Non-negotiable Content for Children’s Ministry
Civil rights activist Frederick Douglass placed a major emphasis upon children and family.
“I’ve learned it is much easier and cheaper to build strong children, than it is to fix broken adults”
There are many non-negotiable topics for content in Children’s Ministry. What are the kind of things we want our children to know as they transition from children’s ministry as elementary students into the youth group as middle and high school students?
Next Gen leaders must have a strategic plan on this kind of content that we are teaching children. The Next Gen leader plays a crucial role of faith development in elementary and teenage youth.
The Need For Theology In Children’s Ministry
OneHope’s research on parents revealed that just 15% of US Christian parents said their most important parenting goal is to pass down to their children the values and faith to guide their lives. This is terribly low.
The widely published stats on the biblical worldview of the last 4 generations are clear:
Silent’s - 65%
Gen X - 32%
Millennials -19%
Gen Z - 4%
Some more early stats:
•According to the most recent American Worldview Inventory, 67% of US parents of pre-teens claim to be Christian, but only 2% actually possess a biblical worldview
• 4-in-5 kids watch content on TV every day
•69% watch tv programming several times a day
•Alpha Gen could reach 2 billion globally in the next 2 years, the largest generation in human history
•50% of Alpha Gen will earn a college degree
•Alpha Gen will be the most diverse generation ever
•The majority of Alpha Gen will have had no connection with a church
So how can we become the spiritual influencers to Alpha GEN?
Here are five non-negotiables that I recommend for every children’s ministry:
1. SPIRITUAL FORMATION/DISCIPLESHIP
Prayer, worship, reading the scripture, fasting, the Ten Commandments, the Holy Spirit, generosity, honoring the parents, sabbath, etc.
Every ministry must have end goals. The kind of things you want children to learn when they leave the elementary ministry and transition into the youth group in middle and high school high.
Here’s a quick assessment: Instead of meetings games, how about trying Sword Drills where students are learning how to look up Bible verses and playing Bible trivia and question challenges, and sending home the content to parents and guardians to follow up and be influenced by what their children are learning.
2. PARENT & HOME RELATIONS
What is the role of the children’s ministry toward the parents and the home? There must be a symbiotic relationship between the church and the home.
How often are you meeting with parents in a one on one or group setting? Here’s a quick assessment - Strategize the communication, resources, relationship, crisis care, and involvement of the Next Gen ministry and the parent/home.
A successful children’s ministry has a great relationship ethic.
Good children's ministries know the names of their students.
Great children's ministries know the names and the stories of their students.
An elite children's ministry knows the names, the stories, and the family of the students.
3. RELATIONAL MINISTRY
What is the level of relationship between the leaders and the students?
Ministry is all about relationships. Even in children’s ministry. The level of respect and integrity and common sense regulation build a great relationship between leaders and students in children’s ministry.
Here’s a quick assessment - Do you as the pastor or leader and do your volunteers know the names, stories, and families of your children? It can be very easy to spend more time on presentation and preaching/teaching than relationship building and conversation.
4. Identity
We must teach children, the sanctity of gender, the sanctity of marriage, and the sanctity of sex. We know they are getting this content from their peers and from culture, but, they must be getting it from their home and their spiritual leaders.
Children must understand who they are from scripture, before they understand from culture. We’ve done a lot of work on this topic and all you need to do is search the blog under sexuality!
5. APOLOGETICS
How do we prepare children to share their faith?
I believe people will share their faith to the degree that they have been changed. A faith has been deeply felt and understood, as much easier shared. We may need to do some conversational transition statements and some one on one real life scenario role plays to help our children know how to share their faith.
When our young people have an early adoption of their faith, it is much easier for them to share their faith.
Here’s a quick assessment - Are there stories of children coming to Christ? The best way to get children sharing their faith is to make sure that they actually have a faith of their own that has changed their life.
If they see their faith is valuable, they will share it.
Finally
Again, remember the quote from civil rights activist Frederick Douglass…
“I’ve learned it as much easier and cheaper to build strong children, than it is to fix broken adults”
Having a strategy is very important. It may not be the things that I mentioned here…
What are the nonnegotiable content for you?