Topics in Ministry

Articles about ministry situations or themes.

Teaching Children to Pray

Teaching children to pray is an important job for parents and church leaders. Even very young children can be taught the rudiments of prayer, such as bowing their heads, closing their eyes and speaking to God in simple phrases. As children grow, they can learn to pray more and more in accord with the big, overarching themes of the Bible. … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Baby Dedication: What Does Your Church Do?

Welcome to the latest session of the Children’s Ministry Think Tank. Grab some coffee, print off this post and put your thinking cap on. The aim is to get different perspectives and help everyone to learn (including me). Please read through the responses and share your own ideas in the comments. Think Tank #3 Questions About Baby Dedication What is … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Learning To Trust Your Children's Ministry Volunteers

One key to children’s ministry leadership is learning to trust your volunteers. In this post, I want to give you some practical tips to make that happen. First I want to remind you why trusting your people matters. The following is true for Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, and even VBS directors. What Happens When You Really Trust Your People … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Don't Miss the Gospel When Sharing Jesus With Kids

Recently I attended an event at another church for children. They had a special speaker who entertained the children with demonstrations of physical strength (breaking objects etc.) and then began to preach. He was good speaker and the children listened carefully to what he said. There was only one problem … He never really preached the Gospel. He told the … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Funny Job Requirements for Kids Pastors

There was a funny thread on the forums at CM Connect and I thought I would share some of it here. For the whole scoop, check out this comment thread on their site. Basically, they wanted to come up with some funny “job requirements” for children’s ministry. Here are a few of my favorites, feel free to come up with … More Children’s Ministry Resources

The Gospel In Colors – The Wordless Book

One of the best ways to share the Gospel with kids is the wordless book. It’s a series of colors that can be used to explain the Gospel. I was surprised to learn that many believe that Charles Spurgeon originated the wordless book idea. Later is was used by several early Evangelical Missionaries. You can find a good summary of it … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Thank You for Your Sacrifice (Printable Card)

We Thank God for You Printable

[click below to print from web or save the image file] Print this beautiful card to show honor & respect to Veterans (and anyone who sacrifices). Make it a Sunday School project to accompany their Bible lesson. You may also like our Pledge of Allegiance printable Honor Veterans Print the card above to use for Veterans Day. The kids in … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Sunday School Teacher Appreciation

It’s that time of year again. Depending on when your children promote to their new classes (I’ve heard of promotion occuring anywhere between June and September) your church is likely winding the current Sunday school year down. Your teachers are starting to reflect on the year that was – all of the good times, the hard times, and the crazy … More Children’s Ministry Resources

1/168: Children's Ministry Hours Per Week

I recently attended the Connecting Church and Home conference (read our live blog) back in March.  While there, I saw a man wearing a black t-shirt with white embroidered 1/168.  I was immediately intrigued by the small fraction.  Given the context of the conference, I figured it had something to do with student ministry.  My suspicions were confirmed when I … More Children’s Ministry Resources

What Is Your Church's Policy About Baptizing Children?

This post continues a new feature called Children’s Ministry Think Tank. The aim is to get different perspectives and help everyone to learn (including me). Please read through the responses and share your own ideas below. Think Tank #2 Questions About Baptism & Kids What is your church’s policy about baptizing kids? Is there any age absolutely too young? If … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Informed Parents Are Good For The Children's Ministry

One challenge of children’s minsitry is keeping parents up-to-date about all the things the kids are learning. I’ve heard of several approaches: Mailing a newsletter to parents Sending regular email to parents The weekly take-home flier Bulletin Boards Children’s Update in the worship bulletin All these can be good, but my favorite is the last one I listed. It takes … More Children’s Ministry Resources

How Do You Teach Kids To Be Saved?

think-childrens-ministry

This post launches a new feature called Children’s Ministry Think Tank. I have asked several friends in children’s ministry to join the project. About twice each month, I will email them tough questions and post their answers here on the website. My aim is to get different perspectives and help everyone to learn (including me).

Please read through the responses and share your own ideas below.

Think Tank Question #1

Jon is an 8 year old boy with little church background. He’s been coming to your children’s programs for several weeks. One day he sticks around and seems like he wants to talk. He says, “I don’t want to go to hell, how can I be saved?” How would you respond?

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Sending Missionaries To The Future

Last week I watched a documentary about my city. It included video footage from the early 1930s. Several clips showed children at local elementary schools lining up for school dismissal. These boys and girls had bright eyes and faces full of hope. Many of them looked familiar and I almost expected to see kids from my church mixed into the … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Forum: What To Get Ministry Volunteers For Christmas?

I recently sent out a special newsletter talking about gift ideas for Sunday School teachers and other children’s ministry workers. I want to get your ideas too. What gifts do you give out around your church? Leave a  comment below to share your thoughts.

Do You Get Discouraged In Children’s Ministry?

I want to make a confession, sometimes I feel discouraged about our children’s ministry. From an outsiders perspective it is anything but glamorous and sometimes it just feels like a Christian job. There are constant discouragements and I’ve wondered how people serve in children’s ministry decades after decade. For example: Your Ministry Can Change A Child’s Life If you’ve ever … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Sunday School Bulletin Board Ideas

I have always struggled to find good ideas for my church’s Sunday school bulletin board. The default mode is to post the latest crafts, but a well-decorated bulletin board can be a good way to keep your children’s ministry area interesting. Here are a few web resources that offer free Sunday school bulletin board ideas. Bulletin Board Ideas for Sunday … More Children’s Ministry Resources

6 Reasons Why You Should Serve In Children’s Ministry

children's ministry

In most churches, finding volunteers for children’s ministry is a constant struggle. Most children’s ministers spend hours recruiting for Sunday school, church nursery, vacation Bible school, and other ministry programs.This shouldn’t be the case. If people really understood the spiritual blessings of serving God’s kids, we would have to start a volunteer waiting list. Children’s Ministry is one of the … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Advice For A New Children’s Minister

This week, my friend Terry is starting his new ministry placement as a full time children’s pastor. I’m excited to see the work God will do, both in that church and in Terry’s life. Here are some practical tips I would offer to any new children’s minister. 1. Set aside a daily prayer time. This should be in addition to … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Why Does Children’s Ministry Matter?

We all know that kids matter to God, but what else can we say about the importance of children’s ministry. Here is my attempt to spell it out in detail. 68 Reasons Why Children’s Ministry Matters: 14 Ways Children’s Ministry Helps Kids 8 Ways Children’s Ministry Helps Families 24 Ways Children’s Ministry Helps The Church 8 Ways Children’s Ministry Helps … More Children’s Ministry Resources

What To Do When Your Volunteers Are Worn Out?

Something begins to happen in our Wednesday night program every spring. Our volunteers start to get run down. Worse than that – I start to feel tired of the program too. I’m guessing this is typical for children’s ministry programs. The school year has its own rhythm and life cycle. Fall is constant energy. Kids are making new friends and … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Saying Goodbye To My Foster Girls

Update: The girls came back and left again, then came back a third time! We’ve been able to adopt the younger of the two and the older has aged out of foster care. Still praying! This morning, I took our two foster girls home. We’ve had them since November, but driving away from their mom’s house it seemed like much … More Children’s Ministry Resources

Kids Ministry Outreach: Searching For Lost Lambs

credit: ++ In a few minutes, I’ll head out for some afternoon evangelistic visits. Today, I’ll be making the rounds in a nearby trailer park. Our ministry serves several lower income children from that neighborhood. These kids often come on the bus, and their parents almost never come with them. I don’t get out there very often, four times each … More Children’s Ministry Resources