I just walked out to plug in our old diesel church bus for its weekly mission trip around our town. Big Blue is beautiful but starting to show her age. This church has been running a bus ministry longer than I’ve been alive. We all know that longevity is not the test of a ministry’s value, so it’s good to re-think the pros and cons every so often.
Positives of Church Bus Ministry
- Kids come to our programs that otherwise would not. Bottom line, more children are coming to hear the gospel. About 30% of our Wednesday night kids come from the bus ministry.
- Our church is visible in neighborhoods where we have no members. Like many churches, most of our people come from the stable long-term neighborhoods of our city. The apartments and trailer parks, with their more transient populations, house almost none of our church members.
- It keeps our people outreach minded. Our volunteers get to know un-churched kids up close through this outreach ministry. We are constantly seeing new faces that remind us of the many children who are not active in church.
- It doesn’t cost much since we already own the bus and use volunteer maintenance.
- It opens new ways for people to serve. The bus ministry volunteers are pure gold.
Negatives of Church Bus Ministry
- Reaching parents is a problem. Very few churches, ours included, have really figured out how to get the families of our bus kids involved in our church.
- Bus discipline is a constant struggle. There are some frantic moments for the bus monitors; it takes special people to keep 25 excited kids safely in their seats.
- We reinforce poor parenting habits. We preach parental responsibility, but contradict it by picking up these kids while their parents stay home.
- The kids from the bus route are often our most disruptive.
- We see very few conversions. Bus kids are often very open to the Gospel, but we don’t see much long-term fruit. This may be because they move away or because the home environment counteracts what we teach.
- There are safety risks. Any child waiting for the bus after dark makes me nervous.
So what about you? Does your church run a bus ministry? Are the pros and cons I listed here a fair assessment?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I would say that this is a fairly good list of pros and cons. I am a driver for my church’s bus program. With our program a huge pro is that it allows the children to see that the hopeless situations that are going on in their home life don’t have to dictate their future, and that they can make a change in their life, and it shows them that people really do care about them.
A con though at my church is that it has been around so long that the church has stopped getting involved. We are down to a handful of workers. Any ideas on how to recruit new workers and create a passion in the church for the Bus program?
Elizabeth – One of the hardest things in Children’s ministry is “maintaining” an existing program. It seems like things must always be moving forward with a new vision.
Here are some quick thoughts:
1. Pray for God’s support.
2. Share stories with the church that talk about the value of the ministry.
3. Find a bus ministry “evangelist” who will constantly remind the church how important and awesome a chance to reach some of these kids.
Could anyone help me know what a bus program is and how to go about setting up a nine week bus program with weekly promotions? Must do this for Bible College project and am up against a wall. Thanks
Kate I may be able to help you. I transport 200-300 riders a week to different churches. From pickel eating contest with whipcream on top…to basketball on the bus…Icecream…trips fishing…roller skating…bring a guest for a dollar/ more guest two dollars. Mr Ronnie.
With all the pro’s and con’s that are present, this one thing I would like to say, it is worth the cost. Matt. 22:9, Luke14:23. Plainly tells us to go and bring them in. Always remember that the rewards are out of this world. Jesus loves the little children.
While there are pro’s and con’s what I have found interesting is that these are some of our most faithful kids. Many of the children we pickup aren’t really involved in anything outside of school and this provides them with a positive influence. Management is tough but I think it is worth it to sow some seeds.
With reference to the first negative in your list – how to reach the parents. We have found that the only real successful way to bring these parents in is to involve the children in the sunday service at Christmas, Easter and other special events. Eg. Kids singing a song, doing a poem or reading, receiving an attendance prize – whatever. Parents, grandparents, aunties & uncles will go to church to see their kids on stage. Sneaky – but it works!!!!
I came to this article through a discussion on the bus ministry from a message board I frequent. This article intrigued me, because I was a bus kid. I know I was a handful. I was being raised by my dad at the time, because our mother left. Dad used the bus ministry as a free babysitter I’m sure. But if it hadn’t been for the bus I would have never heard about or come to accept Christ. Eventually my dad did join us at church and accepted Christ also. Though I left church after I moved out of the house those seeds were planted and they would pick at my conscious. I eventually came back to God and I’m now actively involved in my church. My husband and I are raising our kids in church and for the Lord. My brothers and sister came to Christ through the bus ministry also. I just want to encourage the bus workers. You are planting seeds that will stay with those children forever. You may not see the results yourself but you are touching more lives than you know. I know it feels like your throwing rocks into a pond and there just sinking to the bottom. But they are sending ripples in the water that just keep going beyond what you can see. God sees it though. Yes bus kids can be a rough bunch but I’m so grateful that some one took the time to run one, so I could know about Jesus.
You will never know how much your post was needed today. (almost exactly 1 year later) amazing isn’t it? My church has a bus ministry that I am involved in. Wed. night was probably one of the worst nights ever. We have been picking kids up for about 3 years. After Wed. I was just about ready to say forget it. How can we teach these kids anything when we can’t even keep them under some sort of control? I was encouraged by your testimony…please pray for all the bus workers and teachers. I know that the devil does not like us showing the children a better way of life. God Bless you!
I really agree with the pros and cons of the bus ministry. This is what is going on with my route. It’s somewhat hard to reach the parents. And we don’t know what kind of discipline they are getting at home, so it’s also difficult to control some of them. But the best thing we can do is pray. Another thing that is lacking in our buses is teenagers. I think we focus the games and prizes on the kids more, and teens aren’t into that. So they think church is boring. They don’t sit up and pay attention, and that can lead to more problems. That has been an issue on our routes lately. I think if we had a balance of the Bible, not just in the classes, but on the bus as well, and teach the kids that the are there for God and the Bible, not for the candy. And to make sure they’re saved. Beacause if we spend all this time trying to reach them, and they die and go to hell, our labor was in vain. So, that is our main goal in the bus ministry, and any children’s ministry for that matter. It may be struggles and stress along the way, but it will be worth it all.
fair. I started a Bus Ministry 4 years ago. With God’s help, our average this year is @ 44. (in a city of 5,000) Our staff is crazy! Our kids are crazy! We are radical about what we do. we run tons of good promotions, We have even done a float in the parade in our city the past 2 years. I think the whole key is to just stay excited. I have had to turn some help away because we have more than enough. another key is to always stay positive. No matter what. I’m interested in learning more about how everyone runs their Bus Ministries. -God bless
I’ve never done a bus ministry, but I have done attractional ministry for years. But that is changing for me. One of the things I am doing is going to the parents and their families where they live and doing life with them. Sure, we will continue to do occasional events on campus and have children’s ministries, including bringing kids from the neighborhood to our church on Sundays. But unless parents get to know us as real people, they aren’t going to have much motivation to check out our church, despite any interest their children might have. I seem to remember Jesus telling his disciples to go and make disciples. Evangelical churches largely try to get people to come to them. Where I live, it just doesn’t work anymore. So, I am learning to go to them. It’s really quite liberating. Just a thought.
Kids for jesus ministry is a buzz word in our area. If you would be interested in starting a bus ministry contact me at ronnieaiton@hotmail.com From 6 children to 400 kids. Hang on tight expect the unexpected.
Training workers is a necessity.Read 2 Timothy 2:2.Ask the most experienced workers to ride the bus and visit with the newer workers.There is a real need for the bus ministry to get passed on to the next generation.The older workers need to look at it as a legacy that must be passed on.This is one of the main reasons bus ministries die or become ineffective.God Bless
My husband and I run the bus ministry in a very little town of 20,000. When we started we had 10 kids coming a year later we have grown to an average of 35. Being a bus worker is such a blessing. At my church we also have trouble getting other members involved in the bus ministry. We even have an excellent visitation program, but never receive any prospects from the visitation program, It is very frustrating. But like I stated earlier It is such a wonderful blessing to be able to bring in God’s children into church. We need to remember “suffer not the little children to come unto me”.