A: Always Focus on Relationships
Ministry happens best through relationships. This is true in megachurches, medium churches and small churches. The difference (and your advantage) is that when you have a very small number of kids, you have an exponentially larger opportunity to invest in relationships.
Whether you’re in Plan A mode or resorting to Plan B, relationships must be at the center of your efforts. Curriculum and resources are important. Facilities and programs are important. But relationships are what greatly impact the life of a child for Jesus.
Jesus invested deeply in a small group aside from his wider ministry. Why? Because there’s greater impact in small numbers. There’s greater opportunity to teach, engage, guide, understand, befriend and demonstrate your faith up close. So rather than bemoaning the fact that so few kids came, celebrate the fact that you have more time and energy to pour yourself into the lives of a few—just as Jesus did.
L: Let Kids Engage
One vital way kids learn is by becoming fully engaged in what you’re teaching. When 100 kids attend children’s church, engaged participation isn’t always possible. Personal discovery isn’t always easy.
But with a small group? What a blessing! Kids can participate in so many ways. For starters, consider these children’s church ideas for small churches:
• Teaching – Let kids “co-teach” the lesson. Engage them in reading the Scripture or retelling or acting out biblical events.
• Mentoring – Allow older kids to help younger kids engage with the lesson. Younger kids are thrilled by an older child’s attention, and older kids love leading. Invest in kids in a way that trains them to be kidmin leaders today!
• Clarification – Engage kids deeply in what you’re teaching. Use dialogue that gauges their understanding of the lesson and principles. As you talk and listen, address misunderstandings or clarify practical applications. In a smaller setting, you can answer questions as kids think through the material.
• Mobility – With fewer kids, you’re blessed with flexibility. A spur-of-the-moment jaunt outside to enjoy sunshine during a lesson on Creation is doable. Not always so with a large class. Smaller groups offer mobility and open the door to creative ideas and engagement.
• Service – Service is a win-win for your kids and church. Work with adult classes or small groups to pinpoint ways your kids can serve them. Maybe it’s taking offerings, distributing brochures, cleaning up, etc. Engage kids in service projects, and use these as teaching tools.
At a church I served, children helped create care packages for short-term missions in low-income neighborhoods. These packages opened doors to share the gospel. Kids didn’t deliver the gifts. But they were key to the faith-sharing, and we told them so!
Note: “Engaged kids” isn’t equivalent to busy work (i.e., worksheets).
