What is your church doing to help parents? Are you doing enough? Do you occasionally offer a marriage enrichment course? Could you do more? Pastors know how to prepare sermons but usually have little or no training in family ministry. Rhetoric alone doesn’t build healthy families. Parents need pastors to spend time with them. Families […]
What pastors should know about parents. The 2022 Orange Report produced with Parent Cue reveals that more than fifty percent of Christian parents feel that their church could be more supportive of their parenting. About fifty percent of parents also say that pastors/clergy don’t understand the realities of their lives or value them as parents. […]
What does the Bible say about children? “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him” Psalm 127:3 (NLT). This well-known verse encapsulates the fact that children are a precious blessing from God. It should, therefore, come as no surprise to discover that children are both present and prominent throughout the […]
Partnering is a two-way street. So, I’m in two minds about the title – either “How to partner with parents” or “How to partner with pastors.” Both titles are equally valid concerning the content of this article, and both invite us to consider how pastors (church/congregation) and parents (legal guardians) can cooperate in children’s faith […]
Is your church intergenerational – where young and old worship, pray, serve, eat, sing, play, and live for Jesus together? Or are the different age groups mainly confined to age-segregated programs and activities? Professors Holly Allen and Christine Ross believe intergenerational communities are crucial and catalytical for the health and growth of children and adults: […]
There’s no magic bullet for successful children’s ministry, but there are ways to significantly improve what you’re doing. Here are ten ways to strengthen children’s ministry: 1. Cast a compelling vision. To envision is to imagine, plan beforehand, or ponder the possibilities. What has God placed in your heart and mind? People need to know […]
While educators, psychologists, academics, and others have much to say about children, God’s Word should be foundational for understanding who children are and why we should care for them. Here’s a basic theology of children expressed as ten fundamental truths: Children are a gift from God. “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a […]
What’s involved in leading a child to Jesus? Aiming for Jesus. Children should aim for Jesus. He’s the bulls-eye. He should be the One at the centre of a child’s world. But that’s easier said than done. Children have many targets throughout their lives. The first target when they’re born is their mother’s breast. Babies […]
Ground-breaking new multi-national research by an international team of academic researchers and ministry practitioners from Brazil, Canada, the UK, and the USA asks, “Do church structures enable children’s and family ministry to grow?” This is a critical question if you’re a teacher, parent, volunteer or pastor involved with children’s or family ministry. Why? Because if […]
What should we teach in children’s ministry? All home, church and school teaching should ultimately be to this end – to teach children about Jesus. To learn Christ. A common expression in the early church was “to learn Christ.” We should co-opt this phrase for children’s ministry. Jesus, above all else, is the One we […]
