Developing a Well Balanced Children's Ministry

This past weekend, I witnessed one of the most fantastic things that a children's pastor can see, an auditorium filled with children laughing, screaming, and having the time of their lives. This happened in all three services. What was going on? It was our Thank God Almighty I'm Free at Last weekend where we celebrated the children being free from school for their summer vacation. And boy did we celebrate!

There might be those that would think that this is unscriptural to have such an event during a church service on a weekend. Unscriptural? Are you kidding me? The Psalmist David talked about being glad to go into God’s house. He couldn’t wait to see what would happen!

On our Thank God Almighty weekend, we did have a brief time of praise and worship and I did teach for a couple of minutes before we gave our offerings and then taught from God's Word about the Cross making it possible to be liberated and free from Satan and sin (John 8:36). I never will let an opportunity slip through my fingers and neglect the ministry of the Word. But, I sensed that it was time to take care of a spiritual deficiency in our ministry. It was time to take out a spiritual vitamin to supplement this deficiency, one with a lot of vitamin F (for F-U-N). And so for 45 minutes of our 1 1/2 hours, we pulled their nametags at random from a bucket and allowed those children to compete in Minute to Win It type games and win Bottle Pops for themselves and Blow Pops and Pixie Stix for the audience. And in doing so, our kids left the service with smiles all over their faces and candy to tickle their stomachs!

Why is this important? My Mom always insured that we had a balanced diet. At each meal, our plate consisted of a meat, a couple of vegetables, and a starch. As a children's pastor, I need to insure that my ministry has a balanced diet. After completing a four week series on divine healing and ministering to their spirits and minds, I could sense that we needed to touch another part of the child's needs. It was time to laugh and shout and go crazy. We will do this for our mid-week Bible clubs this Wednesday evening by having our Royal Rangers and Mpact Girls Ministry Clubs leave the classroom setting and head over to the swimming pool at a nearby city park for a couple of hours of swimming and splashing and dunking their children's pastor. Again, is this important? You betcha'!

For a minute, look at your ministries’ diet. Is it time to serve a smaller portion of the meat and vegetables and pile on a heapin’ helping of some calorie loaded starches? Plan ahead and schedule a fun, memory-making weekend. Your kids and staff will thank you for it!

Should you need some ideas for a Thank God Almighty type weekend, send me an email and I’ll share my ideas … billy@billyburnsministries.com.