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A group of children and volunteers gather in a children's ministry classroom.
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How to Build a Children’s Ministry From the Ground Up

I’ve built a children’s ministry from the bottom up. Six years ago, our church had two children in preschool and four in the combined elementary Sunday school class, no midweek program, and only two or three kids in the children’s church. Today 100 children fill our children’s program.

How could we have had so few children six years ago and over 100 today? There were several key steps we took. Here are the steps you can also take to build your children’s ministry.

Six Steps to Building Your Children’s Ministry

Pray.

Seek God’s will in prayer and share your prayerful concern and vision with others. Pray weekly with interested people about your children’s ministry.

Count the cost.

Luke 14:28 says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? (NIV)” Building a children’s ministry will cost you and your congregation time, money, and emotions. Don’t start without considering whether you’re willing to pay the price.

Develop your goals and philosophy.

Any basic philosophy of children’s ministry should address the needs of children and their relationship to Christ. As you develop your philosophy, consider children’s four basic needs: love and acceptance, security, varied and meaningful activities with choices, and realistic, consistent behavior expectations and discipline.

Establish goals and objectives of your children’s ministry.

Brainstorm the necessary goals and objectives to fulfill your philosophy. Objectives need to be unique to fit your church. They also need to be reachable, measurable, understandable, specific, and realistic. Prioritize each objective.

Dream big but live in reality.

Look with growth eyes. Dream and catch a vision. One important lesson to learn is that the success or failure of your children’s ministry depends on your ability to refashion your dreams to fit reality! Some dreams may be accomplished right away, but some may take a year or two. Some may never be accomplished. You’ll have to modify your dreams. It’ll take time and patience.

Plan your program.

How will each objective be accomplished? Who’ll be responsible? What facilities are necessary? What supplies are needed? Who’ll supply what? Who do you need to coordinate with? How will you publicize? What’s the time line? Establish a completion date for each detail of preparation.

Building Your Children’s Ministry Bit by Bit

One of my first programs was a midweek children’s program. There were a lot of choices and activities for the children. We then started a weekly summer event for children. From these simple programs, a variety of children’s programming grew: Sunday school, camps, vacation Bible school, day camps, after-school care, children’s choir, and outreach events.

But we didn’t start these all at once. We built one new program at a time. Follow these three guidelines as you build:

Quality produces quantity. It’s important to run an excellent program no matter how small the program is at first.

Quantity makes it possible for even more quality! An even higher quality ministry is possible with larger numbers if the leaders are careful to maintain quality.

Quantity that doesn’t include the highest quality will be counterproductive! If you seek numbers only and can’t maintain the highest standard of excellence, your ministry will diminish.

Choose your curriculum.

In choosing good curriculum, ensure sound biblical teaching combined with student discovery. If the curriculum has the teacher talking the entire time, avoid it. The subject matter should be relevant to kids’ lives. And kids should be excited about the activities they’re asked to do. Explore many curriculums to discover the best one for you.

Set up your schedule.

Ask yourself: When will each event occur? Will it conflict with other programs? Where will the event happen? Is the location suited for the program? What coordination do we need? What planning and publicity are necessary? Place dates on the master church calendar to guard against overscheduling and scheduling conflicts.

Recruit children’s ministry staff.

Simply listing personnel needs and asking for volunteers from the pulpit may produce no response or may produce volunteers who lack qualifications and fitness. It might be just as effective to run down the aisle on Sunday morning, grab “just anyone” amid protest, and hurry them off to a class.

I’ve found several simple steps helpful in the recruitment process. Develop clearly written job descriptions and prayerfully search for people to match needs. Present the challenge and give time for potential volunteers to observe the program in action. Allow people time to seek God’s leading. Finally, ask for a decision and provide pre-service and ongoing in-service training.

Take care to discover, motivate, recruit, and train workers if the important ministries of children in the church are to be Christ-honoring and life-molding.

Arrange transportation.

You can begin with parent-driven cars or simply use your own vehicle. As our group increased, we rented small vans and finally chartered buses. Don’t go anywhere without insurance and signed parental permission slips. We have a standard form printed on card stock and prepared by a law firm. We keep all forms in one notebook and take them on every trip.

Prepare your facilities.

Start with what you have, even if you have only one small room. Clean the room and make the bulletin boards look nice. Take pictures of all events and have unique pictures enlarged as posters to adorn the walls.

Your classroom can also be used as a recreation room. Add some small table games and inexpensive Foosball and air hockey games. We now have a children’s recreation room filled with games and a video room with over 100 Christian videos. A retired librarian in our church has also added a full children’s library.

Coordinate publicity.

Take pictures at all events. Send brightly colored fliers and, of course, encourage word of mouth. Take advantage of every opportunity to publicize. I visited the local school district office and obtained a free distribution-of-materials permit. Then I printed 5,000 fliers to give to students in every elementary school in our city!

Establish a children’s ministry budget.

What supplies and materials do you need, and where will they come from? Where will the money come from? If you have a church board or laity trapped by a fear of change, be patient. Change takes time. Remember that today’s traditions were once someone’s dreams. Today’s dreams may become tomorrow’s traditions.

Begin with simple everyday items for your supplies to keep costs down. Paper plates, bags, string, and empty cans and jars are easy ways to make projects that cost very little. Be creative. Let your imagination run. Excellence and money aren’t necessarily the same thing. Many times the best learning activities cost nothing!

Evaluate your children’s ministry.

Continuously evaluate every program. Have regular staff evaluations. Give parents a simple one-page sheet to anonymously give input. And get input from your children, too. They give input in two ways: First, they give feedback simply by their presence! Happy children will be there and will bring friends. Second, ask kids what they like and don’t like. Find out what they enjoy and eliminate the things they don’t. Groups change from year to year. So keep asking questions. Listen to your children, get to know them, and find out what activities they’d like to see added. Constantly look for ways to improve.

David Gallagher is a minister of education in California.

Getting Turned Around

When you’ve already started, what do you do next? Ask yourself these questions. Then choose two areas to work on that need change.

  1. How much weekly prayer time do I spend for my children’s ministry? Is that enough? Why or why not?
  2. Have I shared my dreams and vision for children’s ministry with lay people in my church? — The names of people I’ve shared my vision with: — The names of my prayer support group: — Where and when we meet (or plan to meet):
  3. Do I have a clear statement of my children’s ministry philosophy?
  4. What are my objectives for the coming months? for the next five years?
  5. What existing program(s) do we have for children?
  6. Which of these programs is most effective? least effective?
  7. Can something be done to improve the ineffective programs, or should they be cut? Explain.
  8. What are some new children’s programs I’d like to see in the next year?
  9. How would I rate our current curriculum?
  10. How can I involve parents in transportation and evaluation?
  11. Who are potential volunteers who could observe and be trained in our children’s ministry?
  12. How can we expand our outreach?
  13. How can we improve our facility? our publicity?
  14. What is our current children’s ministry budget, and how can it be better used?
  15. Am I involving parents, children, and staff in the evaluation process? If not, how can I do this better?

Want more articles for children’s ministry leaders? Check these out.

18 thoughts on “How to Build a Children’s Ministry From the Ground Up

  1. Very encouraging for your work

  2. lalboi singsit

    I want to start a ministry in an urban city, I want your suggestions and valuable advices

  3. Thank you for being a vessel God can and does use. Be Blessed.

  4. Chrissie John

    I want to start a children’s ministry in PNG and need some assistance here.thanks

    • Christine Yount Jones

      Chrissie,
      That’s wonderful to hear! We have a lot of great resources on our site.

  5. yesoph perla

    I have a great desire to start a children ministry in my village from India according to God’s plans,but I am a poor.My family is homeless becouse we are rejected ones by our own Hindu cast people and relatives.but have great faith in God that God can rise us.My elder two brothers are pastors in local villages but in needy,and I have completed my B.Th .So can u give me any suggestions plz. .I HOPE.

    • Christine Yount Jones

      Yesoph,
      God bless you in your journey! We often have no idea what our brothers and sisters are enduring for Christ around the world. Please see all the articles on childrensministry.com. They’re free and come from 25 years of Children’s Ministry Magazine. If there is something you want to know that’s not covered on this website, please let us know!

  6. Pastor Barsino Bubu, Jr.

    Great!
    I’ve never been thinking about the success of ministry to be embedded right within the Children’s Ministry. I now believe that by focusing on Children’s Ministry can enlarge the Church.
    Thanks.

  7. Our church has tried several different children’s ministries, but we can’t get kids to come. When you say to print lots of flyers to send out, who do you send them out to? We have tried posting them all over town, in stores and libraries, taking out newspaper ads, and the local magazine for children’s activities. Our school district will not publicize anything religious. Can you help us think of some fresh, new ways to get the word out, please?

    • Christine Yount Jones

      Susan,
      Have you thought about using social media/online ads/your church website? In the end, there’s nothing like a personal invitation. How can you encourage the kids and families you have to bring their friends? I’d say put the fliers in your members’ hands to hand out to their neighbors and friends. Personal is the strongest and most lasting connection.

  8. Sharon Ambrize DeBose

    Great article, thank you!

  9. girlyn delfin

    this material is really profitable and helpful for me because this february i will going to start my children or AWANA kids..after a almost 3 years that i ill stop it beacuse of the pandemic..please pray for volunteer teacher and provision..and most of it the Kids will know Christ and share Christ also for others…

    • Sierra Archuleta

      Hello!
      We are so blessed to hear that our content is helpful for your ministry planning. We truly hope you and your children’s ministry are successful and we pray that Jesus will bless you and guide you.

  10. Albert C Perkins

    Hi, I’m a Spanish assistant pastor in a Spanish local ministry that includes Sunday school for children, pre tee and teenagers. After the Sunday school for adults and children is done each Sunday I need ideas on what to do when the worship and preaching of the world of God begins for about one hour and half. We are a small church with maybe with an attendance of 50 members.

    Thanks.

    Albert

    • Sierra Archuleta

      Hi Albert,
      Thanks for reaching out, and a big thank you for all your work in children’s ministry, may God continue to work in and bless your ministry. We have a variety of activities and lesson you could use during that time. If you go to our main homepage and click on the “Bible Activities and Sermons tab, you will find many different ideas such as skits, object lessons, games, lessons and more. Our parent company, Group also has a variety of curriculum options that you could also begin to implement in your ministry, there are even lesson books for all ages. Hope this helps!

      https://www.group.com/childrens-ministry/sunday-school/

  11. Isaac Mang'uti

    Greetings

    I am Pastor Isaac Mang’uti from Kenya. I was touched and moved spiritually for the wonderful work that children’s ministry are doing for the Lord. I believe that anybody that touched with this txt and I have the same heart. That’s why I’m so excited to share this exciting ministry opportunity with you.

    Not long ago, God put James 1:27 in my heart, and I took it as a challenge — to explore ways that I could serve the orphans and widows. our ministry is dedicated to rescuing orphans and homeless children and giving them a home, love, education, and a chance to grow up knowing that God loves them and has a purpose for their lives. I am not only making sure that these children have a home and food — but that they’re loved, appreciated, and given the opportunity to grow into the men and women God called them to be.

    I have a home with a small number of children that I can be able to help. I am praying for a way to help more children, and that’s my heart desire. If God provides a way for you to visit these children or to be a blessing to these children, we can be very much thanks
    May God bless you 🙏🙏

    • Sierra Gomez

      Hi Isaac,

      What a blessing it is to hear about your work in your area for orphans and widows. You are truly doing remarkable work and we hope God continues to bless you and your ministry.

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