RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Churches that want to attract Millennial parents and their children should pour a significant percentage of their time, resources and efforts into creating an excellent children's ministry.  

You may not have the budget that Disney has, but you do have the ability to keep your facilities as clean as Disney does. 

I believe the best way to reach Millennial parents is by ministering to their children with excellence.

Brand is the name given to a product or service from a specific source.  It's represents who you are and what you do as a ministry. It plays a key part in kids and families perception of your ministry.  Let's talk about 5 keys to creating a great Kidmin brand.

NAME IT. 
It starts with what you name your children's ministry.   Obviously the word "children" or "kids" should be part of it.  A common trend is to simply take the name of your church and add kids to it.  I think this is a great idea.  It ties the ministry into the overall ministry of the church and makes it easier for kids and parents to remember.  Here are a few examples.

Crestwood Church = Crestwood Kids

First Baptist Church = FBC Kids

Northside Church = Northside Kids

You can also change the "s" to a "z" to add a kid-friendly element to it. 

Going a level deeper, you should then craft your slogan.  This is a simple tag line that encapsulates what you do.  It's your mission statement in micro form.  It should be short, simple and easy to remember.  In our age of information overload, less is definitely more.  You may or may not include it with your logo.  But you'll definitely want to include it in correspondence, vision casting, volunteer materials, etc.  Kids won't notice it as much as adults.  But it's an opportunity to show parents and volunteers what you're all about.  It's something you should be passionate about...something that makes your heart beat faster.

I highly recommend aligning this with your church's overall slogan.  Here's an example.  One of the ministries I led had the overall church tagline of "Impacting our world with the love and message of Jesus Christ."  We tweaked it for the children's ministry to say "Impacting kids and families with the love and message of Jesus Christ."  

CREATE A PROFESSIONAL LOGO.
Your logo should be done professionally and represent you with excellence.  Don't skimp on this.  If you don't have someone in-house or locally that can create it for you, there are thousands of affordable options with free-lancers online. 

The logo should be kid-friendly.  Kid-friendly colors.  Kid-friendly font.  Kid-friendly image. 
 
KEEP IT CONSISTENT.
Great brands deliver a consistent message across all of their marketing touch points.  Think of every print piece, take-home paper, website page, poster, gift for guests, etc. as all connected...because they are.  Keep the look of your brand consistent across all platforms.  The logo should remain the same but you can tweak the color at times to fit the background it is placed on.  An example would be making the logo black and white for a handout that you don't want any color on. 

LIVE IT.  
Kids and families are looking for brands that deliver what they promise.  They want authenticity.  This means your logo and tagline should be more than just words.  It should be who you are.  Your brand should be lived out by your ministry.  If your brand says you love people, then you should turn those words into action by being the hands and feet of Jesus to your community.  Your ministry should love families and be there for them in times of crisis. 

When you begin to live out your logo, families will make an emotional connection to your brand.  When they see it, they will be reminded of how you've impacted their family and it will evoke good thoughts.

SPREAD THE GOSSIP.
We live in a testimonial culture.  Kids and families don't necessarily always listen to what your ministry says about itself.  But they do listen to what other people say about your ministry.   They are influenced by the comments and feedback of others.  Leverage this by building a community of kids and parents who share their love for your ministry online and by word-of-mouth.  You want to get people talking...in a good way.  Then take the "good gossip" and use it to make deposits in the testimonial economy.  

Here's a few questions to talk through with your team:

• Does the name of our ministry accurately represent us?  Do we need to change or adjust it?

• Does the name of our ministry align us with the overall ministry of the church?   Do we need to change or adjust it?
  

• Is our logo professional?  Kid-friendly?  Is it outdated?  Do we need to update it or tweak it?
  

• Is our slogan simple and easy to remember?  Does it align with the overall church slogan?  Are we excited about it?  Do we need to change or adjust it?

• Is our logo consistent across all platforms?  Do we monitor this effectively?

• Are we effectively living out our slogan?  How can we do better at this?

• How can we help spread more "good gossip?

Do you know what happens after Disney World closes at night?  Here are a few things.

Security sweep.  Did you know that sometimes people will try to hide and stay in the park overnight?  Park security has learned most of the hiding places over the years and finds them.

Refueling.  Some of the rides like the Jungle Cruise boats run on gasoline and have to be refueled for the next day.

Safety inspections.  Engineers inspect rides for defects.  Firefighters inspect fire extinguishers, alarm systems and sprinkler systems.

Repairs.  The parks have thousands of chairs and tables.  It is a constant job to keep them repaired.

Filming for commercials.  So Disney can control exactly who appears in their commercials, they do most of their filming after the park has closed.  This also prevents having to set up "roadblocks" while filming and hindering guests from moving freely in the park.

Underwater maintenance.  Dozens of scuba divers are responsible for maintaining and repairing attractions and other equipment that are underwater. 

Cleaning.  Streets and sidewalks are pressure washed.  Trash is emptied.  Windows and mirrors are cleaned.  Bathrooms are mopped and scrubbed.

Tending the plants.  There are dozens of species of plants, 3 million bedding plants and annuals, 4 million shrubs, 13,000 roses and 200 topiary that must be cared for.  Most of this happens after the parks close.      

Maintenance of animatronic characters.  Animatronics are checked by engineers to make sure they are functioning properly.  This takes a lot of work.  An example is the Enchanted Tiki Room, which features 225 moving birds, plants and tikis.

Rehearsals.  Parades and shows are practiced after hours to ensure they are ready and done with excellence before the public sees them.

Painting.  There is a scheduled painting plan for the entire park.  Some of the high traffic areas like handrails are touched up with paint every night.

These are great reminders that what is done after hours, behind the scenes, is what makes Disney so successful.

Excellence on the front stage is made possible by hard work in the backstage.

The same is true in children's ministry.  A great children's ministry is made possible by what happens behind the scenes.  Great weekend services are created by great weekday preparation.  Great events are made by paying fantastic attention to the dozens of details involved.  Great programs flow out of a great commitment to excellence.

Doing backstage so well is what sets Disney apart from other theme parks and makes it the number one family vacation destination in the world.  And if you want to see your ministry stand out, then spend more time in preparation.  Families notice when the details are done well and when they are not.

Think about these comparison areas to what Disney does...

• Security?  Are you paying attention to the details that make up a safe and secure ministry?  Doors locked after service starts?  Security tags checked?  Not allowing open access to the children's ministry area?

• Refueling?  You're not refueling gas, but you are responsible for 'refueling" things like pencils, pens, toilet paper, crayons, baby wipes, paper towels, guest brochures, etc. 

• Safety inspections?  Do you regularly inspect toys, playground equipment, furniture, etc. to make sure it is safe?  You don't want to find out it is unsafe the hard way when a child or parent is injured.

• Repairs?  Are you intentional about looking for things that need to be repaired?  It's easy to develop a blind spot to things that are broken.  Are there lights out?  Is there furniture, tables or chairs that need repaired?  One way to do this is to regularly walk through your facilities with a team of people and look for things that need to be repaired or updated.  Make a list while you are doing the walk through and then knock the list out,  

• Cleaning?  Disney is known for its cleanliness because they spend so much time cleaning the park after hours when no one is around.  Power washing, cleaning windows, emptying trash, etc.  The cleanliness or lack of it speaks volumes about your ministry.  Families notice it.  On a scale of 1 to 10, how clean is your ministry?  

• Rehearsals.  The excellent parades and shows are made possible by hundreds, if not thousand, of hours of behind-the scenes practice.  How much time do you and your team spent in preparation?  Do you look at the lesson you are going to teach for the first time at the stop lights on the way to church?  Does your praise team get together and practice during the week or just show up on Sunday morning?  Does your puppet team prepare or just "wing it?"  Do you practice the VBS skit enough times that it is done with excellence?  Do you rehearse and rehearse and rehearse and rehearse until you've got it down?

• Painting?  Are there walls with dings and scratches that need touched up?  Are there colors that need updating?

Remember, great ministries are built after hours.  You can get more great tips from Disney in the book "If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry."                                                                               

Look under the hood of successful children's ministries and you'll find they have 10 things in common. 

#1 - Strong leadership.  Just like in everything else, everything rises and falls on leadership.  Successful ministries are built by solid, committed leaders.  God anoints and blesses people, not programs. 

#2 - Compelling vision.  The ministry has a clear, concise vision that keeps the vision on track and moving forward.  Everyone on the team knows why they are serving and what they are working toward.

#3 - Unity.  Vision falls flat without unity behind the vision.  The team is committed to unity and tenaciously protects it.  Out of this unity flows power, anointing and blessings.

#4 - Solid volunteer team.  Last year, I hosted a gathering of the 20 largest children's ministries in the nation.  Without exception, every one of them has a strong team of volunteers that make the ministry happen.  I've said it over and over again...because it is true...the success of a children's ministry rises and falls on the strength of the volunteer team.  In fact, in most of these churches, it's hard to tell staff and volunteers apart. 

#5 - Commitment to excellence.  Successful children's ministries are built on doing the small things with excellence.  Details matter to them.  Their bathrooms are clean.  Their check-in areas are neat and free of clutter.  They promptly follow up with families who contact them.  It's hard to find typos on their take home papers.  No, they aren't perfect.  No one is.  If you look hard enough, you'll find some weak spots.  But they know what the weak spots are and you can be sure they are working on fixing and improving them.

#6 - Focus.  Successful children's ministries don't equate busyness with success.  They equate being productive with success.  They don't necessarily have a full calendar, but they do have a focused calendar.  There is a big difference.  They funnel their time, energy and resources into doing a few things extremely well. 

#7 - Change.  They constantly evaluate everything they do and change what is not working or is outdated.  They grasp the Message very tightly, but everything else is held with open hands.  They are thankful for the past,  but they are not married to it.  They spend most of their time looking forward and occasionally glance back at the past for reference.

#8 - Relevant ministry.  They keep up with kid culture.  They know how to connect with today's kids.  When parents ask their kids the famous end of service question - "Did you have fun today?" - the answer is "Yes!"  But don't be quick to judge the term "fun."  Fun at church for a kid means you made the Bible come alive for him or her.  It means you let them be a kid.  It means you used teaching methods that they connect with.  Fun may appear to be a shallow word, but it's actually a deep word when you look at it like this.

#9 - Passion for reaching the unchurched.  Simply put, they reach kids and families for Christ.  Unchurched families walk in the doors on a regular basis.  Kids' lives are changed.  Parents' lives are changed.  The baptistry waters are constantly stirred.  They have a driving passion for the lost that won't let them stop until every single child and family in their community knows Jesus.

#10 - Humility.  Though numbers 1-9 are true about successful children's ministries, if you were to interview them and ask why they are successful, they would shrug their shoulders and say, "To be honest, it's not because of us.  We're not this good.  Only God could do this.  We are in way over our heads."  This humility keeps them on their faces before God.  They know they don't have all the answers.  And that's a good place to be. 

These 10 points lead to some great discussion questions you can have with your team.  Sit down and ask yourselves...

1.  Are we leading well?  How can we improve as leaders? 
2.  Do we have a clear, compelling vision that people want to follow?
3.  Is our ministry unified?  Do we work hard to protect our unity?
4.  How strong is our volunteer team?  How can we strengthen it?
5.  Are we committed to excellence?  Do we strive to do the small things well?
6.  Are we focused?  Does our calendar reflect busyness or productivity?
7.  Are we open to change?  Are we evaluating everything we do on a regular basis?
8.  Are we connecting with the kids?  Are kids having fun at our church?
9.  Are we passionate about reaching the unchurched? 
10.  Is pride getting in our way?  Are we willing to humble ourselves before God and seek His face?