5 Strategies for Small Church Children’s Ministry

What do you do when only two kids show up on Sunday, and they’re 4 & 12?

Start by thinking S.M.A.L.L.

Janice hurried through the building checking each of the three classrooms. She’d invested several hours already that week ensuring everything would be ready for the kids. Janice loved the kids of First Church of the Valley; she’d overseen the children’s ministry there for almost two years now and thoroughly enjoyed her part-time position. She had to admit, though, that sometimes she was frustrated, not knowing how many kids might show up or if they’d be preschoolers or preteens. She was often preoccupied by questions about her small children’s ministry: How do I prepare for the unknown? How do I make ministry relevant for just a few kids with such varied ages? And even more important: Is our ministry really effective with this unique group of kids?

Thousands of children’s ministry leaders face these same questions every week. They work incredibly hard to minister effectively to the kids who arrive at their doors. They face the challenging prospect of not knowing how many kids might show up (two or 25?), along with the even bigger challenge of meeting kids’ needs—when the kids are all over the age spectrum. So how do you keep a small church ministry effective and relevant?

You think S.M.A.L.L! Read More