7 Things to Stop Doing Now

7 things to stop doing now in your ministry

Some of these things you might be doing because that’s the way it’s always been done at your Church, or you never stepped back and asked “why do we do this?” Blind spots are very real and this list might open your eyes to a few of them or you may disagree completely and continue doing them with renewed vigour and that’s great because at least you will be doing them purposefully.

7. Stop guessing.
Whatever gets measured gets done. If you want an area to grow or develop you have to quantify it.
Years ago we did some digging into our attendance at Church and discovered a few vital statistics.
– 75% of our families come during a three week period.
This caused us to reimagine just what our curriculum looks like. In short we now cover a topic for three weeks at a time which give maximum exposure to as many kids as possible. You can see me talk about this in this video Season 2 Curriculum Promo
So stop guessing and measure it and if it’s something tricky to quantify like discipleship for example, talk with your senior leadership and get wisdom into just how they would measure it.

6. Stop being jealous.
No matter what size or style Church you are everyone gets envious. As a user of multi-purpose rooms I get incredibly jealous of friends in ministry with their own full-time, only kids can use them, just plain showing off, Disney-style, quite frankly unnecessary, I mean who needs a screen that big, now you’re being ostentatious, purpose built, testament to mans arrogance in the face of an all powerful God, but yet still beautiful facilities!
So yeah… Run your own race or whatever.

5. Stop doing it all yourself.
I spoke to a new ministry leader once who had come from a teaching background. We were chatting and she was asking for advice about what to focus on. She mentioned that she was writing the curriculum each week for the Sunday service. I told her that was a terrible idea. If she continues doing that then at the end of a year she will have 52 lessons and no team. But if she realised that if her 52 weeks were filled with team building and volunteer training, then after a year she will have an group of people who can then take on the awesome task of writing their own curriculum.

4. Stop putting your trust in curriculum.
Now don’t get me wrong, you should all be using Hillsong Kids BiG curriculum available at hillsongstore.com, but it’s a tool in your hand not the whole toolbox. Your toolbox is Christ and it’s full of the fruit of the spirit and spiritual gifts of not only you but the team around you. Seriously, curriculum never saved anyone, but it certainly can be used by God to steer someone in the right direction.
Just like graduating university doesn’t guarantee anyone a career, a child completing your take home sheet every week does not a follower of Jesus make.

3. Stop being so serious.
It’s said a lot around our parts… Church is meant to be enjoyed not endured. It’s a paradox but the more intense, stressed and tense you are the worse you communicate. And your job as a kids pastor is basically communication. You’re joining with what God is doing in the lives of kids and families and reinforcing and encouraging them in their relationship with Him.
If kids are having fun they learn better, they relate better, they live better.

2. Stop sending home bits of paper.
Now I will admit that we still do this most weekends. But it’s a lot less than we have in the past and it’s always a supplement, not the main form of communication. You have social media now, you have the amazing tool of group texting for very low cost, you have YouTube and you have volunteers to get the word out. Stop it.

1. Stop taking a break over summer.
What? Your kids ministry stops over the summer and then launches again when school begins? You are not an educational institution. It may be part of what you do, but you are the Church! A family of people doing life together. If you behave like an institution then don’t be surprised when your families treat you like one. This may be normal and accepted in your denomination or network of churches but it shouldn’t be. Take a long look at why you do this and stop being a school and start being the church.