If you’re a ministry leader today, chances are you are navigating the very real tension that exists between empathizing with overwhelmed parents and keeping them engaged in your programming. Everything has changed and you’re likely running out of ideas (and patience…and budget dollars) on how to best support families and not feel like a failure. […]

2020 will be forever branded into our collective memory as the year that changed the course of human history. Seemingly out of nowhere, COVID-19 single-handedly launched our world 50 years into the future and made “virtual“ a leading role in our day-to-day lives. Like it or not, as a church leader, digital became your new default.

We all want volunteers who are not only prepared, but also empowered and excited to engage with the few kids and teenagers God has entrusted to them every week. But let’s face it: Your leaders also have schoolwork, jobs, kids of their own, and/or other volunteer commitments. 

One-on-one connection with kids about their faith is, without a doubt, my favorite part of being a kids’ pastor. It’s within these conversations where I’m given a front-row seat to God’s grace and goodness in their young lives. Now, don’t get me wrong. There are certainly days when getting a child to open up about […]

At the beginning of the year, during one of our Sunday morning huddles, I offered every small group leader a simple challenge. I asked each of them to take a couple minutes after all of their kids had left, and get into the habit of writing a postcard to one kid in their small group. […]

I’ll never forget taking a seat in the corner booth of the café, knots forming in my stomach, not dissimilar to the giant soft pretzels on display. I waited for the familiar ding of my phone to alert me that she had arrived, anxiously pressing my Home button every 30 seconds for what seemed like […]

“Circles are better than rows.” Our church has been one of hundreds who’ve adopted this phrase over the last decade as somewhat of a rally cry for authentic community. For those on staff who lead the next generation, this means that we are going to prioritize relationships when it comes to how we want to organize and structure […]

“You’re telling me my child has to sit in church with me?” “He’s going to be bored out of his mind!” “But Pete is preaching through the book of DANIEL!” “I drove 30 minutes here just for you to tell me there is no Kids Ministry? This is unacceptable.” These are all real, actual statements […]

I’ve been a huge advocate for mentoring for about 10 years and have been blessed to experience being both a mentor and a mentee for the last several. Concurrently, I’ve been working in children’s ministry in the local church and now oversee an elementary ministry that consists of about 300 first-fifth graders and nearly 100 […]

Last year the Internet was nearly broken in half by Moms and Dads who, through gobs of tears, shared a certain lyric video by singer-songwriter, Nichole Nordeman. You know which one I’m talking about. This video beautifully displays the inevitable narrative of how families at key phases of life watch as their children quickly grow […]