Is your children’s ministry thriving, surviving, or declining? According to Deuteronomy 6:1-9, there are five essentials for thriving children’s ministry: 1. Children’s ministry thrives when it’s relational. Strong vertical and horizontal relationships are vital for a child’s faith formation. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with […]
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 are the fundamental driving forces at the heart of children’s ministry that should guide and hold it true to what we should be saying and doing? What are the essential beliefs that set the direction of children’s ministry, keep it on track, and make it easy to prepare and plan activities and events? Our […]
Children’s ministry exists for children to be exclusively devoted to Jesus and fully committed citizens in His kingdom. When I typed the above purpose statement, I did so with hesitation. With hesitation, because many children’s ministry purpose statements emphasize evangelism, discipleship, and/or spiritual formation, yet don’t stress the importance of children truly loving Jesus to […]
When I started doing child evangelism meetings, I was mainly concerned with program design, event themes, how to dramatize stories, how to capture children’s attention, suitable songs, object lessons, making it fun, prizes and competitions, crafts and games, and getting children saved. A theology of children’s ministry wasn’t even a consideration. That was until I […]
Children’s ministry is usually equated with something that’s mainly done by a local church. But that’s a limited perspective. The context for children’s ministry is children anywhere and everywhere. It can occur at kitchen tables, schools, sports fields, concerts, clubs, community playgrounds, hospitals, parks, the beach, the street, birthday parties, or in virtually any place […]
Defining children’s ministry is an essential first step in doing children’s ministry. So let’s consider what it is. What is children’s ministry? Children’s ministry is a process that connects children with Jesus and His Story. To elaborate: Children’s ministry is a process It’s helping children become more like Jesus over time. It involves a series […]
Children’s Ministry in the Bible What does the Bible say about children’s ministry? “Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of […]
