Take 2.0 Ministry for the Next Generation

I was recently going back through some of my documents (not sure when this was originally written from Bruner) and cleaning some things up and filing some things when I cam across this document that Marshall Bruner had sent out concerning the National Children’s Ministries Agency for the A/G who had polled 100 of the fastest-growing churches, gauged by Sunday morning attendance, to learn how senior pastors prioritize their ministries to children. Below are some comments gathered through that survey (in the original article their average attendance was listed in this article as well. I have removed the numbers due to I am not sure when this article came out, but the comments that were said I still feel were said and felt):

·    Rev. R. Pete Vossler, Crosswinds A/G, Sparks, Nev.: “One mother said, ‘If the Apostle Paul was speaking but there was nothing for my children, I wouldn’t attend.’”

·    Rev. Dustin L. Pennington, Cornerstone Fellowship A/G, Dacula, Ga.: “From the start of our church plant, children have been a priority and have received ‘first fruits,’ not ‘left-overs,’ with funding. We allow the children’s pastor to focus 100 percent of his time and energy on the children. In five years, our church has grown from 12 people to 180 adults and 80 kids on Sunday.”

·    Rev. Larry C. Burton, McArthur A/G, Jacksonville, Ark.: “Our children’s ministries is one of our highest budgeted departments, and we feel strongly that as our children’s ministry grows, so does our church.” (This is my own pastor)

·    Rev. Ronald J. Bontrager, Lakeview Christian Center, Indianapolis, Ind.: “God is giving us a children’s ministry awakening. It is one of our stated objectives for 2005: new building project for kids!”

·    Rev. Kevin M. Brennan, Evangel Church, Scotch Plains, N.J.: “We believe our biggest ‘draw’ is our children’s ministries.”

·    Rev. Bryan D. Koch, Glad Tidings A/G, Reading, Pa.: “New young families with children express their appreciation, with excitement, for our senior pastor’s support for children’s ministry. Our senior pastor helps set the standard in supporting children’s ministry.

·    Rev. W. Donald Barnes, First A/G, Lawton, Okla.: “We feel that children’s ministry should be viewed as one of the premier ministries in the church, if not the number-one most vital part of church growth.”

George Barna, a leading Christian researcher and president of The Barna Group, states in his recent book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions:

“A compelling sign of the significance assigned to children is the existence of a full-blown children’s ministry in virtually every church in the nation…. Yet some signs indicate that children are not a high ministry priority. Among these are the fact that most church leaders we interviewed—pastors, staff and elders—are uninformed as to the spiritual content and practices related to their children’s ministry, and almost none of those church leaders is able to provide specific insights into how satisfactorily the children are maturing in their faith.”

Barna also notes: “Churches experiencing great influence in children’s lives were motivated by the realization that children are of special significance to God. Consequently, those churches employed a long-term, multi-pronged strategy that they tirelessly executed to facilitate the spiritual growth of children.”

I found these comments above kind of refreshing and energizing as often times it may appear that children’s ministry may be one of those most overlooked ministries in the church. But, from those churches that want to grow it sounds like they are grabbing ahold of the fact of how in Gods Kingdom, kids are extremely important.

So how is the importance of your children’s ministry shown at your church?
What kind of long term multi-pronged strategy have you helped set for the spiritual growth of the kids that God has entrusted your church with? How do you advertise it? Track it?