Is Your Ministry Moving Forward or Just Staying Busy?
I’d been serving at one church for a few years. I’d put in the systems the children’s ministry needed the most, most of my volunteer positions were filled, and I was happy with the way things were going. Kids were getting saved and baptized. Visitor flow was good. Outreaches were well attended. I felt like I could just sit back and relax. Which we all need to do from time to time.
But the problem comes when we take our foot of the gas for too long.
3 More Midweek Service Alternatives
In kidmin, there is a lot of help out there for Sunday mornings and events. But there is one recurring event that churches all over the country deal with that seems to be silent.
Midweek.
You think you’re called to ministry. Now what?
One question I’m asked often is what should you do when you’re called to ministry? I understand the question. There are a lot of different ways to get started. And it’s not always clear what the next steps are.
What I read in 2025
This year was a huge change for me. Years ago, God called me out of Kidmin into something bigger. Five years later that’s becoming the Lead Pastor at Encounter Church in Toccoa, Georgia.
I’ve found it's hard to maintain reading the quantity and quality of the books I normally read, while teaching full-time. So, I read a lot more fiction this year. Thankfully, making the jump to Lead Pastor in August gave me more time to read what I like.
The Top 5 Posts of 2025
I have many traditions I do this time of the year. One of my favorites is sharing my top read posts for the year.
4 Steps to Create a Parent Survey
In the new year, there are new initiatives, ministries, and programs we want to do. It’s all part of setting ministry goals for the next year.
But before we set off on those adventures, it’s important to look back and evaluate what we’ve done in the past. One of the things we must consider when looking back is the opinions of the people we’re serving.
Kids Bible Buying Guide for 2025
I frequently see questions about what kind of Bible to get kids. While there may not be perfect Bible out there for your kids, some are certainly better than others. It can be confusing with so many different translations and Bible types. I want to help you make the best decision possible.
Level Up Your Leadership: The 3 Stages of Delegation
Being in leadership is tough. There are so many things pulling on you, it’s hard to know where to put your focus. And if you’re in kidmin it’s no different. If you’re a children’s director or pastor, then you are a leader. And not just of children but of volunteers, parents, and staff.
No matter who you are or how productive you are, there are only so many hours in a day. Which means you can only do so much. So how can you get all the things you need to get done and still manage some kind of work/life balance?
The key is to delegate.
4 Steps to Launching a Kidmin Check-In System
One of the biggest questions parents ask when they drop off their little one is “will my kids be safe?” We don’t like to talk about all the bad things that can happen to our kids. But spending just a few minutes watching the news or scrolling through social media can make you scared of your own shadow.
As a result, we in kidmin, have to keep our kids safe and project that safety to our current parents and guests. One of the best ways to do this is to provide check-in for your kids.
4 Christmas Songs for your Kidmin
It’s almost Christmas time! While the world is ready for Mariah Carey to defrost, we in the kidmin world are busy getting ready for the season. One of the big questions for Christmas prep is what songs to sing.
4 Ways to Call Parents During Service and Which is Best
You’re in the nursery. You’re doing the best you can with a bunch of kids. But one kid is not having it. They’re inconsolable. The only thing you can do is get the parents. But the problem is they are in the service, and you’re in the nursery.
How do you let them know their kid needs them? You don’t want to disrupt the rest of the service or embarrass the parent. What’s the best way?
4 Steps to Strategic Volunteer Recruiting
One of the problems any ministry faces, especially kidmin, is recruiting. There always seems to be a lack of volunteers. What’s worse, if you don’t actively recruit regularly, you’ll find yourself doing ministry all alone.
So how do you recruit? How do you get people to join your team regularly? How do you find these people?
Fall Festival Planning: 4 Essential Steps Before the Big Day (Part 1)
One of the big three events almost every kidmin leader leads is a Fall Festival. While this event can be a lot of work, it’s never been as difficult as putting together a VBS. Planning a one night 3-hour event is far easier than a 5, three hour events in sequence.
How to Handle Parents Who Want to Stay in Kidmin
There’s a common problem we all run into in kidmin. The parent wants to stay with their child. What do we do? Do we let the parent stay the whole time? 15 minutes? Say no? Do they need to fill out a background check? What about other parents? What about the kids?
5 Steps to Transition Your Kidmin to Small Groups
What does your Sunday morning service look like? Do you have Sunday School and a Kids Service (Large Group)? Large group with a small group component? Just Large group?
Many churches fall into one of those three buckets. Since any successful children’s ministry needs to have some kind of discipleship element, we need to seriously consider how we do that.
How to Help Kids Find Their Calling
I believe God calls all of us to a specific purpose. He invites us into his plan to expand his kingdom. He equips us with gifts, talents, and characteristics to fulfill his purposes. That calling may change over time, but he still has a plan.
That calling doesn’t have a start date either.
4 Steps to Get to Know New Volunteers
I’ve talked about onboarding volunteers before. It’s one of my most popular posts. And while getting your new volunteers the tools and resources they need are essential, there are some questions you need to answer before you plug them in.
4 Ways to Identify Your Kidmin Volunteers
There are a lot of things you can do to communicate to parents that their kids will be safe. But one of the best ways to make it easy to identify who is a volunteer and who is not.
Developing a Ministry Lead Team
One simple truth about leading in church is that you’re not going to be there forever. It may be hard to think about the day you will leave, but it is a simple reality. You will leave. Either you feel the Lord calling you somewhere else, you will retire, or you will die. There will come a time when you’re no longer the leader of your ministry.
The best thing you can do for your church and your current leaders is to prepare them for this eventuality. But how do you do that?
5 Essential Components to a Ministry Resume
How did you get your ministry job? Were you a faithful volunteer that worked your way into a job? Were you an outside hire that found your way through relationship? Or did you find a lead on a job board somewhere and landed where God wanted you to be?
In any case, there is one document that you need to at least get your foot in the door.
Your Resume.
