3 Reasons Kids Ministries and Youth Ministries Can Drift from Jesus
Several years ago, I wrote a book with my good friends Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson about Jesus being the center of a local church. We called the book Creature of the Word, the title coming from an old Martin Luther quote where he taught that that when the gospel is rightly declared and applied […]
4 Reminders about Kids Ministry After VBS
We offered VBS at our church last week for kids and families in our church and in our community. Our team did an amazing job serving kids so well, teaching them about Jesus, and giving them an incredibly fun time. Trisha Graves, who built VBS at our church years ago, is a hero as her […]
4 Reasons You Should Consider Teaching or Volunteering in Kids Ministry
Last weekend I was not scheduled to teach in our adult services at Mariners Church so I volunteered to teach Sunday morning in our kid’s ministry. I am so thankful for those who serve in kid’s ministry each week. They make a massive impact on children and their families, and I wanted to be a […]
2 Big Reminders from 2 Weeks with Lots of Kids
This summer approximately 140,000 kids and students will attend one of our student or kids camps or mission trips. We hire 1,000 amazing summer staff who run the events, invest in kids and students, and work extremely hard to serve the kids and student ministries well. Each summer I speak at one of our camps, […]
3 Reasons Kids Ministry Is Important
The last two weeks have provided great reminders to me about why kids ministry is so important. I served as camp pastor at CentriKid camps for a week. The whole family came and we had a great time. The kids participated in Bible studies, recreation, track times based on their interests, and morning and evening […]
5 Mistakes Church Leaders Make in Their Preschool Ministry
A church’s ministry to preschool children is extremely important in building a strong foundation of faith for the children and in reaching and ministering to young families. Preschool ministry is a mission-critical ministry of the church in that it invests in families at a critical juncture in the lives of both parents and children. Because […]
Values, the Vine, and Kids Ministry
In children’s ministry, teaching children how to behave can seem attractive. I know this personally, as sometimes I just want my kids to behave, obey their mom, and be sweet to our friends. Teaching children values and virtues to pursue and emulate can be really appealing. I mean—who would say they do not want their […]