RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY: generosity

Showing posts with label generosity. Show all posts

Are Unchurched Kids More Generous Than Churched Kids?

8:18 AM Dale Hudson

A new study by Current Biology says kids from religious households are less generous than kids from non-religious households.

The study involved 1,170 kids ages 5 to 12 from 6 different countries and explored the degree to which religion is linked to children's generosity to strangers.

The research included kids playing a game that involved giving out stickers to anonymous participants in their peer group. Kids raised in religious households were less generous in terms of giving to others.

This study can be countered by previous studies which indicate that people with a religious affiliation are more likely to give to charity than those who don't identify with any religion. These studies include charitable giving to churches and other faith-based charities - which is where the biggest share of charitable giving goes.

The conclusion: churched kids are more generous when you include giving to churches and faith-based organizations. Perhaps the churched kids would have given away more stickers in the game mentioned above if they had been told the donation was going to a church.

Here are some takeaways from this for us as children's ministry leaders...

We need to do a better job at teaching kids the importance of being generous with individual people. It's important to teach kids about the "big picture" they are giving to, but we must balance this with helping them seeing people's individual needs as well. Looks like we need to spend more time emphasizing Matthew 25.

Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,you were doing it to me!’

We must help kids extend their generosity outside of Sunday morning. Generosity is not just something we do on Sunday morning when the offering plate passes by...it's a way of life. We must teach kids that random acts of generosity are great opportunities to show Jesus' love. Generosity opens people's hearts to listen to what you have to say. If you want someone who is hungry to listen to the Gospel...feed them first.

The fact that churched kids give primarily to churches shows that we are helping them see the value of giving to the local church. As Christians, we not only give a cup of cold water...we give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. There is a difference and it's great we're helping kids understand this.

Here's more help to teach kids about generosity...
Christmas Offering Strategy
Teaching Kids It's Better to Give Than Receive
Teaching Kids to Be Generous

Your turn. The floor is yours. What can we do to help kids be more generous?

Teaching Kids About Giving

7:13 AM Unknown

Here is a short video we created to help parents teach their children about giving. We also created full color giving labels with instructions for kids and parents. If you'd like a copy of the labels, feel free to contact me and I'll email it to you.

12 Ways to Help Kids Become Generous Givers

7:36 AM Unknown

Here are 12 ways to help children develop a generous heart for giving their time, treasure, and talent back to God.

Make it one of your core values as a ministry. Show kids that giving is something you live, not just something you do. Show them by example that generosity is a lifestyle.

Teach lessons about giving. Teach kids the "why" of generous giving. Teach kids that we are stewards of all God has entrusted us with. Teach kids that God loves a cheerful giver. Teach kids that it is better to give than to receive. Teach kids that giving is an act of worship. Teach kids that giving is an investment in eternity.

Make giving a weekly part of your Children's Ministry. Set aside a time in the service or class to take an offering. Make it a key component instead of an afterthought.

Take time to share a short thought about giving before the offering each week. Read and explain a verse about giving or share an example of someone in the Bible who had a generous heart.

Give kids opportunities to give toward outreach projects. Some examples would be participating in a special Christmas offering, supporting missions, sponsoring a child in a needy country, etc.

Let kids earn prizes at church...for other people. There has been a running debate about rewarding kids for spiritual disciplines. Have you considered rewarding them...but the prize is something they earn to give to someone else? You can see how we do this through our Five Loaves and Two Fish Gift shop each week.

Provide concrete, hands-on opportunities for kids to give. Kids love to give tangible things like canned goods, toys, clothes, etc. I will never forget last year when we were encouraging the kids to bring shoes for kids in Haiti. One girl came in, saw the sign, immediately took her "Sunday dress shoes" off, put them in the shoe bin, and walked out barefooted. Wow...we were blown away!

Get kids involved in giving toward building campaigns. Building campaigns are great opportunities to teach children to be generous givers. Many times God can use kids to lead the way. At one church I served at, we were raising money to build a new children's building. We challenged the entire church to give generously...including the children. One of the 3rd graders went to his parents and asked if he could forgo vacation that summer to Sea World and instead give the money toward the new building. God used his generous heart to inspire the entire church.

Teach kids to give of their time. Teach kids that financial giving is just one aspect of generosity. It is also about giving of your time to serve others.

Give kids opportunities to give of their time. If we are going to teach kids to be generous givers of their time, then we must provide them with opportunities to serve. Too many kids were told to "sit still and be quiet" at church and that's what they are still doing now as adults...sitting still and being quiet! And we wonder why we can't get them to volunteer! Get kids involved in serving and they will grow up to be adults who serve.

Teach kids to be generous with their talents. Teach kids that their abilities are on loan from God and were given to be used for His glory.

Give kids opportunities to be generous with their talents. Can they sing? Have a kid's praise team. Are they a people person? Have them greet at the doors and welcome new kids. Are they good at sports? Teach them to be a great example for Christ on their team. Can they play an instrument? Have them play at church. Be intentional about helping kids find ways they can use their talents to bring glory to God.

Just think about how much the kingdom of God can be advanced now and in the years to come if the kids in our ministries become generous givers. They are ready...they are willing...they want to make a difference.

Below is a short video story of a girl in our Children's Ministry who gets it. Generosity has become part of her DNA. God is using her generosity NOW to impact others...and I can't wait to see what He is going to do through her generous heart in the years to come.