A friend of mine contacted me because she had decided to throw her hat in and try Children's Ministry. She accepted a full-time CM position, and she very quickly because frustrated. "Do people see you and run because you might ask them to help?" She asked. She left children's ministry not too long there after.
What my friend very quickly realized is that Children's Ministry isn't anything like daycare. And the comparison to being a glorified childcare work or "events coordinator" is something that sends every CM I know into rant mode. Why? Because we aren't babysitting your children. And not everyone can do this. It is a calling to lead children deeper into the Word of God through age appropriate Bible Accounts, Apologetics, theology, and interactive activities that lead the focus back to Christ and the Word.
If you think it is a show up, sing a song, eat a cookie, and make a craft (EEEK Crafts!), you don't know BBC Kids!
Every week, our leaders study, pray, train, read, prepare, and pour over the Word, our lesson books, and mountains of materials to walk in and take our kids deeper.
And we are growing!
We averaged 97 in the Children's Ministry on Wednesday Night and 50-60 on Sunday Morning. Discovery Club has 10-15 preschoolers and Kid'z Zone has 30-34 kids!
But those numbers mean nothing if real life discipleship isn't happening!
This past week, the 50th child in 4 years accepted Christ as their Savior. That is a number that will last eternity.
So Elizabeth, what is your point?
In Savannah, there is a radio station that does "share-a-thon" where they spend a week barely playing music and begging for funds to make it. It was known on the side as "beg-a-thon."
I don't want our Children's Ministry to be in beg-a-thon! The summer slump is already hitting BBC Kids. Oh the family is coming in, the lake is calling, and while the kids are still pouring in, our leadership is fading.
I find myself begging for someone to please just stand in the gap. But I don't want someone to just fill a position in Discovery Club on Kid'z Zone. I want someone who is on fire when they walk in that room, ready and believing that what they are teaching makes an eternity difference...Not just someone to is in a holding pattern with kids.
Childcare says throw a movie on and eat an Oreo. Children's Ministry pours time, effort, and energy into every lesson.
So here is my challenge to you this summer...
1. Pray for BBC Kids, the leaders, the children, the camps, VBS, and special events.
2. Pray for yourself. Maybe the reason why we are short on leaders is because God is calling you to step up to the plate.
3. Pray for your staff. It is discouraging when we struggle to fill classes with the right teachers. And it is discouraging when we take on too many kids alone.
4. Step in:
Discovery Club needs teachers who work just one Sunday every two months. And you don't even miss your Sunday School Class or the Worship! Just 45 minutes is all you give out of your Sunday plus prep with The Gospel Project.
I don't teach, Elizabeth. I'm telling you! It is scary!
That is okay! But can you hang with kids? Maybe take them from class to class or help a lead teacher in Kid'z Zone? Willing to assist? This past weekend, I was alone with 27 kids. I needed an assistant! Can you be that assistant on a rotational basis?
Why don't you make every parent serve?
As my friend learned, Children's Ministry is a calling. If you put me in a room full of senior adults, I choke unless I'm talking about Children's Ministry. Why? Because I'm called to kids.
1 Peter 4:10: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."
Just because you have a preschooler doesn't mean you can teach a class of 6 preschoolers. And I get that! Just because I am an adult doesn't mean I can teach a room of 20.
I believe God is a big God. He says in His Word many times that we are all gifted by His Spirit.
"A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church."-1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)
God does not give us children to not provide us the leaders to lead them. So pray, seek, and volunteer!
Join us! You'll learn, we aren't cookies and Kool-aid.
Elizabeth
To volunteer or get more information about BBC Kids' ministries, contact Elizabeth Horne, Minister to Children, Elizabeth@BBCLife.org.
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