While many aspects of church ministry have stayed consistent, the current trends in church ministry have shifted since my childhood, and there is now a particularly strong focus on Children’s and Family Ministry.
When COVID-19 hit, there was another major shift in this area as everyone scrambled to figure out how to conduct student ministry online. Under social distancing mandates, Zoom fatigue, shortened attention spans, and overall cabin fever impacted children, leaving Children's Pastors with the challenge of engaging kids on Sundays without any in-person element.
Growing churches are placing emphasis on recruiting full-time Children’s Ministers dedicated solely to the creation of #kidmin curriculum, volunteer recruitment, and maintaining a safe learning environment for the next generation. However, many churches have depended upon generous volunteerism to meet their Children's Ministry leadership needs, with little thought of future provision. Assumptions that Kids Ministry can operate indefinitely on volunteer leaders might leave churches with a limited ministry for the next generation and will push families away.
Those who depended on volunteer-led programs also experienced a harder hit to their Kids Ministry during the beginning of COVID-19 because volunteers have less resources to get creative with and usually have other full-time responsibilities they're balancing.
In this new season of balancing online and offline children's ministry, here are three reasons why it is important to have a full-time Children’s Pastor.
Although the title may be “Children’s Pastor,” when you break it down, it is a total family investment. A Children’s Pastor has the opportunity to invest in the children, and when there is growth, that translates into full family transformation.
I spoke with Cory Ball, a Youth Minister at The Journey, about this, and he puts it this way: “A good Children's Minister will talk about the conversations they have had with parents... They have seen changes in families all because of the positive impact they have had on their children”.
When the church puts an emphasis on their Children's Ministry, they are spending more time and effort teaching them and showing them who they are in Christ. These children who are poured into this way will most likely stay in the church longer, grow more, and eventually lead those around them.
If you speak with Youth Pastors, many would say engaging youth is one of the tougher struggles they face. When churches reach children in their younger years with positive experiences and teaching about who they are in Christ, children transition into their teen years with a positive view of the church.
Churches need younger generations to come up behind the older generations and continue the leadership and ministry of the church. For this to happen, you need younger people who are dedicated to the mission of the church. If you look at your church and realize that the majority of the members are in the "older generation" category, this should cause some concern.
No church is perfect; no Children’s Ministry is flawless. If your church is struggling to find a full-time, highly-qualified Children's Pastor, you aren’t alone.
Our sister company, ChristianTeams is passionate about helping churches take steps to finding their next Children’s Pastor. We know that Family Ministry is incredibly important, and having a full time staff member dedicated to investing in the children of your church and helping foster family growth is paramount. We'd love to do the work of recruiting and vetting applicants so you can stay focused on running your church and pursuing your mission. Connect with us today to get started paving the way for the next generation.