Building a Children's Work in a Church Plant

About the Author -

Adrian Horner has been at Open Door Church, Kettering for five years, and he now leads the church.

This Article

Friday, 20 March, 2009 - 16:13

As a primary school teacher, deputy head teacher and advisor, Adrian has gathered years of experience and carries a passion to see children hearing from God and experiencing His love. This article communicates his desire to see quality children's work in churches.

On our family’s first Sunday at our new church plant we managed to double the ‘Sunday school’ and youth work with our two children and 1 teenager!  Although we felt conspicuous, it was clear that God had called us as a family and we knew that included each one of us! Now, five years later with around twenty ‘under 20s’ each week, the church has a real family feel!

In my experience, children’s work evolves over time. Those who lead the children’s work at the start may move on to serve elsewhere. However, new giftings will emerge and a team will develop however slowly. Be patient it takes time!

Helpful principles when building kids work

Recruit someone capable of laying a good foundation with the children.
People work most fruitfully within their gifting.  Finding a leader for the kid’s work is as important as many of the other ministries within a church plant.  Once the leader has been identified, it may be helpful to produce a rota of willing parents as support for them. Parents and children alike need to be included and cared for within the church’s vision.

Talk with the children and families to build a sense of purpose and mission.
Explain that their input is vital to the success of the church. Show that children can be part of the mission too! Encourage vision and faith to invite their friends along.

Motivate the children to pray for their friends.
Hold parties for the core families to invite other families. Work through the children to build community links.

Build and encourage your team.
Spend time with your children’s worker(s). They will be feeling the growing pains of a new church too! Let them know you are praying for them and invite them in a leaders’ meeting or two.

Recruit your team on a short term basis.
Some of those you gather will not have previous experience serving children. This may be their opportunity and they won’t know if they are gifted unless they test the call. Give opportunity for fresh faces to encounter children and give training.  It’s equally important to make sure that those who aren’t gifted don’t feel bound to serving in this area.

Know your own gifting in this area.
My background is as a primary teacher so I love to spend time with children. However, many may want to run a mile after three minutes with a six year old! If children’s work is not your strength, talk to someone who has experience in this area. There are a number of children’s workers who are extremely capable and who could give you support and advice.

Plan ways to honour those who serve the church.
I like to send a small card to people to thank them for their work. I also like to mention workers by name on a Sunday, and pray for them on occasions before the children go out.

Be flexible with age groups.
Consider adapting age groups for the suitability of those who are coming. In the early stages it may be good to include the toddlers in some of the children’s activities too. A crèche will come in time but in these early days it’s often a sense of the more the merrier!

Create a sense of fun.
We do value good doctrine, but in the big scheme of things, preparing kids for a relationship with Jesus through games and fun is more important. Kids love parties. Many love action and adventure. Beware of making your kids’ work into another morning of ‘school’.

Worship with a CD.
Or even teach them to sing unaccompanied! God doesn’t need a full PA and band for children to worship Him. Simple songs for the youngest to learn by rote can include good doctrine too!

Welcome the Holy Spirit.
He loves all of His church even if there are only three of you in the room.

Make the attendance at your nearest Together at… event a priority.

Nothing encourages more than children meeting with many others of a similar age.

Budget for children’s work from the start.
Do the children need further quality resources? Have you asked those working with them what they need?

Can you access resources from a larger church?
When we moved to Kettering we brought with us three years of material from our sending church. This was a real cost saver and we knew and trusted the material.

Legally, those working with under 16s must be CRB checked.
Whatever the size of your church this must be done. A good place to start is CCPAS (Churches Child Protection Advisory Service) http://www.ccpas.co.uk/ CCPAS is a national organisation which will give you all the support you need to set up clear policies and procedures for a reasonable cost.

Great ideas for kids work from:
www.scriptureunion.org.uk provides quality paper and web resources.
www.familyministry.co.uk provides wide variety of material for all ages.
www.kidology.org and www.childrensministry.com have a wealth of material (U.S. based but much is applicable here).

Adrian Horner can be contacted at opendoor.church@ntlworld.com if you’d like to talk though any of the issues raised in this article.

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