4 Questions You Need to Ask to Make Your Kids Ministry Successful

Although COVID-19 caught us by surprise, it’s no surprise that God has been laying the foundation for the Church to respond to this challenging crisis long before it happened.

As the Church, we have always known that constraints breed innovation and we recognize that there are many things we can learn in this season that will outlast the current crisis. Kids pastors have a unique opportunity to engage families in new ways and give parents the confidence to lead their kids from home.

Our mission to lead kids to become fully devoted followers of Christ is not dependent on a physical meeting place. 

Even though the way we meet has changed, we can still connect with families in meaningful ways. Our mission to lead kids to become fully devoted followers of Christ is not dependent on a physical meeting place.

With that in mind, here are four questions your kids ministry can ask and answer as we connect with families in this new season:

1. How do we create an online experience for kids? 

At Life.Church, we have always provided video elements for families to view during the week, but we had to ask ourselves “How are we able to provide a more complete church experience for kids while meeting online?” Our Content team hit the studio to create full-length video services for four different age groups that include age-appropriate messages, worship, interactive elements and more. The best part? An emcee facilitates the service and prompts parents when it’s time to ask follow-up questions with their kids. 

We love hearing stories of parents who are growing in their confidence and courage to lead their kids spiritually in such an easy way. Want to take it a step further? Post challenges during the week, like memorizing the weekly verse or learning dance moves from a worship song so that parents can continue the conversation with their kids. If you are lacking the margin to create online experiences for your kids, no problem! We created this content with you in mind.

2. How do we invite people to online experiences? 

Our staff gathered contact lists from our church database and are personally calling every family that has attended our locations over the past year. Not only does this provide the opportunity to touch base with families for any prayer or specific needs, we are also able to invite them to our Church Online and LifeKids Online experiences. 

We are loving the creativity that we have seen from our attendees to spread the word about online experiences for those who do not attend church. From chalking links on neighborhood sidewalks to tagging friends and family members in social media posts, we are more digitally evangelistic than we have ever been! 

3. How do we provide relational connections for families?

A simple way that we can create community within our families is through a parent Facebook group. We have been able to share helpful articles and YouVersion Bible Plans that connect parents with one another to share advice and show them other ways to connect with their kids for the purpose of learning more about Jesus. Volunteer leaders are also able to write postcards or send video messages to the kids in their class so that they can stay connected.

4. How do we stay connected to our volunteer leaders? 

There are many great resources and platforms available that allow you to stay connected with your volunteer leaders. Facebook groups, GroupMe, Zoom, YouVersion Plans, e-mail, or even a personal phone call are all great ways you can reach out. Our LifeKids Pastors have loved continuing their weekly huddles over Facebook Live to connect leaders to each other and challenge them with ways to connect with kids from their small group. 

Just because you are not meeting in person does not mean you can’t still invite people to personally engage in God’s Word.

Through this time of changes, kids pastors can bring some normalcy back to a child’s life. Remember, just because you are not meeting in person does not mean you can’t still invite people to personally engage in God’s Word.