Planning a Well-Balanced Childhood Ministry

Written by Carrie Beth Tonks

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As a Christian, young woman, wife, mom and minister, I long to have balance in my life. How do we approach a balance as we plan for children's ministry? Long ago, a wise teacher taught me to look at children's ministry as a triangle. The three sides of the triangle are children, teachers and parents, with each needing ministry and attention.

Children
Jesus loved children! As we plan our ministry and recruit our teachers, it is important to look for those who truly love children and want to spend time building relationships with them.

• Sunday School Fellowships. Set a goal for each department to have a fellowship once each quarter. Plan simple, inexpensive activities like a fall hike with sack lunches following the worship service on Sunday.
  
• Care4Kids Groups. Ask every department director to meet with their teachers and assign Care4Kids groups. Obtain a copy of each of these group assignments so that you may channel ministry information to specific leaders. You may want to plan a training session for the children's division to help teachers understand how to reach and minister to the children in their group.
  
• Special Days. When Sunday School teachers plan fun, Bible-learning activities, children naturally want to come to Sunday School. You can plan special days each quarter to build excitement. These give teachers a great opportunity to contact children and give the children a good excuse to bring friends! Special days also allow teachers and children to build better relationships. Some examples are Friend Day, Super Summer Day and Super Sunday (on the day of the Super Bowl in January).

Parents and Guardians
It starts at home! God gave parents the responsibility of being their child's primary spiritual teacher (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Our job at church is to partner with parents to help them in this important task.

• Letter to Parents. Ask departments to write a letter to parents at the beginning of the Sunday School year. Their letters might include an introduction to teachers, along with a little biographical information on each; information about Bible material for the first unit; ways parents can help their child in Sunday School; gratitude for the opportunity to teach their children.
  
• Open House. Plan an open house to introduce parents to the children's Sunday School area. Send invitations to all parents and guardians. Ask departments to display Bible-learning activities. Arrange for simple refreshments.
  
• Holiday Helps. Help parents keep Christ in their Christmas and Easter celebrations by designing some holiday helps for families. Create a calendar for December and the month of Easter with family ideas or Scripture to read each day.

Teachers
As a minister of children, I cannot teach all of the children that come to our church. I need to make sure that I support and minister to those who volunteer to teach, serve and minister to the girls and boys. Children's leaders need and deserve opportunities to grow and develop as leaders as well as recognition, affirmation and encouragement in their ministry with children.

• Fall Training Event. Plan a training event for children's leaders around an appreciation breakfast or lunch. Use a survey with your teachers about what topics they feel would help them to grow.
  
• Birthday Dinners. Secure a list of all children's leaders' birthdays. Invite leaders and their spouses to your home for dinner according to their months of birth.
  
• Ongoing Ministry and Check-Up Lunches. Minister to children's leaders as they experience times of crisis in their lives. Celebrate with them as they experience times of joy. Arrange to have lunch a couple of times a year with each department director to check-up on ways you might better minister to their needs, encourage their spiritual growth and help them develop as a teacher.

The child, the teacher and the parent: our ministry is well balanced when we plan to minister to them all.

Carrie Beth Tonks is the minister of childhood education at Calvary Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky.

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