Raising Mission Heat in Kids’ Ministry (Part 2)
7/08/24
Things to help raise mission heat
In the first article in this two-part series we unpacked the heart of the child that is on mission. We started by exploring the characteristics of children who get mission and that we can disciple young people to grow in this way. In part two we will explore some actionable strategies that you can try in your kids’ program to help raise the mission heat. Here are seven things (in no particular order) that you can be doing in your kids’ ministry groups to help turn up the dial on mission amongst the children that you lead.
Pray for kids’ friends
Do you make it a regular habit in your kids’ ministry to pray for the friends of the children who are there? Make it a regular habit of praying for people who don’t know Jesus. Not just in the abstract, but by name.
Celebrate the invite, not the attendance
I was leading a kids’ ministry years ago where one boy invited all 27 of the kids in his year 3 class to our mid-week kids club. Do you know how many came? None. Not one.
But he had a heart for mission. He had a heart for the kids around him to hear the gospel.
Celebrate the new kids that turn up. But even more celebrate the kids who are out there inviting others.
Notice the kids’ that are gifted welcomers
Are there children (or a particular group of children) in your group that have the welcoming spirit about them? That is, are they able and willing to engage with someone new? Have a conversation with them over a few weeks helping them to see that they can serve within the children’s group by being your ‘new child welcoming’ team. Welcoming is not just for the adult service, have kids who are welcomers as well. Then when a new family comes, introduce the new child to your welcoming team and have them connect and spend time together that morning.
Have an expectation that there will be new people
Ever been caught off guard when a new family arrives? We pray for them, we hope and dream for them, we ask kids to be inviting their friends. But then when they actually arrive are you ready? Have an expectation that every week there will be someone new. This means having systems in place for registration, ways of clearly communicating with families what the structure of the group is, who is in charge, where the bathrooms are etc. If we don’t expect that there will be new people, then we are caught off guard when they arrive and we are left scrambling to make sure that they are comfortable and welcomed
Have events that are geared towards inviting friends
Events have a place in the mission to young people. They are catalytic moments that provide high points throughout a year that children can be encouraged to invite friends to in a unique way. Whether it is week-long holiday programs, single day events or just ‘special’ nights in regular programing, events provide moments for children to be invited to.
Have clear and achievable next steps for kids
Having said the previous point, single events are not enough. There must be an actionable (the child or family must know what to do) and achievable (they must be realistic for the child or family to make) next step after the event. What is the goal of running an event? The goal will determine the next steps, but what is the follow-up invite after the event?
For the holiday kids club, is there something that the child can come to in the next couple of weeks? The invite from the holiday club to the mid-week kids club to the special Easter event to the regular Sunday service is both clear and achievable for families.
A one-off event that the only next step is a Sunday service might be clear, but is it achievable? The single day holiday program that a child attends for the first time to the family attending on a Sunday is a big jump.
In the image above, the event to Sunday service is a clear next step but probably too far. The event with, “We’d love to see you again…” leave people wondering what they are meant to do. Have a look at the image with the ‘Actionable and achievable’ diagram. The ‘Event’ that sits at the start of the three steps, that each feed into the next, with each increasing the engagement of both the child and the family, provides a clear and achievable pathway to the new family connecting with the wider local church.
As you run events, what are the steps that need to be in place to help with that progression?
Partner with families
Finally, mission to and with children must be done in partnership with families. For every invite that is made in the school playground or on the sporting field, it is the parents/carers who have the final say if the friend will accept the invitation. The invitation from child to child is great and necessary, but possibly even more importantly is the conversation between the parents/carers of the two children that engages the new family in being willing to bring their child along. I know of at least one family who intentionally bought a car (not an expensive one) that had two more seats than they had children with the express purpose of being able to bring their kids’ friends to church groups. This is not achievable for everyone (nor is it what I’m suggesting for everyone) but as we partner with families who get mission we will see kids who are on mission and new people connecting with Jesus.
In these two articles we have seen the way in which young people can be engaged in God’s mission to seek and save the lost. We start with the type of child who understands and ‘gets’ mission. Before events or programs, it is the mission heart of the children in our churches that must be growing and developing as they serve Jesus on mission where they are. As young people grow in their mission heart, the temperature for mission in both our children’s groups and our churches will be dialed up. As their heart grows for the families, neighbours and friends, we want our churches to be places where they can invite their friends to come and join with the people of God.
