[Kid Inspiration]

Various quotes about Children’s Ministry.

"According to a 1999 Barna Survey, children between the ages of 5 and 13 are most likely to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Nearly half of born-again Americans made their decision before becoming teenagers. The probability of conversion drops dramatically between the ages of 14 and 18 and then picks up again just slightly for those 18 and older."
- World Relief, Winter 2000, page 19

In the United States, children aged 5-13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Jesus as their savior … Young people aged 14-18 have a 4 percent likelihood of doing so … Adults over 19 have a 6 percent probability of making that choice.
- The Barna Report, Oct.-Dec., 1999

According to Gary McIntosh, ministry to children has changed since many of us were in elementary school. A popular comparison notes that 50 years ago, the top 7 problems in public schools were: 1) Talking, 2) Chewing Gum, 3) Making Noise, 4) Running in the halls, 5) Getting out of line, 6) Wearing improper clothes, 7) Not putting paper in the waste basket.
- Gary McIntosh, The Church Growth Network, September 1994

The top 7 problems in public schools are: 1) Drug abuse, 2) Alcohol abuse, 3) Pregnancy, 4) Suicide, 5) Rape, 6) Robbery, 7) Assault.
- Gary McIntosh, The Church Growth Network, September 1994

Effective ministry to today’s children goes beyond a basic understanding of developmental issues or simple babysitting. It requires taking risks to walk alongside children weighed down with burdens of divorce, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, over committed parents and stress related disorders.
- Gary McIntosh, The Church Growth Network, September 1994

We lead small people, and small things are what we are about. Whenever you do things in children’s ministry it’s a small version of ‘big church’, but often it is the small things that make the difference.

A brief news item told how an express package from England came to a South African town. The man to whom the box was consigned refused to pay the delivery charges, and for about fourteen years the box was used as a footstool in the express office. The consignee died, and later the box was put up at auction with other unclaimed articles. Out of curiosity a man bid it in at a low price.

When he opened it he was greatly surprised to find several thousand pounds of sterling in English banknotes. Because the consignee had refused to pay comparatively trifling delivery charges, he had missed a considerable fortune.

Point: Don’t miss out on the blessing because you didn’t want to pay the price.

You don’t know what little thing may just unearth a massive harvest.

Termites destroy more property than do earthquakes. More fires are caused by matches and cigarettes than by volcanoes.

Back when Walt’s two daughters were young, he took them to an amusement park in the Los Angeles area on Sat mornings. His girls loved it, and he did too. Walt was checking out the merry-go-round. As he approached it he saw a blur of bright images racing around with the lively music playing. But when he got closer and the carousel stopped, he could see that his eye had been fooled. The horses were shabby, cracked and only the ones on the outside went up and down. This disappointment led to the vision of a park where the illusion didn’t evaporate. The vision became Disneyland and the rest is history.

Children can come into our church services each week, and the blur of activity can disguise the chipped paint of their hurting worlds. Our window of opportunity may only be those one or two hours of time on a weekend.

I am constantly searching for the one powerful, impacting moment with each child that connects with them and sticks in their mind. There is a lot that fights for attention, our local Sunday paper has more information in it than someone living in the 17th century would have had access to in their entire lifetime.

We maybe can on our own provide a few memorable moments during a child’s time with us… I remember watching Star Trek 4 when Captain Kirk and crew went back in time to the 80’s in my ‘Sunday School’ growing up and maybe a couple of other moments. BUT I am believing in that everything I am a part of I am partnering with the Holy Spirit to provide God moments that will be with children forever. Whoever or however they happen… I really couldn’t care less, I just pray that somehow Christ will be revealed to them and I am part of a team creating moments that last forever in the minds and hearts of our kids.

– David Wakerley

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a
gift. That’s why we call it the present."

- Babatunde Olatunji

Continue Reading…

Here is a classic anonymous piece about what children learn.

If a child lives with CRITICISM,
he learns to CONDEMN.

If a child lives with HOSTILITY,
he learns to FIGHT.

If a child lives with RIDICULE,
he learns to be SHY.

If a child lives with SHAME,
he learns to feel GUILTY.

If a child lives with TOLERANCE,
he learns to be PATIENT.

If a child lives with ENCOURAGEMENT,
he learns to be CONFIDENT.

If a child lives with PRAISE,
he learns to APPRECIATE.

If a child lives with FAIRNESS,
he learns JUSTICE.

If a child lives with SECURITY,
he learns to have FAITH.

If a child lives with APPROVAL,
he learns to LIKE HIMSELF.

If a child lives with FRIENDSHIP,
he learns to find LOVE IN THE WORLD.

- Anon

Here is a article from Randy White at the White Hutchinson Leisure and Learning Group.

Includes some research from George Barna, a very concise and excellent article.

The Importance of Children’s Ministry

by Randy White
© 2003 White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group

No evangelical church has unlimited resources in facilities, money and often a more limiting factor, staff and volunteers. Therefore, to be most effective in its evangelical mission of bring the Love of God to the largest number of the unchurched, it is important that a church focus its resources and efforts where there is the highest probability of success; that it focus on a niche
of the unchurched in its geographic market area who are most likely to be attracted to attend.

This is sometimes referred to as targeting for evangelism. Dr. Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, California, one of the fastest growing churches in American, points out:

"The practice of targeting specific kinds of people for evangelism is a biblical principal of ministry. It’s as old as the New Testament. Jesus targeted his ministry… [Jesus] publicly identified his ministry target as the Jews.
Was Jesus being unfair or prejudiced? Certainly not. Jesus targeted his ministry in order to be effective, not to be exclusive."

The question that is typically raised is who should be targeted? An investigation of research on reaching the unchurched shows that families with younger children, and more specifically the children, are often the best target market.

Probably the most convincing argument why targeting children’s ministry for evangelism can be the most effective is research on the probability of people accepting Jesus Christ as their savior for a lifetime relationship. Research by George Barna and the Barna Institute of over 1,000 adults in May 2001 puts the probability at

• 32% for children between 5 and 13 years old,
• 4% for children between 14 and 18, and
• 6% for people 19 years and older.

In other words, attracting younger children to a church to learn about the Love of God will have 5 to 8 times the impact of attracting the same number of older children or adults. Barna’s research on faith development and discipleship also found that the moral development of children is complete by age 9.

Non-religious oriented research on children’s moral and values development substantiates that the foundation for lifelong values and morals are formed at the earliest years.

The May 2001 Barna’s research also showed that church attendance by children has a lifelong impact. The majority (61%) of adults who attended church as children still attend regularly, while only 22% of those who were not churchgoers as children attend church today.

Early churchgoing also has an impact on whether parents bring their children to church. For parents who were churched as children, 63% take their own children to church. That’s double the proportion among adults who were not churched and now have children of their own (33%).
George Barna states:

"The research is very clear: if Jesus is not already part of their lives by the time they leave junior high school, the chances of them accepting Him as their Lord and savior is very slim (6%, to be exact). With children, it is just the opposite. Because of the challenges and insecurities they face in life, they are very open to being a part of a community of like-minded people who
grow together. Children have a tremendous influence within their families and on the choices they make in all areas of life…
The greatest evangelical window currently available is among young children."

R. S. Lee, the author of Your Growing Children and Religion says it this way:

"The first seven years [of life] constitute the period for laying the foundations of religion. This is the most important period in the whole of a person’s life in determining his later religious attitudes."

Research has clearly substantiated the Bible verse
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and
when he is old he will not depart from it."
(Proverbs 22:6)

Sources

• Barna, George; Re-Churching the Unchurched. Ventura, CA: Issachar Resources,
  2000.
• Barna, George; Re-Churching the Unchurched. Ventura, CA: Issachar Resources,
  2000.
• Barna Research Online. Adults Who Attended Church As Children Show Lifelong
  Effects. URL. (accessed 1 February 2003)
• Kohlburn, Lawrence. The Psychology of Moral Development. San Francisco:
  Harper & Row, 1984.
• Rainer, Thom S. Surprising Insights From The Unchurched. Grand Rapids, MI:
  Zondervan, 2001.
• Rainer, Thom S. Surprising Insights From The Unchurched. Grand Rapids, MI:
  Zondervan, 2001.

For additional information on the unchurched, visit the Barna Institute website.

From White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group’s website

Here are some notes from a message I presented at the 2004 Hillsong conference for Children’s Pastors and Leaders in a workshop for song writing.
Continue Reading…

Here is your new job description, your main role in the life of your ministry team. Enthusiasm and passion are some of the most important traits to leading a team, and your role as leader, especially in a weekend service role. You are the "Dispenser of Enthusiasm".

Continue Reading…

I forthwith present a review of "Postmodern Children’s Ministry" by Ivy Beckwith… Well its not really a review so much as the main points that really stood to me somewhat kinda… a bit…

I have been insterested in Postmodernism in relation to Ministry ever since hearing Leonard Sweet speak at a conference. He since has become one of my favourite authors and the topic of Postmodernism one of my favourites. So it was with interest that I saw Ivy Beckwith’s book at Koorong in Sydney. I am no book reviewer, so I will mostly focus on key points that really stood out to me.

Key Points:

1. The Foundation of Faith.
"Often the work that happens in the church nursery is seen as little more than baby-sitting. No wonder it’s hard to find committed volunteers! The cargivers in our church nurseries need to know that they are doing much more than helping parents". (Pg. 45)

- It’s leadership 101… Your team NEEDS to know that they are serving a cause much bigger than themselves. If not retention rates will plummet and you will find yourselves with new leaders each year.

2. Evangelizing Children.
“The school-age years are the time that many churches and parachurch organizations advocate the aggressive evangelization of children… Unfortunately, once the prayer is prayed, parents and religious education leaders often breaethe a sigh of relief. "Whew! That one’s taken care of."… But parents and churches whoe are truly interested in the positive soul care of the child will not be as concerned about this one-time experience as they will about the ongoin immersion of the child in the things of God and Jesus.”; (Pg. 62)

- Very good point. In our transient culture we may have only a small window of opportunity to impact a child’s life. And so we should seek for that open heart to receive salvation. But for those children who are with us for a significant period of time my goal is to see life change in their attitude and foundations in scripture. Results are found not in the moment of salvation, but often in the moment of transformation, when you see a child respond differently to the way they once would have. It took me two years with one child in our children’s ministry to see a change in their participation in worship. Just last weekend for the first time thay truly connected with Christ in worship.

3. The family factor.
“Family is everything to a child. Family is the first palce a child forms and experiences relationships. It is a child’s first experience of community. Family is where a child learns language and motor skills and where she develops her first view and understanding of the world. Family is the first place a child experiences love, intimacy, forgiveness, and physical care. Conversely, family can also be the place where a child experiences her first emotional violence, neglect, indifference, and physical hurt”;. (Pg. 101)

- Our ministry MUST include the family, otherwise our effectiveness is stunted. Every parent wants the best for their child, they are interested and motivated to see their spiritual development progress. Somehow, show your parents what you do… impress upon them every single time they come across your ministry that THEIR CHILDREN MATTER! Your hour and a half… or whatever a week cannot compare to their living breathing relationship with their kids. Love their kids and commicate that love to the parents.

David Wakerley

Just finished a year 4 and 5 kids camp on Friday. Had my preaching described as ‘Pixar Preaching’ – Engages the kids attention and cracks up the adults.

Really liked the description.

One of the greatest ways to break through a communication barrier is to use humour with the adults watching. If there are parents or teachers present when you are speaking to a group of kids, tell jokes that the parents get… appeal to their sense of humour and watch their guard drop and they begin to get on your side.