RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

There's a silent killer of Children's Ministries.  What is it?  SILENCE!

Watch out for these silent killers...

Silent kids.  Kids learn more by talking and interacting than they do by listening.  Your classrooms should be noisy places.  Train your leaders to stop saying, "Sit still and be quiet" and to start saying, "Let's talk about this together."  And...make sure you choose a curriculum that is written in that style.

Silent volunteers.  If you're not getting feedback from volunteers, you're either not asking for it or they don't feel the freedom to share it.  Open up the lines of communication.

Silent guests.  One of the best ways to improve your ministry is by getting feedback from first-time guests.  Create simple tools that guests can use to give you feedback about their visit. 

Silent parents.  If parent's aren't talking with their kids during the week about what they learned on Sunday, then kids' spiritual growth will be stagnate.  Provide tools and pathways for parents to disciple their kids and emphasize it constantly.

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.

Social Parent is a new app that helps families socially plan.  It connects families with other families they routinely interact with.

The app was developed for today's families who are on the go and often have unexpected planning needs.  Whether it's a soccer group, church activity, or school event, the app helps families plan and connect.

Other tools include photo streams, easy planning tools, local recommendations and alerts, and common interest groups.

You can download the free app through iTunes or at www.socialparent.com.