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Three guidelines for a healthy children's ministry

by: Robin Khoury   2/20/2007

Editor's Note: Whether you’re an established church looking to refresh your vision for the ministries where you are putting your time, energy and funding, or are a new congregation looking to start a specific ministry, the 101 Ministry series on Church Central is designed to help you insure that healthy church work results in making disciples. Check all the articles in the series for helpful introductions to new ministries or keys to evaluate existing work.

Children’s ministry has changed over the past few decades. Instead of an old-fashioned story time led by the pastor during worship, these ministries often feature a full slate of children’s church activities. What is the best way to minister to children today? How can a church body find its way toward a properly balanced effort?

In our marketing-driven culture, it is easy to adopt attractive ideas that may or may not produce positive outcomes or even be related to your church's goals for ministry. One way to help yours stay on track is to narrow your focus. Don’t try to be all things to all people. A good way to find a proper focus in children’s ministry is to bear in mind the goal of all Christians, according to the scripture and the Westminster catechism: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Every church must prayerfully consider what this means for children’s ministry. Churches must be careful to emphasize Bible teaching and discipleship efforts in order to obey Jesus’ command to feed his sheep. (He didn’t say, "Entertain my sheep," did he?) Here are three guidelines for balancing your children’s ministry:

First, a healthy children’s ministry is one that spiritually nurtures the children and encourages family involvement.

As children’s ministers, we must remember that it is not our goal to replace godly leadership in the home. It is the ultimate job of parents to disciple their children (Deuteronomy 6). The church should encourage and help parents with this responsibility.

Churches should welcome and encourage family involvement in the children’s ministry. As parents, church staff and volunteers invest in the spiritual lives of children, spiritual growth will spill over from kids into their families. This creates a discipleship program that impacts more of the congregation.

For children that have no spiritual nurturing at home, children’s ministry leaders should pray and find ways to reach out to their families.

Second, a healthy children’s ministry is guided by prayer and the Holy Spirit.

If you want a discipling, evangelizing, enriching children’s ministry, blanket it in prayer. Remember, you are just a little vine while  Jesus is the branch. Pray personally with your staff and children about your ministry concerns: "Lord, is this new curriculum right for us? Is it honoring to you? Father, please call out some new children’s Sunday school teachers." A children’s ministry guided and empowered by prayer will maintain the right focus.

Third, you should design your children’s ministry to fit within your unique situation. It   should fulfill its purpose of feeding the lambs and be relevant to the community your congregation serves.

A children’s ministry in the middle of an inner city should never look the same as one out in the country. Both the children and their families are different. The respective congregations have different spiritual needs, budgets and human resources.

A small, startup mission should never look longingly at a fully-staffed, established children’s ministry and try to support the same number of programs. Just because something was effective (under a different set of circumstances) at another church doesn’t mean it will be effective for you. Look instead at your church and community to guide you in developing programs that meet needs and fit the demographics and lifestyles of your people.

God delights in working in all different kinds of situations. Let us each prayerfully consider our ministry to Jesus’ lambs and their families within the overarching goal of glorifying God and enjoying him forever. This is the pathway to a meaningful children’s ministry.

Robin Khoury is a children’s leadership specialist and the founder and president of Little Light Press. She is the author of "Answers For New Christians, What Kids Need to Know About Sin, Salvation, Baptism and More," workbook, coloring book, and keepsake for elementary children. Find this and other helpful children’s ministry articles at www.answersfornewchristians.com. Robin blogs for children’s ministry leaders at www.cmcoffeebreak.wordpress.com and teaches Bible lessons to kids at www.missrobin.wordpress.com.

Read the rest of Church Central's 101 Ministry Series:

Women’s Ministry
Marriage Ministry
Youth Ministry
Men’s Ministry
Singles Ministry
Family Ministry