Reflecting on my childhood experience at church, the first thing to enter my mind is the old felt board and characters used by my Sunday School teacher to tell visual stories from the Bible.
While many aspects of church ministry have stayed consistent, the current trends in church ministry have shifted since my childhood, and there is now a particularly strong focus on Children’s and Family Ministry. Growing churches are placing emphasis on
recruiting full-time Children’s Ministers dedicated solely to the creation of #kidmin curriculum, volunteer recruitment and maintaining a safe learning environment for the next generation.
However, many churches have depended upon generous volunteerism to meet their Children's Ministry leadership needs, with little thought of future provision. Assumptions that Kids Ministry can operate indefinitely on
volunteer leaders might leave churches with a limited ministry for the next generation and will push families away.
Here are three reasons why it is important to have a full-time Children’s Pastor.
1. It's an investment in family retention.
Although the title may be “Children’s Pastor,” when you break it down, it is a total family investment. A Children’s Pastor has the opportunity to invest in the children, and when there is growth, that translates into full family transformation.
I spoke with Cory Ball, a Youth Minister at
The Journey, about this, and he puts it this way:
“A good Children's Minister will talk about the conversations they have had with parents. ... They have seen changes in families all because of the positive impact they have had on their children.”
2. Children who are invested at a young age grow with the church.
When the church puts an emphasis on their Children's Ministry, they are spending more time and effort teaching them and showing them who they are in Christ. These children who are poured into this way will most likely stay in the church longer, grow more and eventually lead those around them.
If you speak with Youth Pastors, many would say engaging youth is one of the tougher
struggles they face. When churches reach children in their younger years with positive experiences and teaching about who they are in Christ, children transition into their teen years with a positive view of the church.
3. Children are the future of the church.
Churches need younger generations to come up behind the older generations and continue the leadership and ministry of the church. For this to happen, you need younger people who are dedicated to the mission of the church. If you look at your church and realize that the majority of the members are in the "older generation" category, this should cause some concern.
No church is perfect; no Children’s Ministry is flawless. If your church is struggling to find a full-time, highly-qualified Children's Pastor, you aren’t alone.
At the Vanderbloemen Search Group, we love
helping churches take steps to finding their next Children’s Pastor. We know that Family Ministry is incredibly important, and having a full-time staff member dedicated to investing in the children of your church and helping foster family growth is paramount.
