Children's Ministry Which Matters & Makes a Difference by Equipping Parents & Grandparents & Engaging Children . . . and a whole lot more!
I'm old enough (experienced enough??!!!) to remember when we first began running background checks on volunteers for our Children's Ministries. It was new; and many established volunteers did not like it one bit. But, we did it, because it was the responsible thing to do and because the times demanded we do so.
Happily, whether you are familiar with Michael and his ministry or not, you are able to read his new book - Chasing WHALES: a spiritual dive with Jonah
When I first began writing about Children's Ministry I wrote on my own website. Then after about 10 years people began blogging, so I switched my content to a blog format and have been writing this blog for about fifteen years now.
One thing this Covid-19 Pandemic has shown us with the stay at home orders is, parents/ grandparents are the people who have to teach the children they love. This became for a time the case for school and is the case - has always been the case - when it comes to handing down confident faith. It is not the job of the church to be the people who hand down confident faith - it is the God-given job of parents and grandparents. It is God's best plan for parents and grandparents to hand down confident faith to the children and grandchildren with whom He blesses them. It is the job of the church to equip, encourage, and enable parents and grandparents, so they hand down confident faith in their homes. We clearly see this now as children were not able to go to church for a time, but while it absolutely has to happen now, it needs to be one of the things which continues far past Covid-19.
If you serve in Children's Ministry, you likely think of the parents when you think about the adults who bring the children in your ministry. There is solid reason for you to do so, as most of the people who bring children to your church are likely parents. Most, but not all. Your church most certainly has grandparents who bring their grandchildren to your Children's Ministry and there are some significant things you need to keep in mind when it comes to these grandparents . . .
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When it comes to Children's Ministry, we obviously think a great deal about the children; as we well should. And, we typically think a fair amount about parents. But there are more people who we should think about, too. Grandparents.
Typically when you think about the adults who bring children to your church, you think of and picture the parents. And, for most of the children it is the parents who bring them to church. But not all. In most churches 10% to 25% of the people bringing the children to church are the grandparents.
There are many things you know, learn about, and keep track of when you serve in Children's Ministry. Things such as how many children are in your ministry, how often the children are attending, how many volunteers you have, and how many you need, along with what curriculum you are using and training your volunteers to use it effectively. These are just a few of the things you know, learn about, and keep track of when you serve in Children's Ministry.
When you think about the families of the children in your Children's Ministry you of course think of the children; we know who they are. They are the people between the ages of birth and nine, ten or eleven - depending on where your church ends Children's Ministry and begins Student Ministries.
I'm going to say something you may not have heard before . . . the church has allowed parents and grandparents to "outsource" their job of handing down confident faith to their children and grandchildren. Not only has the church allowed parents and grandparents to do this, but, sadly, we often encourage it. Even more, we communicate to parents and grandparents we in the church are the people best equipped to hand down confident faith. We must stop doing these things.
We have been talking about if we are truly serious about reaching children for Jesus, so they learn to know and walk with Him, we have to, "move some of our 'eggs' to a different 'basket'", the "basket" of ministry to parents and grandparents. As I said, I believe this "basket" has to do three things: engage, equip, and encourage and we have looked at engaging and equipping parents and grandparents to pass on a heritage of confident faith to their children/grandchildren. Today we will look at encouraging them to do this.
I have been talking about ministry to parents and grandparents, so what might ministry to parents and grandparents look like? I believe it has to do three things: engage, equip and encourage. and we looked at, "engaging" them. I looked at some ideas of how to engage them and said, "The important thing is to get the attention of parents and grandparents, help remind them how quickly their children/ grandchildren will grow up and engage them in passing on a heritage of confident faith. Among the many important things parents do each day, there is none more important than passing on a heritage of confident faith to their children. And grandparents are not 'finished'. They have not, 'done their part'. If they are grandparents, they still have a job to do, a part to play in passing on a heritage of confident faith."
You are certainly aware of the children in your Children's Ministry. You likely know the parents of the children in your Children's Ministry, but do you know how many children in your Children's Ministry are brought to your church by their grandparents? Do you know these grandparents or are they basically, "invisible"?
I sincerely believe all churches should focus on engaging, equipping, and encouraging grandparents to pass on a heritage of confident faith to their grandchildren. There are reasons I believe this - some of them are . . .
In our children's and family ministries "imparting information" is important, but it is infinitely most important for us to pray for "eyes to be opened". In our ministries we "impart" a lot of "information". We teach Bible lessons, we train volunteers, we encourage parents . . . we "impart" a lot of "information". But, do we focus on asking God to "open eyes"? What are some things we need to have our eyes . . . and the eyes of children, parents and volunteers . . . opened? Consider the following . . .
Please share this with the parents/ grandparents in your church -
More and more often we hear and read about leaders in the church around the world who are renouncing their faith. And not just leaders in the church around the world, but many of us have children, grandchildren, siblings who have turned from a walk with God. What is happening?
I have been sharing with you about the new supplemental curriculum - Anchored. Today I want to share with you what Joani Schultz (from Group Publishing) says about it . . .
Sunday school originally began in 1780 because people wanted to teach poor children to read as they typically worked in factories all week. Nearly all children went to Sunday school - even if their parents did not go to church - and along with learning to read, they were taught the Bible - as it was the main book they learned to read. These children also learned to write as they copied verses from the Bible.
