Church Nursery

When organizing a gospel centered children’s ministry, one area that often gets overlooked is the nursery. In the nursery its all too easy to get caught up in the needs of the morning – who’s crying, who needs to be fed, who’s diaper needs changing, etc. These are all crucial tasks, but sometimes in the midst of all the need meeting, we forget the biggest need – we forget the hearts of the babies and our own

You walk to the door carrying your most treasured possession–your child. You’ve decided to give the nursery a try. You want your little one to receive ministry at his level and you can’t wait to soak in the church worship service—it’s been a long week! However, when you open the door (that you have a hard time finding) you aren’t greeted by anyone. The staff appears busy, too busy for one more child. You slowly back out

You love attending church but dread the nursery tug-of-war with your toddler. She likes going to daycare and even likes the occasional Mom’s Day Out program; however, come Sunday, she’s not a happy camper. Who knows why but this phenomena happens at churches every week. Teary-eyed Moms and Dads (been there guys, I understand) hope for the best but experience the worst, often leaving a screaming child behind only to be paged in 10 to 20 minutes.

Nursery ministry is so special. What a joy to minister to little ones the love and peace of God! One of the most important things we can hope for in a church nursery is a holy peace. That doesn’t mean babies won’t cry and parents won’t agonize over leaving their babies behind, even for a few hours. However, you can offer a place of quiet and peace that both kids and adults will enjoy. Create a peaceful

In just a short time we’ll be welcoming our new baby. Here are a few steps I’m taking to get our ministry ready for my time away from the office. If you’ve had a similar experience, we would love to hear how you got ready. Leave a comment below to share your story with other readers. 1.  Identify everything that needs to be done before you go and while you are out.  Make a list.  Well, probably

New mamas are the epitome of the nervous parent.  Often the church nursery is the first place where they release their precious little one to someone else.  They are torn between desperately wanting to go be a grown up and guilt of being away from their little one.  By recognizing their apprehension, we have the opportunity in the church nursery to address the questions that are weighing on new mothers’ minds. 1.  Can I trust these workers?

This is a simple flyer to hang up around your church. It reminds members to say thanks to the church nursery volunteers. After all, the are serving the most important guests each Sunday. Click on the image to the right to download as a printable PDF document. You can also save the jpeg image. Some churches might want to insert this image into their weekly bulletin. Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. This

Philippians 4:19 tells us that our God will “meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  What an awesome verse.  Did you notice that it said “ALL” your needs?  Do you think this even means your need for nursery workers? If we believe that God provides for the needs of His church, then we should expect every church has people called to minister in the nursery. Here are some groups that we have

Besides being safe for kids, the church nursery should be a vibrant, colorful, kid-friendly area. The nursery is no place for “untouchable” furniture or decorations; it needs to have lots of touchable textures that are easy to clean. A tough prescription you say? Not really. Decorate the church nursery with your kids in mind. Take a kids’ eye view before getting started with your decorating plans. Add your safety knowledge and you’ll have a winner! You may

The church nursery isn’t meant to be the “crying zone.” You know the place–where parents and children tearfully part for a few hours during service. The church nursery can be the most popular place in the church, at least amongst the children. Be ready for faith-filled action by providing upbeat activities for the kids in your care. Activities will allow children to learn about God and be entertained so that Mom and Dad can enjoy all the

The church nursery is the place for sharing fun, faith-filled moments–not lice. Head lice or “Pediculous humanus,” only live on the heads of people. Pets have fleas, kids have lice. Not only do parents have to worry about the creepy, itchy bugs but their sticky eggs called nits too. Lice don’t hop–they are transferred head to head when kids put their noggins together. They can also be contacted by using someone else’s hair brushes or borrowing a

The church nursery is a fast-paced, fun place to work and minister to little children. Unlike other ministries, you can’t get just get by with whatever is on hand. You won’t have time to track down important materials and keep an eye on busy hands. You should ask yourself this question, “What supplies do I need in a church nursery?” While most nursery supply lists will contain much of the same needs, your ministry may be a

A growing church nursery can become messy quickly. Anyone who has ever entertained a toddler or two knows that little ones can keep you on the run. Who has time to stop and tidy up the place when it is time for ministry? With the right procedures in place, you can control the mess and insure that your nursery ministry is a safe place for infants. Parents and grandparents will feel better about leaving their kids in

This guest post was written by Wanda Parker, the founder of KidTrek. Too often the church nursery is thought of as “only childcare.” What if it come be something more? What if the infant and toddler ministry was a prototype for the rest of your children’s ministry? If you want to take today’s child to the place where he will be a Christ-changed, hope-filled, productive adult we must begin in the nursery. To start, both men and

Your church nursery can have a bigger impact on church growth than you realize.  When young families visit your church usually the first place they stop is at the nursery.    A visitor’s first impression of your church may be what they observe in your nursery.  Your volunteers may be the first church members they meet.  A young family’s experience with the nursery may be a large contributor to their decision to stay at your church or to

I found this funny video on YouTube about the real heroes who serve in the church nursery every week. It looks like a video clip produced to encourage church members but you might just forward it to your nursery volunteers. I could also imaging showing it in your next early childhood ministry training meeting. Click here to share it on Facebook. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzxt77Couc

It was inevitable.  If my husband or I dropped our son off in the church nursery, there would be blood curdling screaming, a clenching of every finger around our legs, and a domino effect with the other children in the room. Our nursery workers were equipped as superheroes with patience, prayer, determination, and compassionate care, yet still the battle of separation anxiety raged on.  Our son was resolved to never leave our sight ever in his entire

Children learn through play.  They’re naturals.  It’s us adults that sometimes need help!  We’ve forgotten how.  Plus it’s difficult to know how much babies and toddlers understand anyway. Next time you serve in the nursery, play with your own little tikes, or take care of children this age, use these developmental ages and stages as a guide to know how to play with them. 0-6 months:  Sensory Learners Infants absorb the world around them.  Their visual and

Use our free nursery schedule template when you create your next nursery volunteer schedule at church. This is an administrative task that few children’s ministers enjoy – but following our template and how-to guide will save you some hassle! 6 Steps To Update Your Nursery Schedule Template 1. Revise The Old Dates on Your Template I’ve moved to a 6-week rotation for our church nursery. I simply open the Word document on my computer and edit the

Here is a list of volunteer expectations that I have been using for our church nursery. We don’t have a formal church nursery worker manual, but these guidelines have several ideas for safety that move in the right direction. I do not use the term ‘job description’ in the document. We want our people to think of their work in the church nursery as a ministry or service to the Lord. Feel free to use these in