A guest post by Joe Montoya
You should always believe for growth. With that expectation for growth, you must plan for that change. More children requires more leaders to effectively minister to those children. Study Exodus 18 and see how Jethro gave Moses advice about his leadership. In less words, Jethro told Moses to stop trying to be the superstar who does it all and to build a competent team to make his life easier. I know it’s difficult for most children’s ministry leaders to wrap their head around the concept of “making life easier,” but the competent team approach is always better than the superstar system.
I am a huge advocate for the team approach after years of trying to be the superstar. Building a team increases your influence and leadership. It creates a ministry that reaches more children. You must increase your leadership by extending it beyond yourself. That means you must invest into your leaders. Let’s continue with a few questions:
- How do you view yourself and the members of your team when you implement your church programs? Is the main focus on you or your team to reach the children?
- Where are you spending the majority of your time. Are you doing it all in front of the children or are you directing leaders to work with the children?
- If you were not able to serve in children’s ministry for any amount of time, could your team continue running the children’s ministry program or event at a high level of excellence?
- Are the members of your team flourishing?
INVEST IN YOUR VOLUNTEERS
Study your team members. Find out their strengths and gifts. Are you allowing your team to flourish? Push your leaders towards taking roles that they like and are good at. Here’s a side-note that is too important to really be a side-note: Character counts, so promote character over gifting.
Which of your leaders has the high energy? He/she can facilitate the games. Which of your leaders likes the administration part of the ministry. He/she can type out the cue sheet or put together the props for the lesson. Which of your leaders enjoys the playtime with the children? He/she can strategically station themselves in the play areas before and after service. These are just a few ideas for placements.
Don’t just give out duties. Train and develop. There are a number of ways to provide the training. Let’s say your leaders need training on how to lead the memory verse. Set a up a class. Train someone to do the training! Another alternative is to record your training on video, so the leaders can watch it on YouTube. Whatever method you choose, the point is to train your team. Stand by your volunteers and develop them.
A trained volunteer in a role he/she likes to do will enjoy serving with you. When your leaders enjoy the time they are serving in church, faithfulness is a highly-likelyoutcome. Your team members are more likely to stick-to-it even when life gets tough because they will take “ownership” over the ministry. “Being overwhelmed with life” seems to be the most popular reason that people give to end their service. Give your team members that purpose and direction. Plan ahead and give out assignments in advance. The level of excellence you will be a key factor in the results.
My hope for you is that you develop your children’s ministry to be a whole lot of fun, full of God’s fingerprints, and a place where leaders find their purpose along this journey.
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Joe Montoya is the Elementary Director of Real Kidz at Cottonwood Christian Center, Cypress, California. Real Kidz ministers to 1600 children (birth to 12 years old) every week. Joe is married to Shelley Montoya and have 3 children.
