RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

50 years ago, Walt Disney was developing an experimental audio-animatronic Tiki Bird for his newest attraction...the Enchanted Tiki Room.

As he met with his developers, he watched the bird blink, move and sing.  He was excited, but there was one thing he felt was missing.  The Tiki Bird wasn't programmed to breathe.

His team had a good answer:  The circuits, valves and pumps made it difficult to add an element that hardly anyone would notice.  If the bird was breathing, and 99% of the audience would likely never notice, would it make a difference?  One of the Imagineers said to Walt, "People are not going to get this.  This is too much perfection."

Walt listened to the team and then shared a lesson that is one of the secrets of The Walt Disney Company's success.  "People can feel perfection."  Quality is the imperceptible things that guests might not even know they see.  But "devotion to detail lets guests know that they're worth the effort."

Any area that families come in contact with you is an area that you must be committed to excellence in.  This includes...

• First-time guest experience
• Check in / check out
• Music
• Facilities
• Programming
• Correspondence by phone or email
• Classes
• Decor
• Cleanliness
• Signage

Your commitment to excellence in these and other areas will determine your success.  Show me a great children's ministry and I'll show you a ministry that does the small details well.  Yes...success is found in the details.

The smile on a parent's face as dedicate their newborn child to the Lord.

Listening to a child pray.

Watching a child worship God in simple, sincere devotion.

Hearing a child excitedly tell their parent what they experienced during the service.

Seeing a brand new family walk through the door.

Seeing the smile on a volunteer's face when you tell them how God is using them.

Seeing a parent and child baptized together.

Hearing someone say "yes" when you ask them to join the volunteer team.

The contagious giggles of a child when you tell a them a joke and they get it.

Watching the energy of a group of 3rd grade boys in action.

Seeing God use a child to bring a whole family to faith in Christ.

Seeing a volunteer discover and walk in the gifts God has placed inside them.

Watching kids grow up and become young adults who love God.

Hearing a child say, "bababatized."

Looking in the nursery window.

Doing life with volunteers you consider family.

The good tired you feel after a big event.

Seeing a child step across the line of faith.

Listening to a child recite a Bible verse they have memorized.

Watching a father and mother pray a blessing over their child.

What do you love about Children's Ministry?  Share your favorite things with us in the comment section below.