoolers.

A partnership with adult ministries in your church is one of the most strategic moves you can make to leverage the impact of your preschool ministry.

Tip #8 - Keep spaces clean.

When parents look inside your preschool rooms, they quickly access cleanliness. If rooms are untidy, messy or dirty, you will loose the parents' confidence.

Keep toys clean and disinfected. Throw away or repair damaged furniture. Keep the floor vacuumed and the trash emptied.

Tip #9 - Remind your volunteers that this is not baby-sitting.

In fact, it is ministry at one of the most critical times in a person's life. So much is happening in those first three years. Kids are growing and making connections that will effect the rest of their life. Help your volunteers see this and cast vision about impacting kids' lives during those first 3 years. I often say this.

People won't line up to change a diaper, but they will line up to change a life.

#Tip 10 - Care.

Even at their young age, preschoolers can sense when someone genuinely cares about them. They need leaders who will love them and welcome them with a smile. Leaders who will see them and know them by name.

Have you read the book "100 Best Ideas to Turbocharge Your Preschool Ministry?" It contains over 100 ideas to improve your preschool ministry. You can get your copy now at this link.

10 Things You Should Do When Teaching Kids

11:57 AM Dale Hudson

It's not an easy task to teach kids. Especially today's kids who have an attention span of milliseconds and constantly need to be moving and jumping from one thing to another.

How should you teach?

What elements should you have in your lessons?

How can you keep their attention?

How can you know if you are being effective?

Let's take a look at 10 things you should be doing when teaching kids. Master these 10 things and you will become a teacher who is able to engage kids and get the truth to stick with them.

#1 - Repetition

If you want your teaching to be deposited in kids' brains for the rest of their life, then you need to use repetition. Did you know if a child hears something once a month that they will only retain about 10% of it. But if a child hears something 6 times in a month, their retention will go up to 90%.

Look what God's Word says about this.

Repeat them again and again to your children. Deuteronomy 6:7.

Repeat your main point over and over and over.

#2 - Games

Kids love to play games. Use games in your teaching. Play review games. Games are a great thing when it comes to helping kids engage with your lesson.

#3 - Noisy Classroom

A noisy classroom is a good thing. Create activities where kids can talk and interact with the lesson. Don't use the "ssssshhhhhhhh" card. Instead channel the noise into the lesson to get kids involved with what you are teaching.

#4 - Visual Elements

Today's kids hear with their eyes. When you bring visual elements into a lesson it greatly increases kids' engagement. Use videos. Use key verses on a screen. Use object lessons.

#5 - Review

Take some time at the end of your lesson to do a review element. Review games. Review challenges. Review activities. Put it to the test and see how much of your lesson the kids can retain.

#6 - Hands on, Interactive Activities

Hands on activities will cause kids' retention rate to skyrocket. Stop lecturing so much and involve the kids in activities that reinforce the lesson. This can include art work, crafts, building things, music, and more.

#7 - Vary Your Voice

Don't sound like Charlie Brown's teacher when you are teaching. Don't be monotone. Vary the excitement in your voice based on what emotions you are trying to convey. An example would be bringing your voice up when talking about David fighting Goliath and bringing your voice down when quoting a verse.

#8 - Broadway...put them on the stage

Get kids to act out the Bible story you are telling. Here's an example. You're teaching about Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea. You get a big, blue tarp and hold it up like it's the Red Sea. Then have the kids walk through it. Squirt a water mist on them as they are walking through and have water sounds playing.

When kids act out a Bible story they will remember the Bible story.

#9 - Tell stories.

Did you know that Jesus told stories every single time He taught? Look what it says in Matthew 13.

"Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people; he always used stories to teach them. This is as the prophet said: 'I will speak using stories; I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.'”

If you want to teach like Jesus, then tell stories like Jesus did.

Stories are a great way to grab kids' attention and draw them into what you are teaching.

#10 - Prayer.

Pray with the kids. Pray for the kids. Pray during your time with them. Remember this...