RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Bad Habit #1 -  Tolerating disunity.  Disunity will crush your children's ministry.  If you are allowing backbiting, gossip, hallway conversations, and personal agendas to propagate, then you are crushing your children's ministry.

Confront it.  Get everyone on the same page...everyone aligned to the same vision.  If this means asking some people to move out, then do it.  Unity doesn't happen naturally, you have to fight for it.

Bad Habit #2 - Not following ratios.  When parents look into a room that is out of proportion and out of control, they are hesitant to bring their child back.  It also leads to volunteer burn-out.

Follow ratios.  In this post, I share what proper ratios should be.  Do the work to enlist enough volunteers to make it happen. 

Bad Habit #3 - Not maximizing the first 8 minutes.  People decide if they are going to return to your church in the first 8 minutes.  If you are not being intentional about what they experience in those first 8 minutes, then you are diminishing your return rate.

In this post, I share how to maximize the first 8 minutes.

Bad Habit #4 - Begging for volunteers.  When you beg for volunteers, you are devaluing your children's ministry.  Never appear desperate, even when you are.

Here are some ideas for building your team.

Bad Habit #5 - Not keeping your facilities clean.  People are turned off by dirty rooms, clutter, dirty walls, stained carpets, and toys that are not sanitized. 

This has nothing to do with the size of your building or your budget.  Whatever God has provided you with...you can keep it clean.

Bad Habit #6 - Only being inwardly focused.  Children's ministries have a tendency over time to turn their focus inward.  They begin to only cater to the needs and whims of those already inside the walls of the church.

Yes, meet needs, but let the biggest need be your biggest focus.  The world around you that is in desperate need of a Savior.

Bad Habit #7 - Making kids feel like they are going back to school on the weekend.  Kids have been at school all week.  The last thing they want is another school experience on the weekend.

Use engaging, out of the box, dynamic lessons that will capture kids' attention and communicate God's Word in a relevant way.  Make it fun.  Let them laugh, play, and have a blast.

What other bad habits do you see children's ministries perpetuating?  Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Where do you park at church?

I've seen churches who reserve the best parking for the pastor and staff.  Here's a "real life" example.
But I think the opposite should happen.  I believe staff should park in the worst parking and save the best parking for guests.

Guests decide if they are going to return in the first 8 minutes.  Do you want them to spend the first 8 minutes trying to find a parking spot and then having to walk all the way across the parking lot?

Think for a moment how nice it is to find a great parking spot at Wal-Mart, Target, or the mall.  You enter the crowded, busy parking lot with thousands of cars stretched across miles of parking lot...(okay...maybe it's not that big...but it feels like it).  And just when you think you'll have to park far away, suddenly a spot opens up right in the front.  You hurriedly grab it, hoping no one else will beat you to it.  And when you pull in...you feel great.  Blessed.  Privileged.

Don't you want your guests feeling like that when they walk in your doors for the very first time?  Are you willing to save the best parking spots to see this happen?  Are you willing to park in the worst parking spot to see it happen?

Having a difficult time getting guests to return?  Here's twelve reasons why they may not be coming back.

You only greeted them at the front door.  Most churches have greeters at the front door.  But once you move past the front door...good luck...you're on your own.

You made them wait in line.  People hate to wait in line. 

No one talked to them...I mean really talked to them.  This goes along with the first reason.  Just a "hello" at the front door is not talking to someone. 

Someone was rude to them.  An usher was short with them.  Or they were told they were "sitting in someone's seat."  Or people just looked past them as they walked down the hallway.  Or someone enforced a "hard and fast" rule in the children's area without kindness.  

They didn't see people they could identify with.  Perhaps they didn't see many people their age, season of life, social economic background, or ethnicity.

They weren't invited by a friend.  Since they didn't know anyone else and no one reached out to them once they got there, they have no relational connection to bring them back.

You didn't provide them with an easy, clear next step to get connected.  

You didn't make them feel valued.  They had to park in the worst area of the parking lot.  There were no signs or directions about where to go.  The people they interacted with made them feel like they were a "bother."

You were too friendly.  You smothered them.  You've experienced that in a store.  As soon as you walk in, you're pounced on by an associate eager to make a sales commission.  It makes you want to run out the door.

The service was boring and irrelevant to their life.  They couldn't relate to the music.  The lesson was full of information without application.  20 minutes in, they realized it would have been more comfortable to stay home and take a nap on the couch instead of taking one in a church seat.

Their kids didn't like it.  When they picked up their kids, the kids weren't smiling.  The children's service matched the adult service in dullness and irrelevance. 

You didn't capitalize on the first 8 minutes.  Guests decide in the first 8 minutes if they are going to return.  Most of the above happens in the first 8 minutes.

Questions to ask your team...

• Do we help guests once they pass the front door?
• Do we walk guests to their classrooms?
• Do we have a separate check-in area for guests?
• How long do guests have to wait in line to check-in?
• Is someone engaging guests in meaningful conversation between the front door and the auditorium door?
• Do we have kind, friendly people as ushers, greeters, teachers, etc.?
• Do we teach our people to live for others?  Do they have a heart for new people who walk in the door?  Have we helped them see "it's not about us?"
• What is the demographic of our church?   Who are we reaching?  Who are we not reaching? Are we diverse?
• Are we making relational connections with guests?
• Do we have clear, next steps that guests can take to get connected?  Are they simple and easy to communicate?
• Do we give guests the best parking spots?
• Is there clear, easy-to-understand signage?
• Are we "smothering" new guests?  Does it sound like we are giving a sales pitch?
• Is our music and message relevant to their life?
• Are we creating a fun, engaging environment for kids?  Are kids dragging their parents to or away from our church?
• Are we maximizing the first 8 minutes?  What are guests experiencing in the first 8 minutes?

What are some other reasons guests don't come back?
Share your thoughts, ideas, and insight with us in the comment section below.