Wayne Stocks

Jesus.org – A New Tool for Answering Kids

August 27th by Wayne Stocks

As someone who has four kids and works in children’s ministry, there is one thing I have found to be true of (most) all kids – they ask questions! Many times they ask lots and lots and lots of questions. Sometimes they ask questions that we don’t know the answer to. In a children’s ministry [...]

Apologetics

10 Reasons To Still Do Vacation Bible School

August 23rd by Wayne Stocks

In churches across the nation, this year’s Vacation Bible School is quickly becoming a memory. There are many people out there who think that VBS is an outdated program whose time has come and gone. Fresh off of the excitement and exhaustion that is the controlled chaos that is VBS, here is my list of [...]

Vacation Bible School

Why I Don’t Want to Be Too Good at Kidmin

August 19th by Wayne Stocks

I saw a tweet the other day extolling the virtues of summer volunteers because they bring excitement and enough nervousness to rely on Jesus (thanks @mattguevara). That tweet set me thinking about my own approach to children’s ministry. I constantly talk about the need to be prepared, the need to invest the time, the need [...]

Children's Ministry Encouragement & Vision

Printable VBS Evaluation Forms

August 15th by Wayne Stocks

This is the time of year when churches all around the country are either wrapping up their VBS for this summer or getting their VBS in before the school year starts again. All the planning was done months ago, volunteers were recruited, supplies were purchased, skits were rehearsed, games were planned, and VBS went off [...]

Vacation Bible School

Kids Evangelizing Kids (and How We Can Stay Out of the Way)

August 8th by Wayne Stocks

If you haven’t heard yet, there is a free e-book called What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry in which 33 members of the children’s ministry community were asked to pick one word which describes what matters now in children’s ministry. That word selection is then explored further in 200-300 words chapters in the book. You can [...]

Children & Salvation

What’s the Deal with Seeds Family Worship?

July 27th by Wayne Stocks

I am a big fan of music. I do have one criteria when it comes to the music I choose to listen to though – it has to be good. That criteria applies to my kids’ music as well. If they want to listen to bad music when they are by themselves, that’s fine. But, [...]

Children's Worship Music

What’s the Proper Role of Children’s Ministry?

July 24th by Wayne Stocks

I will preface this post by saying that this is not a post with a whole lot of answers (to be properly read….none). Instead, this post focuses on a series of questions that have been bouncing around my head recently when it comes to teaching kids about God. I recently came across the following quote [...]

Children's Ministry Encouragement & Vision

The 7 Most Important Things You Can Tell A Child

July 22nd by Wayne Stocks

I find that it isn’t all that hard to talk to kids. They like to talk if you can find some common ground and explore something that really interests them. As children’s ministers, and as parents, though, there are things that they need to hear from us. Words are powerful things, and the tongue has [...]

Christian Parenting

7 Things Kids Wish Their Leaders Knew

July 17th by Wayne Stocks

A few weeks back, I had a chance to hang out with my two middle children – aged 7 and 9. We’ve had a few new leaders join our children’s ministry in the last several weeks, so during the course of that weekend, I asked them this question: What do you wish your leaders in [...]

Children's Ministry Leadership

The Importance of Worship Music for Kids

July 13th by Wayne Stocks

You’ve probably heard the saying, “He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.” Well, I’m here to tell you that I’m not even qualified to carry the bucket. I have a child with a similar lack of musical giftedness though, so I can still understand how my Heavenly Father can enjoy listening to me sing [...]

Children's Worship Music

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