Here are five areas that every children’s ministry leader needs to balance in their ministry.
1) SCRIPTURE
a. Make Scripture a foundation to the work – in your preparation and in your presentation.
b. Teach them to learn, love and live Scripture – for life.
c. Help them memorize Scripture – to hide God’s word in their heart.
d. Let the stories in the Bible speak for themselves.
e. Give students an opportunity to retell the story and the meanings – articulating and verbalizing what they have learned.
f. Practice and encourage bringing your bible to class / group each time you meet.
g. Offer incentives for student who bring Bibles, memorize Scripture, read daily.
2) SERVICE
a. Children and students at almost any age can benefit from and understand the importance of serving the world in Jesus’ name.
b. Lives are changed for both the one serving and the one being served.
c. Raise the level of opportunity, ways for kids at any aged to be “stretched”.
d. Offer opportunities for your groups to share their faith through action.
e. Debrief what has been done, and tell the stories of what happens – share them with the congregation.
f. Build into the fabric of your students (and the adults who help) a desire to make service and mission a part of everyday life.
3) STUDY
a. We want students to know the importance of the discipline of study.
b. Help students learn to love questions and don’t be afraid to ask tough ones.
c. Help students learn the basics of the bible, and review, rehearse and rehash all that you know.
d. Invest a portion of each meeting in making sure they study.
e. Offer opportunities for deeper study as students mature, grow, or get older.
4) SILLINESS
a. Don’t forget that many of the lessons learned are when we are not “teaching”.
b. Help kids understand the concept of Christian love by having fun with other adults in their presence.
c. Help students understand the importance of holy play.
d. Be intentional with games, activities, skits and other fun things that help support a lesson.
e. Or, don’t even worry if it doesn’t totally fit with the lesson; just have some fun for a few minutes.
f. Smile.
g. Be reminded and be a reminder of the true meaning of “joy” in the Christian life.
5) SERENITY (SABBATH, SIMPLE SCHEDULE)
a. In a world with out-of-control schedules, time commitments and booked up lives, the church needs to help rather than add to it.
b. Plan things far in advance so that coming up with free time, registration money, etc. isn’t such a burden to families.
c. Help make it easier on parents by offering multi-child discounts when setting up an event that requires students to pay.
d. Give families time to be together on special days.
e. Plan events for the families, so they can do something together instead of being fragmented.
f. Offer seminars or offer to attend seminars as a group – things on parenting, finances, other helpful sessions.
g. Love the families of the kids in your group or Sunday school class.
h. Be on time to class and be prepared to hang around following. Always get finished when you say you will.
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