RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

29 years ago, when I started out in ministry, I was taught and adopted a ministry strategy that said, "the more ministries you have, the more people you will reach."

I took this to heart and tried to cram as much on the ministry calendar  as I could.

But for some reason, it didn't work.  It seemed the more quantity I added to the ministry, the less people I was able to reach.

Why did that happen?  Because the reality is, the more you add to your ministry calendar, the less you will accomplish.   When it comes to ministry strategy, less is more.

Does that mean you sit back and are lazy?  No.

No, but what it does mean is you focus your time, energy, resources and effort into a few events and programs.  It means you find your niche' and work hard in that area. 

The best thing you can put on your ministry calendar may be some eraser marks. 

Here's an example of this principle from the retail world.

11 years ago, McDonald's stopped growing.  The fast food store felt like the reason behind the stall was its limited menu.  And so they tried out lots of new items and doubled their amount of food choices.

The result?  Their sales remained flat.

In 2016, they decided to go back to the basics.  They dropped the additional menu items and started offering breakfast items more often.  The result?  Sales jumped and went up 6% in 2017.  And stock rose by 40%!

Through this, they discovered that customers didn't want a broad offering of food, but simply more of what they already liked.  Simplicity and focus is what costumers responded to best.  A more complex menu meant it took longer for costumers to get their food.

In a recent poll, 64% of customers say they would rather have a simple, convenient experience.  And that mindset flows right into their experience at church as well.

Don't give into the temptation of filling up your ministry calendar with events and programs.  Find what your ministry does best and poor your effort into that.  Focus the abilities of your volunteers into serving in a few, strategic programs and events.  Focus your budget on what is working best.  Strengthen your volunteer team by not spreading them too thin across a wide variety of ministry offerings.

Finally, remember that being busy doesn't necessarily equate to success.  When you analyze your ministry events and programs, don't measure success by busyness, but rather by productivity.

For years, I've tried to live by the blank piece of paper test.  I take every ministry...every event...every program and put it to the blank piece of paper test.  It's a simple, but powerful test.  Here it is...a year after the program, event or ministry has taken place, can I write down on a piece of paper the names of people and families that have been reached through it and are now part of our church family.

If I can't write down any names, then that ministry, event or program has failed the blank piece of paper test and needs to be adjusted or dropped. 

Our goal is to reach and disciple kids and families, right?  Then we must make sure that what we are doing is clearly leading us to accomplish that goal.

Your turn.  Do you believe less is more?  Should ministries do less and focus more on a few things?  Share your insight and ideas in the comment section below.

Do you ever get tired in ministry?

Maybe you've just finished a long summer of events and you're exhausted?

Perhaps you've been planning and planning and planning for a new building and you are mentally tapped out?

Or you need lots of new volunteers and you've been recruiting like crazy and it's worn you out?

It could be you've got so much going on that you've been having a hard time falling asleep.  Everything you've got on your plate loops in your mind and steals away much needed rest?

Maybe you're trying to lead through change and the opposition you've faced has emptied your tank?

Perhaps the non-stop cycle of preparing for weekend services has you dragging your feet?

Are you so tired that your ministry joy has been reduced to drudgery? 

If that's you, you're not alone.  There are times when everyone gets tired in ministry.  Even people in the Bible got tired.  Elijah got tired.  Jeremiah got tired.  Paul got tired.  Moses got tired.  Jesus even got tired.

When you get tired, what should you do?  How do you bounce back?  How do you get your energy back?  How do you gather the strength to keep going and not fall by the wayside?  

Let's look at some practical steps you can take to bounce back when you are tired.

Identify Why You Are Tired

Usually, like in the situations listed above, it will be easy to identify why you are tired.  Other times, you'll have to do some introspection.

A good way to do this is to write down everything you are doing.  Then identify the things on your list that are causing the biggest drain on your time and energy.  Also identify which things on your list cause you the most stress, since stress is probably the thing that drains you the most.

Once you're able to identify what is causing your "battery" to drain too quickly, work to resolve it, so the drain isn't constant or never-ending.

We all have times when we have to burn the midnight oil, but if you're burning the midnight oil continuously, you will burn out...literally.

Figuring out what's causing you to burn that midnight oil is the first step.

Focus on your health. 

Unless you are sick, you are feeling tired because your body (which includes your mind) is tired.  Lack of sleep, improper diet and exercising will catch up with you.

Re-access your eating habits and sleep patterns.  Start getting plenty of exercise.  Exercise has so many benefits.  It reduces stress, boosts your mood and improves your health.

We see examples of this in scripture.  Elijah went and rested.  Paul said he rested and was refreshed by friends.  Even Jesus pulled away to rest.   

Take a Vacation or at Least an Extra Day Off

Here's the rub.  You have a big event or a big day.  You know you need to catch your breath afterwards, but you also feel the need to jump right into the follow up from the big event or dive right into getting ready for the next big thing.  (That's another whole topic we could talk about - doing too many big things).

It's a tension you must learn to manage.  Even though there's follow-up or another event breathing down your neck, it's important to take a vacation or at least an extra day off after you've been in a hectic season.

If you don't take that vacation or few days off, it will come back to bite you later.  Give yourself permission to take a break.  You've earned it and your body is telling you as much.

Say "No" So You Can Find the Margin to Rest

I am reminded of when Jesus had went apart to rest and spend time with His Father.  The disciples came and found Him and said, "Everyone is looking for you."

The truth is, Jesus didn't heal everyone in His country.  He didn't accept every speaking opportunity.  He was selective in choosing and focusing on the most essential tasks for the fulfillment of His mission.  He sometimes said "no" so He could rest and spend time in prayer.

You must do the same.  If you've going to find the margin to rest and bounce back, then you've got to say "no' to some people and to some things.  Especially when you are tired and know you need to rest.  Don't feel guilty about it, either.  If you're going to help people for the long haul, then you've got to rest so you can bounce back.

Saying "yes' when you should say "no" will keep you from bouncing back.

Ministry can definitely be tiring.  And you will get tired at times.  But you don't have to live in a rut of tiredness.  Use these tips to curb the amount of time you are tired and know how to bounce back when you are dragging.

Let's go the distance!  Let's finish strong!  Let's serve with a joy that comes from operating out of the overflow!

Keep the conversation going.  What are some things that tire you out in ministry?  How do you bounce back when you are tired?  Share your thoughts and insight in the comment section below.

When I lived in southern California and then in Las Vegas, one of my favorite places to eat was In-N-Out Burger.

Many times, when a person is going west on business or travel, you'll hear someone tell them, "You've got to try In-N-Out Burger!"  I know I make a point to stop by and eat there when I am in the area.

What makes their "fast food" so good?  The answer lies in the owner's commitment to focus on serving a few items with excellence.

They make hamburgers, fries and shakes.  That's it.  All the ingredients are fresh.  There are no microwaves or freezers.  Their shakes are made from real ice cream.  To maintain quality control and service excellence, they remain privately owned with no franchise stores.  Stores are only found in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Texas.

Their focus helps them create great food.

Let's think together for a few minutes.  Does this same strategy apply to children's ministry?  I believe so.

You can spread your resources, staff, volunteers, budget, time, energy and focus across a vast array of programs, events and other offerings...but you will find it all ends up being so thin, it's ineffective.

Simplicity and focus doesn't just happen.  What does just happen is complexity.  Our natural bent is to equate busyness and volume with success.  And so by default, we begin to fill up our ministry calendars with lots of events.  We begin to spread our resources across everything we're trying to do.  We weaken our volunteer team by trying to fill our many programs and events that all require many volunteers.  This results in us having a lot of mediocre programs and events.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and then talk through with your team...

Are all of our areas lacking volunteers because they are spread across too many options?

What is draining us that is not producing fruit?

What is working that we should shift more focus, resources and time to?

What are we saying "yes' to, just because it makes a few people happy?

If our ministry menu had to be like In-N-Out Burger, what three focused things would we offer?

What is a good thing we need to stop doing so something else can become great?

If we had to cross 5 things off our ministry calendar, what would they be?  What is stopping us from doing this?

Still not convinced?  Let's look at another example of how less is more.

Think about Google and Yahoo.

While Yahoo's site bombards you with hundreds of different choices,  Google only shows 2.  Search and I'm feeling lucky.

Which one has been much more successful?  Obviously Google.

When people look at your ministry, are there so many programs, events and offerings that it leaves them overwhelmed and not engaging fully with any of them?  

And so, I ask you the question from the title of this article.

Is your children's ministry spread too thin to be effective?

Maybe it's time to put some eraser marks on your ministry calendar.  Maybe it's time to decide what your niche' is and focus on doing it with excellence.  Maybe it's time you pour your volunteer force into serving in one or two programs and events.  Maybe it's time you spend your allocated budget on where it can have the most impact.  Maybe it's time to stop doing some things just because it's always been done that way.

Re-focusing a spread out, thinned out ministry and concentrating it on a few key elements can make it much more effective.

Just ask In-N-Out Burger and Google.