By Daniel Im: Like anything in life, trends come and go. Fads become popular and soon pass. Kids ministry is not immune to popular trends. Media-driven ministry is popular one day and group ministry is popular the next. Fortunately, there is one ministry that started as a trend but is here to stay. Gospel-centrality has been a critical focal point in kids ministry. Ministry leaders have captured the vision that kids understand the gospel in a profound way with urgency. It is key for ministry leaders help children understand the gospel as one big story about God, not just grooming the kids to become Pharisees. Gospel-centric ministries have grown and are sticking, which is good news for churches.

The Gospel Project for Kids is a resource for churches that creates a chronological sequence to educate children about the Bible. It helps church leaders understand where each story points to the cross. This is the flagship of gospel centrality for LifeWay Kids and is a great starting point for churches.

Advice to Pastors

Kids ministry is really hard work. You have to build and train an army of volunteers that serve faithfully. Although kids ministers get into kids ministry because they love kids, the reality is that they work with adults more than they work with kids. This means reaching both parents and volunteers. In order to do this effectively, pastors need to partner with kids ministers to capture the parents and help them realize the need to disciple their children at home. Kids ministers need the whole church to rally behind the idea.

The best formula for effective family ministry is to involve the entire family by having healthy, intertwined relationships in the approach to ministry. The most important thing we can do in the lives of kids now that will make a difference in their lives later is to help kids read the Bible. Help children grow in their biblical literacy throughout their childhood into adulthood. Prioritize the importance of focusing on Scripture.

Path to Success

One way for a church to be successful in kids ministry is by having a gospel-centric focus. Don’t make the games and activities the starting point. God’s Word is the transformational factor of kids ministry, not sports. It’s also important to maximize the time with kids and equip parents to maximize their time teaching the kids the Bible.

Another key to success is to develop church leaders and pour into them. You need godly men and women who are going to consistently serve with you. They need to see the same face to enable trust within children. Build up a consistent leadership team to pour into the lives of kids. Develop relationships among the leaders serving in kids ministry. Often, they are giving up times they could be serving with other adults. It’s important to create a small group feeling so that the adults serving kids are still in community with other adults.

Kids Ministry in Church Planting

There will be seasons in church planting where it is necessary for adults to be required to serve in kids ministry. In church plant cultures sometimes kids outnumber the adults. In situations like this, it can be a good idea to implement a required sign-up rotation for adults with children in kids ministry for a season. The goal is to cast the vision of how important kids ministry is. It can be seen as a non-glamorous job amongst adults, but it is an important job for the lead pastor to set a culture that encourages adults to serve in church ministry. You are working toward a goal of not having to ask people to sign up. You want people who are standing in line to serve.

To read the remainder of the article, and to watch the full Behind-the-Scenes video, click here.

This video is part of Plus Membership. To get full access to it, and much more, I encourage you to become a Plus Member. Click here to see all the benefits of becoming a Plus Member.

By Daniel Im: Q&A Webinars are a monthly segment designed for Plus Members to hear from leading experts in church planting, multisite, and multiplication. For this month’s segment, Ed and I talk with Brian Dembowzyk, the Managing Editor of The Gospel Project and author of Gospel-Centered Kids Ministry.

Thriving Parents = Thriving Kids Minister

Biblically, parents are called to be the primary disciplers of their kids. However, many parents feel unequipped to do so. Many books and guides offer ways to help equip parents disciple their kids. Among these books is Cornerstone, written by Brian Dembowczyk to equip parents to serve as the spiritual heads of the household, as well as providing a framework to equip kids ministers to disciple children.

One of the best ways to equip parents to disciple their kids is by not putting a time frame on discipleship. Allow yourself to move through a guided study like Cornerstone organically with your kids. Brian shares that this will create a more natural transition into discipleship conversations.

Framework for Kids Ministry

When developing a kids ministry, you have to start with the right philosophy. First, you have to develop a vision. The philosophy needs to reveal what the kids ministry is going to accomplish. Every ministry of the church should share the same vision and philosophy, expressed uniquely through each ministry.

When beginning a kids ministry, it is important to establish what your ministry is trying to accomplish with the time span that you have the kids, from birth to youth ministry. What are you responsible for helping parents do during that season? The following three questions build the framework for kids ministry:

1. Are we teaching them the gospel?
2. Is the gospel transforming them?
3. Are we releasing them into mission?

These three things happen in order, so it’s important to focus on first teaching kids the gospel. It’s easy to turn kids ministry into child care/babysitting. Brian suggests that your philosophy should be engagement rather than gospel culture and mission. It would be wise to plant a kids ministry in a church plant. You have to start with a vision for kids ministry, rather than jumping into the curriculum.

Avoid Turning Kids Ministry into Child Care

This is a common problem in churches, and it’s important to acknowledge this issue before planting a church. Like plumbing, water always falls to the lowest level. If you aren’t intentional about kids ministry, it will fall. There are things that can help avoid this cycle.

First, start with vision. Get into the hearts and minds of the adults. We have been entrusted as stewards of our kids. As a church, we are entrusted as stewards of the children of our church. This is a problem worth addressing and fighting for.

To read the remainder of this article and to watch the full video with Brian Dembowczyk, click here for the full post.

This video is part of Plus Membership. To get full access to it, and much more, I encourage you to become a Plus Member. Click here to see all the benefits of becoming a Plus Member.

 

By Stephanie McGraw:

If you’re a parent and ministry worker, you know how hard it can be to juggle the responsibilities of family and church. On one hand, you have your church family who looks to you for spiritual guidance and wisdom, and on the other, you have your family at home who needs their parent’s attention, love, and support.

At times, the Lord may call you to do brave and courageous things such as planting a church in a new city, far, far away from home. Or leaving your church familiarity to help launch a new campus in an unfamiliar location. Question is, how do you make the decision to go, and if you do, what effect will this have on your children?

Growing up, my family moved around quite a bit due to my father’s job. I can recollect several “end of the world” meltdowns as a young child all the way through early adolescence. What may seem like a logical and even noble decision as a parent does not always appear that way to a child. Looking back at my experience, I am grateful. Though I did not always enjoy the constant moving around, the lessons I learned along the way are invaluable.

The truth of the matter is that moving can be hard on children, but it can be beneficial for them, too.

For those who are moving their families due to ministry callings, such as church planting and launching a multisite campus, there is a great opportunity to plant a foundational understanding of what it means to be on mission for a Kingdom cause.

What effects does church planting have on kids?

We recently received this question from Joshua Maciel on our NewChurches.com Plus Membership Community on Facebook. In addition to getting full access to the ready-to-use resources, behind-the-scenes content, and Q&A webinars from leadership, multisite, and church planting experts, our Plus Members are also invited into an exclusive community of over 200 multipliers where you can get advice, wisdom, and prayer at any time.

Soon after Josh had posted his question, he received several responses from experienced planters who had similar concerns when they were moving their families. Many of them gave some extremely helpful and beneficial advice to Josh, as well as anyone else who is considering moving their families to plant a church or launch a new campus.

Here are some of the pieces of wisdom our Plus Members shared.

Cast a vision for your children.

One of our members shared how he cast a vision for his kids first. He invited them into the conversation and mission. He said, “They all bought in, got excited, and took on responsibilities.” Helping them understand why you are making the move is far more important than the what, when, and how.

Disciple your children before your church.

Planting a church or launching a campus is an honorable calling, but before you can care for the flock at church, you must care for those in your household. Help your kids see that you are doing this together and you need them just as much as they need you. By allowing them to serve alongside you, you are creating little disciples who have a deep sense and understanding of God’s mission and call.

Another member, Todd Korpi, wrote how church planting has engrained in his children a fundamental understanding of the church as a missional people, and taught them how serving is a foundational attribute of the Christian life.

“Start a youth out on his way;

even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Church planting can be a blessing to a family.

If God is calling your family to plant a church, it can be a great blessing to your kids. Planting is not for everyone, but if you are considering it, do so thoughtfully and prayerfully.

At NewChurches.com, we not only want to resource you on your mission, but we also want to walk alongside you, learn with you, and grow with you. We encourage you to become a Plus Member so you can gain access to our Facebook community and join the unique group of leaders who are all passionate about church multiplication for the glory of God.

Click here to see all the benefits of becoming a Plus Member.