Children’s Ministry Leadership

How many times have you thought, “My pastor just doesn’t get it” or “my pastor just doesn’t care about kids’ ministry”?  Do you struggle with feeling supported by your pastor? I think we all do from time to time, and some of us feel that way all the time.  Most pastors are not wired in … Read more

Do you need a sample job description for a children’s minister? Then check out our basic template below.  It is easily customizable for your church or situation. For example, you might include more specific duties and lines of accountability. Please leave a comment below to share your own ideas for making it even better. Position: … Read more

Choosing curriculum is a huge decision. There are so many options and there can be so many different facets to consider.  Publishers always put their best foot forward, but how do you know if their materials are best for your church?  Here are some important questions to ask as you evaluate curriculum. 1.  Do you … Read more

Last week a reader asked us for advice on comforting a mourning child. She wrote about her close friend and ministry leader who was dying from cancer – they expected the Lord to call her home this week. She asked, Do you have any material that would help us deal with this loss to our children? … Read more

“Can you hear me now?” was made famous by cell phone commercials, but do you often feel like asking that to the parents in your ministry?  It causes great frustration when we have important information to share and we feel that no one is hearing us. Sometimes, though, we cause our own problems.  The follow … Read more

In today’s world we have more options than ever for how to communicate.  However, does it ever feel to you like it is harder than ever to get your message through? We have discovered that one of the greatest challenges is that each of the parents in our ministry pays attention to different modes of … Read more

You know who I’m talking about. They’ve been called stuffed shirts, God’s chosen frozen, and the criticism committee. I would discourage such phrases, but these change resistant church members can have a chilling effect on your ministry. Many a youth pastor, children’s director, and preacher has cowered before their glaring eyes. They secretly question your leadership, withhold their support, and … Read more

Continuing my Benefits of Hindsight series, I would like to suggest seven habits which can create highly insecure and ineffective children’s pastors. In my years of ministry I have witnessed all of them, and I also have been guilty of a few. So, as you read the list and think about the implications, imagine my voice as … Read more

A few years ago I wrote a letter to the parents of my church to inform them of our head lice policy. While head lice is not a glamorous topic, it can present very real problems. And I don’t simply mean the head scratching kind! If one or more children show up to church with head … Read more

Late in 2010 I resigned as Children’s Pastor from the church where I served for fifteen years. It concluded thirty years of being involved in some form of children’s work, mostly in the local church. In my previous church, one of only two where I have been on staff, I was an elder and Children’s … Read more