Searching the “Highways and By-ways” For a Great Team!

Building a team for your ministry!

If you are fortunate enough to have a church that values the training of children, you might have all the help that you need. However, most leaders of children’s ministries that I have talked to are usually desperate for more help. As I was thinking about children’s ministry, one of the biggest problems that we can face is the issue of having enough help.

Some churches require the parents to rotate throughout the month to volunteer in their children’s classes. Other churches have a general volunteer staff that works with the kids every week. I have found that your most valuable advocates in getting enough help is your senior leadership. You would be surprised at how easy it is to get active support by letting them know what is going on with your children’s ministry. This happens effectively by sharing weekly testimonies. As the leaders hear about miracles and healings and how the children are responding to the presence of God, they are brought into your world.

If you believe that your ministry is to provide “child care” so the adults are free to pursue God, so will the church body. If you see your ministry as the preparation of a generation that will take over the world with Jesus it will be easier for the rest of the church to believe that too! It takes time to “train” the adults to realize how amazing a move of God is in the children. Demanding the leaders’ attention is not very effective, but a few strategically placed testimonies will begin to stir up curiosity and then support.

Find a way to make the childrens’ presence known. Maybe ask if you can have a small section of your weekly bulletin or have a place on a foyer bulletin board. Even sending home a written paper with a couple testimonies each week will produce the connection with the main congregation that you are looking for. Ask for a Sunday morning “kids” time, where the children can talk about what God has done for them. Suggest that they help with worship, or share their memory verse. The more you can demonstrate how amazing your kids are, the easier it is to find people who have the same passion for them that you do!

I often hear that people are interested in working with children, but don’t know how and are insecure about knowing what to do. You have a great opportunity to train several generations at the same time. There are some great support/training CDs and DVDs available for them to take home and listen to or watch. People need to be assured that they won’t be tossed into a room full of kids and be expected to be capable of teaching and leading. Start slow. That builds confidence. It is also important to make sure they know exactly what you need from them. That will require some time outside of the classroom.  They can begin with taking roll, or sitting with the new kids, or serving snack. As they get to know the children, you can gently suggest that maybe they teach the memory verse, or a small part of the lesson. Not everyone is a teacher, but there are lots of jobs that will provide care for the kids and take some pressure off of you doing everything.

One of my favorite resources for helpers/team is in the youth department.  They are at an age where just sitting in a church service doesn’t always keep their attention. Teens and pre-teens are just like the rest of us. They want to be valuable in their environment. You will find with this age group that they are eager and capable. Find the teens that are learning to play guitar. Ask them to learn a couple of songs that they can lead the children in. Most teens aren’t intimidated by kids and can begin to find their own training for ministry by playing for the kids. And kids aren’t generally picky about the music being “perfect”, and are excited about the attention from the older “kids”. Teens are capable of leading in games and crafts, and the more spiritual teens can lead in worship, soaking, and even some of the teaching. You might think that you are just inviting more people in to “manage”, but I have found that when you trust and honor the teens and pre-teens, they will rise up to your trust.  If you treat this as though it is a privilege, and not a way to “get out of church,” you might be really surprised at the results.

I used to have the opinion that the kids were the most important people in my world. There will never be any doubt about that, but I have learned (the hard way) that if I will honor my team, my kids get the greatest benefit. People on my team have gifts that I don’t have. When we combine our abilities, no “one” person carries too big of a piece of the ministry and no one is overwhelmed by the job. If you take care of your team, they will gladly work alongside of you. Some of our greatest ideas come from my team. And the combination of strengths has proven to be a blessing to everyone. I have even had many of my team say that Sunday is their favorite day. There isn’t too big of a load on anyone.

I also recommend that you get creative about how to bless your team.  Feature a team member once a month in your class. Let them share about how they found Jesus, what they like to do, etc. You can make a list of questions that they can answer so that the kids really get to know them. Then have the kids pray/prophesy over them. Have a potluck dinner, coffee and doughnuts before class, or even have coffee out with individuals to get to know them personally. Every person needs to know that they are a significant part of your team. That will be up to you and how effective you can be in letting them know that you are blessed and grateful for all they do.

Another “hidden” resource for your classes might be members of the church congregation that have talents. Invite an artist to come in and talk about how God speaks to them through their gift. Have them bring in work, or demonstrate and then teach something simple to the kids. Interaction is key. Kids don’t sit and listen to long lectures very well, but you can gently guide the “speaker” and help them stay “kid” friendly. There are many talented people in your church that would love to share what they do with kids. People who are good at cooking, work with animals, even moms with tiny babies, can talk to kids about how amazing the babies are.  Kids love the variety, and it gives your team a little break in having to teach each week.

I hope these suggestions will help stimulate your brain to find the help, or increase your team.

Blessings,

Deborah

Idea:  Write a thank you letter to your local : police dept., fire dept. to your doctor, to Sunday school teacher or pastor.I recently overheard a conversation between two teachers that are my friends, where they commented on how it was common for them to spend 60 hours a week for their job.  I know that they teach in a private school, and aren’t paid for all of those extra hours, but care deeply for the children that they teach.  I have watched them take piles of schoolwork papers home to grade and work the whole time I visited.  And they are not the only ones that give their time and lives for our children.  It is a wise idea to teach our children to be grateful for those people around them that make their lives safer and better.  The police and firemen may be people that our kids will never meet personally, but when there is trouble it will be these people who will be the ones that come to help!  The doctor, the teacher, the pastor….are all men and women who are in their jobs to make the lives of our children better, safer and more prosperous.  It is always wise to thank those who have helped us, and that is a great idea!  But what about thanking people who haven’t done anything for us personally?  We can train our children to be aware of people in their lives that are there to help them.

We are the ones that bring the subtle things to light for our children.  They will never know about who answers 911 when they have a crisis, if we don’t teach them.  Only one person came back to thank Jesus, after he was healed.  But he is the one that Jesus talks about.  Don’t we want our children to be the ones that Jesus talks about? Selah (stop and think about that one) : )