As leaders in children’s ministry, we have a lot in common! We love God, love kids, and cherish much of our time in ministry. And in order for us to continue growing, it’s important that we set up thinking habits that help us stay focused on what matters. We face a lot in this ministry and at times it’s really easy for us to become discouraged in our work. It’s important that develop habits that help us through the discouragement and keep us focused on the mission we’re called to. Will these thinking habits solve all of your problems? No way! But keeping your mind on the right things is so imp ..read more

We want the right people serving so that our kids can come to know, love, and follow Jesus. Recruiting volunteers is one of the greatest challenges as a children’s ministry leader. What would our recruiting look like if we began to invite instead of beg, place instead of assign, and pray instead of hope? Here are 7 ideas to help you get better at recruiting! 7 Ideas for Recruiting Volunteers 1. Relate, Don’t Simply Recruit As we all know, ministry happens best through the context of relationships. So, connecting to people should be a top priority when recruiting. When relationships are in pl ..read more

As leaders, we know the importance of equipping volunteers. But in addition to equipping our volunteers, it’s equally important that we invest in their leadership development. Leadership development isn’t an instant investment. Many times, it requires months or years. However long it takes, its impact is transformational for the leader and for our ministries. Two things typically cause us to delay investing in volunteer leadership development: time and resources. Many times, we just don’t know where or how to begin. Here are 5 ways to get started. However long it takes, its impact is transfor ..read more

Are you busy? Or maybe even addicted to being busy? Beating busyness is not easy, especially today. As we interact with children’s ministry leaders, we are often confronted with the idea of busyness. There’s a lot to do in children’s ministry! In fact, we would say that the children’s ministry handles the most details, volunteers, and movement within a church’s ministry. But we, the leaders of children’s ministry, should rarely find ourselves consumed with busyness. Of course, there are times when many things just must get done and we are overly busy. But these should be the exception, not the ..read more

E-VAL-U-ATE: To judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of. Evaluating your children’s ministry is one of those things that can be tedious, time consuming, and certainly not very glamorous, but so necessary to the success of your ministry. And the reality is that the evaluation of your ministry is happening constantly, whether you have an active and intentional evaluation system in place or not. Who evaluates children’s ministries? Children Did you realize that the kids in your ministry evaluate what’s happening every week? And many times, they choose, whether subconsciously o ..read more

Dear Children’s and Family Ministry Leader, We’re here to remind you just how much you matter! Remember that you are important, and what you do is important. You Matter You are important to kids in your church.  As you work to create environments that welcome and engage kids, you make space for God’s Word to take root. As you present the gospel to children, you share the good news of Jesus that forever changes lives. You are important. And as you make sure kids are safe—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—you are caring for God’s little children. You are reminding them of t ..read more

With all the things on our to-do lists, it can be really hard to decide what is most important in our children’s ministries. Whether deciding on priorities for programming or volunteer training, there’s just so much to do. But there is one practice that should come above everything else. Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Matthew 2 ..read more

All of us make decisions every day. We make little ones, big ones, and some in between. And sometimes the ministry decisions we make are life-changing decisions. Here are 3 decisions you won’t regret as a children’s ministry leader. First and foremost, take the time each day to spend time with Jesus. Without Him, we can’t grow in the ways that we need to. Supporting Your Senior Leadership If you can begin your ministry with a strong mentor, we highly recommend it. And if this person is part of your senior leadership, that’s even better! It’s such a gift to have the support of your senior lea ..read more

This article was transcribed from portions of the Ministry Spark Webinar: Known, Loved, and Led: Helping Children Know Who They Were Created to Be with speaker Courtney Wilson. You can watch the full webinar here. When we minister to young children, we may not always see the end of the story. At the end of the day, what I can tell you is that I taught God’s Word. I testified to the good news of God’s grace. I taught the whole will of God. I come from Iowa, but my parents were from small, farming communities in Iowa. And my dad had this big giant family with seven brothers and sist ..read more

Easter is approaching fast! Easter weekend can be a wonderful time in the world of Children’s Ministry, but it can also be really hard. It’s typically one of the highest-attended weekends of the year, which means it comes with extra weight. Hosting lots of visitors comes with high ministry expectations—not to mention lots of pressure! But it’s also really exciting. So how can you prepare your heart for Easter? Are there things you can do to get your ministry ready and alleviate some of the pressure? Yes! 5 Things Your Ministry Can Do to Prepare for Easter 1. Advance Planning for Easter Hopeful ..read more