Articles about ministry situations or themes.
I was working on reviewing some curriculum the other day for Dad in the Middle, and I needed to come up with some sort of framework for evaluating it. I came up with the following and thought it might be useful for other people. Whether you are writing curriculum reviews or just searching for a curriculum for your children’s ministry, … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Let’s just be honest here. Most kids ministry volunteers don’t get the kind of training they need to be effective. Time after time, churches learn this the hard way. But have you ever asked what message are you sending to those workers? Here are 5 things they will learn if you do not train them. The church only cares about … More Children’s Ministry Resources
At my church, we use Awana for our Wednesday night program. My nine year old son started in Sparks a little over four years ago now, and my seven year old daughter started in Cubbies at the same time when she was three. We have watched them memorize a multitude of verses during that time, and I’ve picked a few … More Children’s Ministry Resources
I realized a couple of weekends ago that I had stopped praying each week before kids’ service. It wasn’t a conscience decision, just something that happened in the hustle and bustle of the weekend. I realized that when I stopped praying that coincided with those weeks that I didn’t feel went very well after they were over. That got me … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This is a guest post by Sue Miller as part of Orange Week. Orange is a strategy of bringing the church (yellow) and families (red) together to reach the next generation. If you’re new to Orange, you should click here to learn more. I spent some time recently with a group of leaders talking about children’s ministry. They were sharing … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This is a guest post by Reggie Joiner as part of Orange Week. Orange is a strategy of bringing the church (yellow) and families (red) together to reach the next generation. If you’re new to Orange, you should click here to learn more. What About Halloween? Here are a few stats about Halloween: An estimated 47 percent of household consumers decorate … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Children’s ministry volunteers are the precious jewels of your ministry, the force that keeps the vision moving forward. Unfortunately, at some point in your ministry, you will likely experience a volunteer shortage or some in cases a drought of willing hands. A lack of these cherished volunteers can put a strain on your first string, tried and true helpers and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
I do not work in the preschool ministry at my church. My time and efforts are geared towards kids kindergarten and above. That said, we do have a great team who does handle the nursery and preschool ages. I know that because my kids have been through the program and I have seen the fruits of these efforts. Last night, … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Does your church welcome children with special needs? That is a question that many kids ministry leaders should be asking. It’s also the topic of our very first podcast. It took a little more work than I expected, but the end result is a very helpful conversation about welcoming special needs children into your church. The guest for this podcast … More Children’s Ministry Resources
A few years back I stumbled across a blog called “Children’s Ministry and Culture.” It covered the important news and cultural trends that influence children’s ministry. The main writer behind that effort was Larry Shallenberger. I’ve never met him, but I expect I will one day. A few weeks back, Larry announced his ministry role was transitioning away from children’s ministry. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
You’ll love these clean church jokes I found in my email. I’m sure they’ve been floating around the Internet for a while, but several were new to me. I’m not always a fan of Christian jokes or church humor, but these made me smile. I’m posting them just in case you need a little laugh this morning. Click here for … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Traditional Sunday School has fallen on hard times. Some churches are changing focus, while others are just losing out to pillow time. Whatever the reasons, low attendance is a big discouragement to Sunday School teachers. Maybe you’ve seen this first hand. You work hard to prepare a relevant, kid friendly, biblical faithful lesson. You arrive early to set up the … More Children’s Ministry Resources
What follows is a bulletin insert I created for my church. I wanted to write out some benefits of Sunday School attendance as an encouragement for families. I kept the list simple so it would print on a half sheet of paper. Directions: Simply click on the preview image to download this file as a printer friendly PDF. I’ve also … More Children’s Ministry Resources
This post is a playful way to make a point. I wrote it as an open letter to all pastors on behalf of all kids ministry leaders. It is inspired by true events and stories I’ve heard from the world of kids ministry. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dear Pastor, We need … More Children’s Ministry Resources
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of god and knows God.” I John 4:7 In schools across America, every teacher’s goal is to help each child become the most successful they can be in the classroom. Sometimes a child has special needs which require them to receive extra help. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
As with any object lesson, this is not a perfect representation of salvation. The idea here is to further a child’s understanding of what Christ does with our hearts when we believe in Him and accept Him as our Savior. Originally written for preschoolers, this lesson can be tailored to any age group depending on your depth of discussion. Who … More Children’s Ministry Resources
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 to memorize your lesson, and … More Children’s Ministry Resources
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 also find much more information … More Children’s Ministry Resources
With all the content on our website, it can be easy for new readers to miss some great articles. In this post I want to highlight some of our most encouraging writings. Like always, you can print these off to share with others and even publish them in your church newsletter. If you have a blog or church website, you have … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Are you looking for materials for your children’s Sunday School? Then you’ll love all the free resources we have posting and linked on our website. Here is a collection of our most popular resources to get you started. New Materials for Sunday School Need something else? Then, use the search feature in the right sidebar or browse our table of … More Children’s Ministry Resources
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 from Richard Baxter, and I … More Children’s Ministry Resources
In a previous post, I described the spiritual dangers for overly religious kids. I was writing about kids who get too much church and not enough relationship with Jesus. Most of the comments from that post were supportive and agreed with my assessment. Many readers saw a connection with being over-churched and giving up on church as teenagers. That makes this issue even … More Children’s Ministry Resources
A top concern for most kids pastors is reaching the children in their communities who do not attend church. These unchurched kids simply don’t know much about the Bible. Often they have a mixed up version of Jesus gathered from TV shows. Before they can give their lives to Him, they need a basic introduction to the Good News. On … More Children’s Ministry Resources
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 knew? In other … More Children’s Ministry Resources