Developing a Vision for Your Children’s Ministry

No one plants a tree and doesn’t expect it to grow.  You cultivate it.  You protect the tree from the blistering heat and the frigid blasts.  You jealously guard it keeping pests away. When the tree was dry and thirsty you watered it. Lastly you pruned it as it grew, coaxing the sapling with your shears.  You clipped sucker branches, strengthening the tree for growth in the right direction. Finally you created the tree you imagined when you first planted the sapling. This whole wonderful process began with your beginning vision. You planted the little tree thinking about the large tree it would become.  Maybe you thought about its cool shade and sweet fruit while you were planting it.
Your children’s ministry is like a young sapling, a baby tree.  It’s full of possibilities, full of potential.  It only needs you to do all things required to make it grow.  That starts with a vision.
Developing a vision for your children’s ministry is just like that process. You start with a vision and make corrections as you go.  You give sustenance and protection as needed to your ministry.  But even as you first begin to dug, you have a dream in your heart, a vision in your spirit.
What is it? That’s your vision!
Here are some practical steps you can take to developing your vision.

Developing Your Vision
Sit down with pen and paper. Write your vision.  Don’t worry about grammar or trying to sound spiritual.  Write down what you are trying to do.  Give yourself a whole page to do that.
Next look at what you’ve written.  Focus that page down to a paragraph.  Shave off everything not related to the direct vision. Finally whittle that paragraph down to a sentence or two.  That should be the heart of your ministry. This should be your standard, your compass point.
While you are developing your vision keep in mind, some visions are progressive.  God may start you here but want to grow you to reach all the way there.  You’ll need to be sensitive to Him in that regard.
Share and Proclaim
Always include your senior pastor in on what’s happening in your ministry. Share with senior staff the vision of your children’s ministry.  For the most part if you are involved in the, ‘in house’ ministries your vision should line up with theirs. It should compliment it.  If your children’s ministry is evangelical in nature and you aren’t part of an ‘in house’ ministry this may not apply.  However, you should share the vision with your covering or apostle.  Proclaim the vision. Share it with the people involved in working in your ministry.  Let them proclaim the vision with you.
Pray Over the Vision
Now that you have a clear vision, pray over it.  Ask God to give you details you might need.  Thank Him for what you have seen. Ask for His help making the vision come true.  Finally ask for favor to rest on your ministry.
Your children’s ministry should be like no other.  Not a copy, not an imitation, uniquely yours from God.  From time to time, go back to your vision.  Remember it.  Declare it.  Most of, stay true to it.  Let God change the vision and define it as he sees fit. Follow Him wherever He takes you and your ministry.d