RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Would you like to see the kids in your ministry reach out and bring their unchurched friends to church?  Here's a strategy that we recently used that resulted in over 220 guests coming in one weekend.

#1 - Three weeks out we begin promoting a special invite weekend to the kids who attend our church.

#2 - For two weeks we gave our kids invite cards they could use to invite their friends at school, in their neighborhood and on their sports teams (see example below).  We spent time praying with them for the friends they would be inviting.

#3 - We strategically positioned the special weekend two weeks after school started back so our kids could invite their new classmates.

#4 - We gave every child who attended a free gift
(glow necklace).

#5 - Children who brought a guest were invited to attend an after party with their guests and parents.  It was held immediately after the service.  We had a special gift for them and their guests at the after party.  The after party was a great way for our staff and volunteers to spend a few minutes meeting and connecting with the guests.

#6 - We had a special glow-in-the-dark lesson that shared the Gospel.  Email me if you'd like a copy of the lesson.  Hundreds of kids responded to the Gospel and asked to take a next step.  We don't lead kids in a salvation prayer during the service, but point them to a class they attend with their parents.  You can read more about that here.

#7 - We followed up with each child/family who attended.  You can read more about how we follow up here.  We have seen lots of kids and their parents return.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

INVITE CARD

Yesterday I had the joy of teaching both elementary services at our new Port St. Lucie campus.  Teaching kids is one of my first loves in children's ministry and I cherish it every time the opportunity arises.

Kids are so open and receptive to God's Word. I truly believe the heart of a child is the most fertile soil you can invest in.  Given the choice between teaching kids and adults, I'd choose teaching kids every time.

After teaching kids for the past 32 years, I still have much room for improvement and growth.  Today's kids are not the kids of the 1980's or even the early 2000's.  I must constantly be evaluating how I am teaching and looking for ways to more effectively connect with kids. 

One way you can do this is to ask yourself some key questions after each lesson you teach. Here are 10 questions to ponder after teaching.

1. Was my lesson grounded in God's Word?  Scripture must be the original source and inspiration for our lesson...it should emanate from God's Word.  Cultural relevance is not the starting point.  Lessons should not be inspired by a movie, trend or the latest fad.  These things should simply be tools to illustrate the truth of God's Word and not visa versa. 

2. Are the kids able to clearly state one key truth they learned?  Can the kids walk out and repeat from memory one, simple key truth that has been embedded in their long term memory.  More about how to do this at this link.

3. Did I help the kids apply the truth to their everyday life?  Information without application = stagnation.  Did I take time to show the kids how they can live out the truth this week.  

4. How many stories did I tell?  Kids (actually, all of us) are captivated by stories.  Jesus knew this and much of His teaching was done through stories. 

5. How many times did the kids look away?  When kids disengage, they look away and it means you lost their attention.  How many times did this happen?  Why did it happen?  How can I tweak those parts of my teaching to keep it from happening?

6. Did I allow the kids to talk and interact?  How much did I lecture?  This is the least effective way to teach.  Did I give the kids spans of time to talk and interact during the lesson?  Here are some ways to improve this.

7. Did I communicate visually?  Today's kids hear with their eyes.  How many opportunities did I give them to hear the lesson by using visual images? 

8. Did I honor the kids' attention span?  I had about 1 minute to talk for every year of their age (maxing out at 5 minutes) before doing something different.  Did I talk longer than that?

9. Did I use simple words that were easy for them to understand?  Did I go over their heads with words like justification, redemption and other complicated Christianese terms?

10. Did I give the kids any next steps coming out of the lesson?  Did they walk out knowing what to do next with what I taught them?  Will I be able to track what they did with it?  Follow up with them? 

Your turn.  The floor is yours.  What are some other questions we should ask ourselves after teaching kids?  Share your comments with everyone in the comment section below.