RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

One of the most important things you can do as a children's ministry is multiply yourself.

You can only do so much solo.  If you want to see the ministry grow and expand it is vital that you raise up other leaders.

Here's 7 ways you can begin multiplying yourself.

IDENTIFY
Look for people who display leadership potential.  Some of the things you want to look for are...

• committed
• integrity 
• persistent
• enthusiastic
• responds well to feedback
• positive attitude
• solution-oriented

INVITE
Leaders are not going to fall out of the sky.  Approach the people you identify and make the ask.  The best way to multiply yourself is 1-1 personal invites.

INSPIRE
Help people see the gifts God has placed in them that they may not even see themselves or believe they have.  God can use you to help them unleash the potential He has placed inside them.

INVEST
Be intentional about investing in them.  This includes training, 1-1 mentoring and creating a leadership growth plan for them.

INVOLVE
One of the best ways to raise up leaders is to give them opportunities to lead.  Hands-on experience.

INSTRUCT
Provide them with feedback.  Here's more on how to do this properly. 

INSTILL
Instill the vision, heart and passion of the ministry in them.  Help them move beyond the "what" of the ministry to the "why" of the ministry.

We've seen this plan work.  Out of our current 72 children's ministry staff members, 65 of them are people that we raised up as volunteers and took through this pathway.  As the ministry continues to grow and expand, it is vital that we continue to multiply ourselves as leaders.  If we don't, we'll hit a leadership lid.

The same can be said of any ministry.  It is critical that you multiply yourself so you can reach your community for Christ.  

Below is the strategy in an infograph.  If you would like a copy of it as a .jpg, feel free to email me at dalehudsoncm2@gmail.com.

What's the best way to grow a children's ministry?

Direct mail with great print pieces?

Television ads?

Vacation Bible school?

Outreach events?

Fall Festivals?

Bringing in a big-name special guest?

These are all different ways you can see families brought into your children's ministry.  But...there's one thing that is not listed above.  And it's the #1 way to grow your children's ministry.

Wait for it...wait for it...

Here it is...word of mouth.

People talk about a children's ministry that has impacted their lives.  And those people talk to other people...and those people talk to other people...and...etc.

Before long, you've got guest families walking through the door every single week.  And the majority are coming because someone told them about the ministry or brought them.

When this happens, you will experience the "big mo."  Momentum.  And when momentum kicks in, you will experience exponential growth.

The big question...how do you get people talking?

Give them something that's worth talking about.  
Create environments for kids that will get them excited about coming to church.  When that happens, parents will take notice and begin to talk.

Encourage them to talk. 
Message how important it is to invest in relationships with people who don't attend church and invite them to come.

Give them tools they can use to talk.
Create invite cards that people can use to invite their friends and connections.  Doing a really cool series?  Make invite cards for the series.

This past Easter, we had a lady that came to our church for the very first time and accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior.  When asked how she heard about the church, she told this story.  She is a crossing guard at one of our local elementary schools.  One of our kids talked with her and invited her to come to church while he was waiting to cross for school.

When people start talking...great things happen.  

I'm guessing you want your children's ministry to grow.

You want to reach the families in the community God has called you to.

You want new families walking in your doors every week.

You want your rooms full.

You want to outgrow your current facility and build a larger one or start more services. 

How can you see that happen?

Lots of big events?  A bigger budget?   More staff?  More volunteers?  Billboards all over town?  Television commercials?  Direct mail to every family in your city?

All of these are helpful...but they are not the best way to grow your children's ministry.

The best way...WORD OF MOUTH.

86% of people come to church because of a personal invitation.  If you want your children's ministry to grow...get the kids and families in your ministry to start talking.

Make your ministry worth talking about.  When a family has a great experience, they will tell other families about it.  Raise the excellence of your ministry and the natural result will be families talking about it.  And the natural result of families talking will be new families.

Create a culture of invest and invite.  Every week at the end of the kid's service, we have an empty chair on stage.  We take time to share that the empty chair represents our friends who do not attend church.  We ask the kids to pray for and invite one friend to come with them the next week.

Teach families to invest in relationships with unchurched families.  This will give them an open door to invite these families to church.  Remember...you get what you emphasize.

Provide invite tools.  Create simple invite cards that kids and families can use to invite their friends.  Make them available every week.

Let kids and families know about special "invite opportunities."  Events like fall festivals, Christmas services, family events, etc. are great opportunities for kids and families to invite others.  Highlight these opportunities.

Word of mouth...it's the best way to grow your children's ministry.  Get people talking and you will grow.

What do volunteers really want?  A position?  Applause?  A place to connect?  

What volunteers really want is purpose.  They want to know what they are doing truly is significant.  They want to know what they do really does matter.      

Invite them to the purpose.  Move beyond just inviting them to a program...invite them to the purpose.  Before you invite them to a role, invite them to the purpose.  Precede the invite to a task with an invite to the purpose.

People are starving for a purpose.  Invite to the purpose and you will assemble a dynamic team fueled by the purpose.

Infuse the purpose continuously.  Put the purpose in writing so everyone can see it.  Talk about the purpose when you have training.  Keep the purpose at the forefront of everything you do.  Keep refilling the purpose tank...keep it topped off. 

Include stories.  Share stories that demonstrate the purpose is being accomplished.  Celebrate evidence of the purpose being fulfilled.