RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Go to any of the premiere church staffing agencies and you will find dozens of open positions for children's pastors / directors.  There is a void of leaders who are giving their entire ministry to reaching and discipling children and equipping parents.

Like never before, we need to pray that God will raise up people to help churches reach and disciple the next generation.

I believe children's ministry leaders are one of the most important staff members in a church.

Why?

1.  Children are the greatest mission field.  We know that up to 85% of people who come to Christ, do so before they turn 18.  There are over 74 million children in the U.S. and over 2 billion worldwide.  Why would we not support "missionaries" who are called to reach them?

Investing in people who can help a church or ministry lead the charge in reaching children just makes sense.  A lot of sense.

We know Timothy was a great leader in the early church.  How did this happen?  What caused Timothy to grow up to be a church leader?   The answer is found in 2 Timothy 3:15.

2. Children will bring God's blessings to a church.  Check out the truth coming out of this verse in Mark 9:37.


When a church makes children's ministry a top priority, the church is ushering in the blessings of God.  When a church hires a children's pastor/leader, they are making one of the best hires they can make. 

3. Children are crucial for the growth of a church.   Here's the cool thing.  When you hire a children's pastor/director, you are setting your ministry up for growth.  As the children's pastor/director sets up the ministry to reach children and families, the church will experience growth.  We know families go to church where their children enjoy being.  A growing church will have children dragging their parents to church.  A declining church will have parents having to drag their children to church.

The difference in the above two situations?  A children's ministry leader who leads the charge to reach the next generation.

4. Children's ministry leaders can help equip and encourage parents to lead their children spiritually.  We know parents are the greatest influence in a child's spiritual life.  When you hire a children's / family pastor, you are emphasizing this and encouraging parents to disciple their children.  A children's pastor/director can help with strategies and planning for this. 

5. Children must be reached and discipled if a church is going to have a future.  A church without children is terminal.  This being said, one of the most important roles in the church is a children's pastor/director who knows this and leads the church to make children's ministry a top priority.  When you hire a children's pastor/director, you are making on the best investments you can make for the future of the church.

Would you pray with me that many more people will hear the call of God and invest their lives in reaching children and families?  Would you pray with me that churches will see the vital importance of having someone who can lead the church to reach and disciple children and their families.

Perhaps God is calling you to give your life to reaching the next generation.

Look what D.L. Moody, the great evangelist of years gone by said about this.

Do you want your ministry to grow?  Of course, we all do.

But for the ministry to grow, you're going to have to grow as a leader.  If you don't continue growing as a leader, you can become the lid that hinders growth.

Rick Warren said this:

"Years ago I stopped worrying about how to grow our church and instead focused on growing me.  As I grew, our church grew.

Abraham Lincoln said this:

"If I have 6 hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first 4 sharpening my ax." 

I believe this - if you'll grow you, the ministry will grow with you.  Growing isn't over when you graduate college or have been in ministry for 20 years.  No, personal growth has to be a lifelong journey.  We must continue to read, learn, collaborate and stretch ourselves.

That's why I started Advance Children's Ministry Coaching.  It's a 6-month coaching experience for children's ministry leaders who want to grow to the next level in their leadership.  With 29 years of ministry experience, I have helped build some of the largest and fastest growing children's ministries in the country.  I can help you achieve your ministry and personal growth goals.

Here is what 2 leaders who have been through the coaching, have to say about it.

"Can you teach an old dog new tricks?  Dale did!  Having worked in children's ministry for almost two decades, I have a lot of experience.  Basically, that means I am good at somethings and avoid the rest.  If you are willing to learn, Dale can help you with the rest."
Joel Smith, First Colony Church, Richmond, Texas

"I am so thankful for the coaching experience I was able to have with Dale Hudson.  I have learned tools that will leadership, growth and structure.  I know that this information will help me today, tomorrow and for years to come.  I would highly recommend anyone in children's ministry to take part in this amazing coaching experience."
Michelle Clary, 5 Points Church, Easley, South Carolina

Advance coaching will help you...

• Have more leadership influence with the team you lead.
• See your ministry grow and expand.
• Go to the next level as a leader.
• Receive a personal investment in you and your ministry.
• Navigate the challenges and struggles you are facing.

 The 6-month program includes...

• Monthly group coaching call.  Live, one hour sessions on the important topics listed below.  Each session includes teaching and group discussions.  You will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the topics with Dale and the other leaders in the group.  Sessions are also recorded so you have on-demand access afterward.

•  July - self-leadership
• August - leading staff and volunteers
• September - leading through change and challenges
• October - keys to a growing ministry and multi-site
• November - creating a dynamic children's ministry culture in your church
• December - staying relevant in ministry

• Personalized growth plan.  Dale will help you identify your blind spots and work with you to create growth steps.

• Copy of Dale's books.

• Inside access to the notes from the Kidmin Gig.  3  years ago, Dale started a roundtable for the 30 largest children's ministry in the country.  You will get the latest notes from this gathering.

 The deadline to apply is June 22.  Go to this link for more information and to apply.

Come join us.  I promise you will grow and become a better leader for your ministry.

What causes a ministry to grow?  Is it the programming?  The worship music?  The children's ministry?  The student ministry?  Small groups?  Sharp branding and marketing?  Nice facilities? 

Let's look at it this way.  How do you successfully bake a cake?  You add in the ingredients, don't you?  Flour.  Sugar.  Eggs.  Butter.  Salt.  Baking powder.  Vanilla.  Eggs.  You mix all the ingredients together.  But it's still not a cake.  What turns the ingredients into a cake is the heat.  Without the heat, it will never be a cake. 

You see...the programming...the worship music...the children's ministry...the student ministry...small groups...sharp branding and marketing...nice facilities...those are the ingredients.  But without the heat, without the fire applied to those ingredients, the ministry will fall flat.  

Zechariah articulates this when he says, "it is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." 

The secret that makes a ministry grow is the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  

At times, I have found myself going to a conference or visiting a growing church and then spending more time trying to implement the ingredients than I did begging the Holy Spirit to bring His fire to the ministry.  Anyone else guilty of this?  What we need more than the latest program, more than another cutting-edge growth strategy and more than the coolest new sound system, is the fire of God to fall on our ministries.  

Does that mean we don't have to make our ministry ingredients relevant and the very best we can put together?  No.  Just like we wouldn't throw together the wrong ingredients and expect to see a great cake baked up, we shouldn't expect God to bless halfhearted efforts or out-dated ministry ingredients.   We should gather our very best ministry ingredients and then place them before God to anoint with His fire. 

When great ingredients are anointed by the fire of the Holy Spirit,  you will see a ministry begin to grow.  The fire of the Holy Spirit is the extra "it" factor that causes a ministry to move from mundane to miraculous.  Interview the Pastor and staff of a church that is experiencing miraculous growth and they will tell you they do their best, but they're quick to acknowledge that they're simply not good enough or smart enough to produce the kind of growth they are seeing.  They'll quickly tell you that only God can bring the kind of growth that is happening.  Look behind their music, programs, videos, strategies and facilities and you'll find a group of people desperately crying out to the Holy Spirit to do great things. 

Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

That's the POWER that takes the ingredients of a ministry and uses it to produce growth.

May God stir up within us a longing to see the Holy Spirit move in and through our ministries.  May God find us on our knees before each service, begging the Holy Spirit to anoint us.  May God find us desperately crying out to the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do...produce fruit through our ministry.  

That's the secret that really makes a ministry grow.  And the good news...it's available to all of us.

A recent report from the Portraits of American Life Study says Millennial young adults are drifting away from church.  They show significant signs of dissatisfaction with organized religion.  This is reflected in both lower attendance and the number claiming no religious affiliation. 

But there is something that is bringing them back.

Is it marriage?  Actually, no.  For two reasons.  First, young adults are increasingly putting off marriage  Secondly, newly married couples report fewer closer friends and weaker social ties to churches because they tend to focus on each other more than other relationships. 

So what is it that brings straying Millennials back to church?  It's children.  The extensive study found that married parents are 3 times more likely as singles without children to return to weekly church attendance.  Benjamin Gurrentz, researcher at Penn State University, said, "It is children, not marriage per se, that actually integrates married respondents into religious communities."  Single parents have similarly high rates of return relative to singles without children. 

Churches that are serious about reaching the young families in their community must get serious about making children's ministry a top priority.  (tweet this)

Want to grow a huge children's ministry?  Here's 10 secrets that will help your children's ministry explode.

Go where lots of people live.
If you're going to grow a huge children's ministry, you have to be where there are lots of kids and families.  I am thankful for every church that ministers in a scarcely populated area.  We will not be rewarded for how many kids we reached, but for our faithfulness.  That being said...if you feel God is calling you to reach lots of kids, then go where they are.

Focus on those who are not attending. 
Keep your focus not on the number of kids who are attending, but on the number of kids in your community who are not attending.  That is the number that should keep you up at night.  Yes, we have thousands of kids coming each weekend to our services, but compared to the number of kids who live in our community, it's just a drop in the bucket.  We must stay consumed with reaching kids and families who are far from God.

Make room.
If you are going to reach lots of kids, you must have room for lots of kids.  If your space is 85% full, you will plateau until you build more space or start more services.  Don't let the size of your building be the determining factor in the size of your children's ministry.

Build a great volunteer team.
A huge children's ministry has the foundation of a great volunteer team.  The strength and size of your children's ministry depends on the strength and size of your volunteer team.

Teach kids to invite others.
We've had over 4,800 first-time guest families register for our children's ministry so far this year.  The vast majority of them were invited by another child or family who attend our church.  Constantly encourage kids to invite their friends and give them tools to do so.

Give first-time guests a great experience.
Families decide in the first 8 minutes if they are going to return to your church or not.  Go all out to make those first 8 minutes an experience they won't forget.  This includes great customer service, making them feel loved and comfortable, helping them get to their rooms, etc.  Excellence leads to growth.





Stay small.
The larger you get, the smaller you must get.  In other words, you have to help kids and families get connected to a small group of people who will know them and care for them.  People stay because of relationships and this happens in small groups of people.  Children's ministries that grow huge find a a way to maintain a "small church" feel. 

Be willing to change.
Children's ministries that grow huge are constantly evaluating, tweaking, and improving what they do.  They are grounded in the truth but are willing to change their methods to reach today's kids.

Realize it's not your job.
It's not your job to grow a huge children's ministry.  It's your job to simply reach kids and families for Christ.  You want to know how to grow a huge children's ministry?  You go out and you reach one family.  And then you reach another family and another family and another family and another family.  One day you'll look up and there will thousands of those kids and families that have been reached and are attending your church.

Stay humble. 
When you realize it's God's job to grow the children's ministry, you will not grow proud or take credit when it happens.  You will realize it's much bigger than anything you could accomplish on your own.  This leads to a humble Godfidence that is constantly dependent upon Him.

What are some other keys to growing a huge children's ministry?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.