RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

How does your church view your nursery and preschool ministry?

Sadly, for many churches, nursery and preschool ministry is looked at and even called child care.  They view it as babysitting. 

Let's set the record straight. Ministry to babies and preschoolers is not child care. Rather it is caring for children at the most important time in their life. 

The pathway of children is largely determined by their early years. Those early years are critical.

Research shows that the first five years are particularly important in a child's development with the first three years being the most critical. Early experiences provide the base for development and functioning throughout life. Children learn more quickly during their early years than at any other time in life. 

What happens in the nursery and preschool rooms is just as important as what happens in "big" church. Churches that truly want to reach the next generation will make nursery and preschool ministry a top priority. 

How soon should churches start caring for children enough to teach them about Jesus? The answer is found in 2 Timothy 3:15.

From INFANCY you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Look what it says in 2 Timothy 1:5.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and I am persuaded now lives in you also. 

Timothy became a great Christian leader because his mother and grandmother made spiritual investments in his life from infancy. 

Does your church view your nursery and preschool ministry as a big spiritual investment opportunity?

If you want to shift the perception of nursery and preschool ministry in your church from child care to caring for children, then here are some steps. 

Empower your volunteers to know that when they teach infants, it makes a difference in their life. Yes...you can teach infants about Jesus. Here are a few examples.

Play music that points them to Jesus. 

Quietly pray over the babies as you hold them. 

Quote Scripture over the them.  Put a Bible promise verse on the wall in your nursery and preschool rooms. Encourage volunteers to quote the verse over them when they are with you.

p.s. Share the verses you are quoting over them with their parents so they can do the same at home.  

Hold up the Bible and tell them it is the Word of God.

Show them a picture or video image about a Bible story and share it briefly with them. 

Show them a picture of Jesus and tell them Jesus loves them. 

Share with the entire church the importance of nursery and preschool ministry.  If you will cast the vision for this, your church can shift from child care to caring for children enough to make sure they know about Jesus who loves them. 

Which reminds me...Jesus paused "adult" ministry and made time to care for and bless children. He wasn't a happy camper when the disciples tried to prevent this.  It became a teachable moment for the disciples and Jesus helped them understand how much ministry to the little ones matters.

Take inventory...how does your church view ministry to babies and preschoolers?  Is it time to make a shift from doing child care to caring for children enough to teach them about Jesus from infancy? 

p.s. Have you gotten your copy of my book "100 Best Ideas to Turbo Charge Your Preschool Ministry?" It contains 100 ways you can care for and invest in babies and preschoolers. You can get your copy here.  

Do you want to see your ministry grow and impact more kids and families?  

Do you want to add more volunteers to your team?

Do you want to equip parents and help them become the primary spiritual influence in their child's life?

Do you want to dramatically increase the excellence factor of your ministry?  

Do you want to uncover factors that are holding you back from growing?

Good news. I can help you. 

In one weekend, I can help you increase your impact. 

Here's how...

Friday Night Parent Seminar

• A one hour seminar that will equip parents to be the spiritual leaders of their children. 

• Practical, hands on training that will encourage parents and give them practical parenting tools.  

• A great opportunity to set your ministry up to successfully partner with parents. 

 Saturday Volunteer Training

• Bring your volunteers together to be equipped and empowered to take your ministry to the next level. 

• Volunteers will be encouraged and recharged to serve kids and families. 

• Your volunteers give a lot...use this time to give back to them and invest in them.  

• I will work with you to tailor fit this time of training to meet the unique needs of your volunteer team. 

Sunday Consultation

• I will observe your ministry in real time on Sunday morning (secret shopper). 

• I will meet with a group of your parents to get their feedback and input on how you can improve the ministry (focus group). 

• Sunday evening - I will create a detailed list of ways you can improve your ministry based on my observations and input from parents.

• Monday morning - We will talk about the list and together brainstorm for ways you can improve the ministry.

This opportunity is available for all sizes of churches.  I am committed to helping your ministry thrive and grow. I do not have a set fee for this. I can work with your church no matter what your budget is. I have a 36 year proven track record of growing ministries and leaders.

Ready to increase your impact?  You can reach me at dale@buildingchildrensministry.com. I will then contact you for a free consultation and talk about how I can serve you and your ministry. 

What are you waiting for? One weekend can be a difference maker for you and your ministry. Increase your impact in one weekend.

I watched her come into the children's ministry room. She had a frown on her face. She was obviously not a happy camper.

As I tried to talk with her, she grew more and more agitated.  She finally had had enough of me trying to talk with her. She clinched her teeth and said, "I hate coming here! I don't want to be at church!"

I responded and asked her where she would rather be?  She replied, "I'd rather be at home! I hate having to come to church! I want to be anywhere but here!"

She chose to sit in a seat in the back of the room. Away from the other kids. I didn't try to force her to join the other kids. She would have none of that. 

If you've been in children's ministry for awhile, you may have encountered something like this as well. A child who doesn't want to be there. A child who wants nothing to do with God. A child who is forced to come by his or her parents.

My heart broke for this child. At a time when her heart should be tender to the things of God, she wanted nothing to do with it. (FYI - the child is in 4th grade.) 

I pondered what I could do?  How could I reach this child who didn't seem to want to be reached?  Here's what I did.  

Reassure the child that you care about them.

Don't turn them into just another child that you have to deal with.  Let them see in your eyes and countenance that you really do care about them. 

I often think about the parable of the one lost sheep. What was the deal with this sheep? It didn't follow the rules and go into the pen. It wandered off on its own and got lost.  It cost the shepherd extra time and effort. It created the need for individual attention.  What a pain this sheep was. 

But in spite of all of this, the shepherd loved the one lost sheep. He proved this by going out to find it and bring it home safely. He proved this by giving this sheep his undivided attention. He proved this by leaving the 99 other sheep to go care about the one sheep.

Let the child know that you care about them unconditionally.  Let them know that God loves them unconditionally.  

Love can break down the strongest of barriers. 

Build a relationship with the child.

Take time to build a relationship with the child.  This can take work, but it's worth it.  

Remember that rules without relationship equals rebellion. 

Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.  

Instead of being a person who will try to "force them into obedience," be the person that is there for them. 

Give them a job.   

This is one of the best things you can do for a child that hates coming to church. 

I decided to ask the girl I am talking about to serve.  I have kids that run our tech booth. They help with the sound system and help run the computer that shows our visual images on screen. 

I asked her if she would be interested in operating the computer. I told her it was a big job...an important job. She would be responsible for helping the service run smoothly and be effective. 

When I told her this, a small...small smile appeared.  She said "yes," she would like to try that. I could see that she had just taken a tiny baby step to liking church. 

Talk about their world.  

So the next week she shows up early to run the computer. I sat with her in the sound booth that is in the back of the children's ministry room. I started talking about YouTube with her. Who was her favorite YouTube star?  What channels did she follow?  What did she like to watch on YouTube? 

Her face started to light up as we talked.  Someone was talking about what she liked to do and watch.  I saw a barrier fall down.  

Partner with the child's parents.

I am working with her grandmother about this. She is the one who brings her to church.  

The fact that her parents don't attend or bring her might be some of the uneasiness she has felt at church.  Remember, behind a rebellious child there are usually some underlying factors that might be the root cause.  The fact that her parents do not attend, may be a big reason why she didn't want to come to church.

It's important to communicate with the person who brings the child to church and work together to reach the child's heart for the things of God. 

Pray.

Pray for God to bring people into the child's life that can influence them for Christ. 

Pray for wisdom as you minister to the child. 

Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the child's life. 

God can do more in a second in a child's life than we can do in a lifetime. 

Remember the child I have been talking about?  What happened? This past Sunday I watched as she worked in the sound booth. She had a smile on her face and was interacting with other children. She is excited about coming back. I believe that even as she is putting up verses on the screens, that God is working in her life. 

May this writing encourage you as you minister to kids who don't want to be at church.  Keep loving them and watch what God will do in their life.  

Your turn. What do you do when a child says they don't want to be at church? Share your insight and ideas in the comment section below. 

This past weekend, I spoke at Forest Park Church in Joplin.  My friend, Mike Jakaitis, is the children's pastor at this church. 

They have a strong volunteer team with people that are committed to reaching the next generation. 

Here is a look at some of their children's ministry facilities.