After being at Orange Conference for the last two years, one thing sticks out to me. The preteen age group is one that churches are struggling to reach. I personally think it comes down to one issue.
The relationship between Children’s Ministry staff and Youth Ministry staff.
I’ve learned that I’m not normal. I’ve spent time working in both worlds. I started in Children’s Ministry and now I’m in Student Ministry. While working in Children’s I was also a volunteer in the High School ministry.
Student and Children’s staffs don’t see eye to eye. In fact, sometimes they don’t even like to be in the same room.
I think it’s pretty simple why this disconnect exists. 2 things:
- Programming vs Process
- Relational vs Discipleship Process
These two seem to be common denominators in most staffs involving Student and Children’s Ministry.
Not to mention, most Children’s staff people are older than those working in Student Ministry.
- Because of this, Student staffs are seen as immature (and probably are)
- Children’s staffs are seen as out of touch with culture (and probably are)
But if you want to improve the relationship between departments and also improve the process for parents of the age group affected by the gap between then you have to improve the relationships between the two departments.
Here are some things that will help you begin to bridge the gap between those two departments.
