I’m sure you’re already thinking about 2018 and how you can make it a great year for your children’s ministry.
Here are 10 things you should do for your children’s ministry in 2018. These can help you take the ministry to a new level next year.
Read a book with your staff and/or key volunteers. Pick a book that can help you and your team grow. It might be a ministry book, leadership book or spiritual growth book. Read it and discuss together what you are learning from the chapters.
Here are some suggestions…
If Disney Ran Your Children’s Ministry
The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams
Deep & Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love
Start with the Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Reassess everything you’re doing. Is it effective? Is it still relevant? Does anything need to be added? Does anything need to be stopped? Is the curriculum helping kids grow spiritually? Are you reaching new families? What is going well? What is struggling?
Ask these and other hard questions about everything you do. This will keep you from getting stuck in a rut next year and will prevent sacred cows from eating up your ministry’s resources, volunteers and time.
Have a church-wide children’s day. Have at least one weekend where the entire church focuses on the children’s ministry during the adult service.
On this day, highlight the children’s ministry on the front cover of the worship bulletin. Have kids lead worship in the adult service. Have a child pray for the offering in the adult service. Have the children’s ministry director or a guest speaker bring the sermon in the service and share about the importance of children’s ministry. Recognize volunteers in the service and thank them for investing in the next generation. Share praise reports about what God is doing in the lives of kids and families. Have a children’s parade into the adult service. Highlight some of the big events and programs that are happening that year.
This can be a huge win for your children’s ministry. You can see the importance of children’s ministry elevated immediately in your church by having a designated, church-wide children’s day.
Update your facilities. Your facilities matter…a lot. Run-down facilities will make your children’s ministry seem worse than it really is. Good facilities will make your children’s ministry seem better than it really is.
Unless you have brand new facilities, there is something that needs updating. It may be painting some rooms. It might be buying new chairs. It might be new flooring in some areas. It might be a new video screen or new television. It might be new rocking chairs for the nursery.
Do as much as you can with the money you have access to or can get donated/given. Focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t do.
Updating your facilities will bring fresh excitement and energy to your ministry in 2018. I guarantee it.