RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Has your ministry fallen into a rut?  Feel like you're spinning your wheels?  Know God has more for the ministry, but can't seem to get started moving toward it?

It could be due to one or more of the following factors.  Let's take a look at 5 factors that may be holding your children's ministry back.

Factor #1 - Lack of Delegation.  This happens when the leader of the ministry tries to do everything by himself/herself.  The leader becomes the person that is holding the ministry back...he/he is the lid.

There are many reasons why a leader refuses to delegate.  It can be because of insecurity.  He/she is afraid of "losing control" or someone else getting credit.  Another reason may be the leader is a perfectionist to a fault.  He/she refuses to give things away because he/she is afraid other people can't do it as well as they can.  Or they don't trust people to get things done.  The leader may even have a "super hero" complex that compels them to work harder rather than smarter.

Is this a factor that's holding back your children's ministry?  If so, here's some help.

• Five Reasons You're Not Delegating (and how to get over it)

• Are you a Children's Ministry Control Freak? Here's How to Get Over It

• How Effective Children's Ministry Leaders Spend Their Time

Factor #2 - No Room to Grow.  Once your ministry reaches 85% capacity, it will stop growing.  This applies to not only the children's areas, but also to the adult auditorium, the general hallways and the parking lot.

Here's an example.  If your preschool area will hold 100 preschoolers and you are averaging over 85 preschoolers per weekend, you will stop growing in that area.  Or if you have room in your children's area, but the adult service is full, you will stop growing.

If you're out of space, you've got to create more space if you want to continue to move forward.  This may involve starting an additional service or building more space.

Factor #3 - A Small Vision.  The ministry will never outgrow your vision.  Great ministries come from great vision.  If the ministry has stalled, the first place to look is in the mirror.  The ministry is simply a reflection of your vision and passion as the leader.  Here's some tips for expanding your vision for the ministry.

• Fresh Vision

• How to Effectively Communicate Your Children's Ministry Vision 

• Cast Vision Like Disney (chapter 1)

Factor #4 - Lack of a solid ministry for adults.  You can have an amazing children's ministry, but here's something you must consider.  I've never seen a church that was growing that didn't have the combination of a great children's ministry and solid adult ministry.

The children's ministry can be exciting and relevant for the kids, but if the children's parents are sitting in a service that is outdated and not relevant to their life, eventually you will lose the family.

If you see this happening in your church, it may be time to sit down and have an honest conversation with church leadership.  Make sure you do so with a humble spirit that comes from a place of wanting to see the church reach families.

Factor #5 - Children's Ministry is not a priority in the church.  It is difficult to move a children's ministry forward when it's not a priority.  Show me a children's ministry that is growing and 99% of the time it is part of a church that highly values children's ministry and pours resources, volunteers, promotion, budget and facilities into it.

It can be very frustrating as a children's ministry leader to be in a church that doesn't value children's ministry.  You want to help the ministry move forward, but you feel limited because it seems to be out-of-your hands.

We'd like to help you make children's ministry a priority in your church.  That's why we're hosting a live webinar later this month entitled "Making Children's Ministry a Priority in Your Church."  Join Ricardo Miller and I for this special event.  You can get more information below and register at this link.

The latest stats indicate the American church is dying a slow death.  

The Christian percentage of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing,

In 2007, there were 227 million adults in the United States, and a little more than 78% of them – or roughly 178 million – identified as Christians.

Between 2007 and 2014, the overall size of the U.S. adult population grew by about 18 million people, to nearly 245 million.  But the share of adults who identify as Christians fell to just under 71%, or approximately 173 million Americans, a net decline of about 5 million.

The decline is being seen mostly in mainline Protestant churches which includes the United Methodist Church, the American Baptist Churches USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Church.  In 2007, there were an estimated 41 million mainline Protestant adults in the United States.  As of 2014, there are roughly 36 million, a decline of 5 million.

While the big "C' church is in decline, there is good news.  The number of Evangelicals (those who characterize themselves as "born again" Christians) has grown from 34% to 35% and has a total of about 62 million adult adherents.  That is an increase of roughly 2 million since 2007.

Here's the bottom line.  Dying churches are continuing to die a slow death while churches that are alive are continuing to reach people and grow.  What's the difference between the two?

Churches that are just going through the motions are dying...churches that have the Spirit of God resting upon them are alive.  The churches that are growing have an anointing that can only come from God's Spirit.  What's happening in their congregation cannot be explained by their ministry programs, skills or staff.  They realize it is beyond their human abilities and rely upon the power of God's Spirit.

Churches that refuse to change are dying...churches that are flexible and adapt are alive.  If a church is dying, there's a good chance they are still operating like it's 1970.  Churches that are alive are anchored to the truth but geared for the times. 

Churches that have an inward focus are dying...
churches that have an outward focus are alive.  Churches that are passionate about reaching people are growing.  Take a look inside the fastest growing churches in the country and you will see their growth is not coming from "transfer" growth.  It's coming from reaching people who are far from God.  Many of these churches are reaching and baptizing thousands of people each year.  

Churches that are bent on preserving the past are dying...churches that are committed to reaching the next generation are alive.  Dying churches have senior adults that are more concerned about singing the songs they grew up with than they are about reaching their grandchildren's generation.

Churches that isolate themselves from their community are dying....churches that immerse themselves in their community are alive.  Churches that are dying could disappear and the community wouldn't even realize it.  Churches that are alive spend much of their time, energy and resources ministering in their community.

God is building some of the greatest churches in the history of our nation...right now.  Be encouraged.  Churches that are willing to catch the wave of what He is doing can make a huge impact in their community.