Tag: children’s ministry

Ministry Basics: Selecting Curriculum

Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

This post marks the first in what I hope will be dedicated to help solidify your ministry’s basic (but essential) components.  If you are relatively new to ministry, I pray that these posts will help you successfully build your ministry.  If you are a ministry veteran, I hope that these posts will serve as reminders and points to use in evaluating your ministry’s effectiveness.

Today we’ll look at selecting curriculum.

Photo Credit: www.thebestbrainpossible.com
Photo Credit: www.thebestbrainpossible.com

As a ministry leaders, there are many, many important decisions that you’ll make that will greatly impact your ministry.  Towards the top of the list is the task of selecting curriculum.

There are numerous options to choose from these days.  Video-based; denomination-based; student-led; volunteer-driven.  There are options for an assortment of ministry formats/styles: large group/small group; traditional classroom; Sunday school; mid-week; urban; children’s church; digital; printed.  The possibilities are endless.

With that said, let me make this disclaimer: I do not believe that there is a ‘perfect’ curriculum.  I believe that while there are great options, you won’t find one that meets every criteria on your list or suits your ministry perfectly without the need to edit.

So what do you do?  How do you choose from the plethora of options?

In my experience, I’ve found that I typically like to not veer to either extreme of all fun (watered down lessons) or too theologically heavy (over the children’s heads, too difficult for my volunteers to teach, close to seminary level).  I’ve tended to be somewhat in the middle – Biblically sound, Bible-based but fun and engaging.

If you are in the market for new curriculum, here are a few things I’d recommend you should keep in mind:

1. Determine your ministry’s vision, mission and core values.  Knowing this will help you stay focused on what you need/want in a curriculum and how the selected curriculum will help you think with the end in mind.

2.  Bring a team of staff, current volunteers and parents together to help you discern the best options.  Bringing the right people to the table will (1) show you value the opinions of ministry investors; (2) provide different points of view and good dialogue; and (3) get more buy-in from those on the team.

3.  Make a list of what’s important.  What are you looking for in terms of:

  • Format:  Large group/small group; traditional classroom; children’s church; multiple ages in a combined setting; etc.
  • Denomination preference, if any
  • Delivery:  Digital or printed?  This is definitely something to consider if budget is a strong factor in your decision-making.
  • Technology:  Video-format, live teaching or a combination of the two?
  • Parent take-home resources:  Printed or digital; technological elements (i.e. videos, social media integration, apps).
  • Age-specific:  Are you looking for curriculum based on a certain age group or are you looking for something comprehensive where all ages will be learning the same thing?

4. Once you narrow your options, request samples of those that make the cut.  Take advantage of no-obligation trial offers.  Try out sample lessons in your ministry, and then get feedback from volunteers, parents and children.

5.  Before making a final decision, spark good dialogue.  Contact the publisher and ask questions.  Talk with others who are currently using or have previously used the curriculum you’re interested in.  (Facebook, Twitter and Children’s Ministry discussion forums are great places to go for this.)

6.  Remember: no curriculum is perfect.  After your selection process has concluded and you’ve made a decision, know that you’ll very likely have to edit your material to suit your ministry’s facility, resources, budget, church style/culture and location.  And you may find that no available option is ideal, so you decide to write your own curriculum.

Over the course of the next few days, I’ll share what curriculum we use, why we selected it, and how it’s working for us.

Now it’s your turn to talk!  How do you choose curriculum?  What is important to you in making a curriculum choice?

Celebrate the One

Kathie Phillips 3 Comments
Photo Credit: justwhatjessisupto.blogspot.com
Photo Credit: justwhatjessisupto.blogspot.com

Like many other churches, we started our ministry year still praying for God to send committed volunteers to serve in our Children’s Ministry.  Each week, God has provided for our needs but as the ministry leader, it is my job to ensure that screened, trained, committed, Christ-following volunteers show up to care for and teach the children He brings to us.

A few weeks in to the new ministry year, I personally emailed 31 people who I thought would be a good match for our ministry.  (I scoured our church database and looked for people who might be a good fit based on their ability, passion and spiritual gifts.)  I shared the vision of the ministry, how God has blessed us with an abundance of children this year and how I felt that God placed them on my heart to invite them to our Children’s Ministry team.

Within a few days, I heard back from 6 people – 3 “no’s – this is not a good season for me”; 1 “let me pray about it” and 2 “I’m interested – I want to learn more.”  I was so excited not only about the 3 promising responses but about all 6 responses.  This told me two things:

1. People really do read my emails; and

2. They considered, possibly for even a brief moment, my request (even though some declined).

When I shared this news with my CM Leadership Team, one very sweet team member said, “How I appreciate your excitement when the total reply rate was only 19%!”  Again, this told me two things:

1. I have some really smart people on my team – I wouldn’t even have thought about calculating any type of percentage; and

2. An excited leader can energize a team member, even when results are less than desired.

When responding back to my treasured friend, I said, “If God sends one, I’m excited!” [We have since recruited 8 new volunteers to our team!]

There is power in one.  Celebrating a one-year old’s birthday is often a big deal, but how come we don’t celebrate more “ones“?One example from the Bible come to mind when I think of “one”:

Luke 15:1-7 tells us of the story of the lost sheep.  It reads in part:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! (Luke 15:3-7, NLT, bold and italics mine)

This passage of scripture reminded me how important it is for me to be a leader who celebrates the “one“.  The one leader who arrives early.  The one volunteer who stays late.  The one child who is more energetic than the others.  The one child with special needs.  The one child who savors every word that you say.  The one volunteer who serves when life circumstances are difficult.  The one volunteer who remembers to ask how you’re doing.  The one family who shares a story of how what you do has impacted them.  The one volunteer who over-prepares.  The one child whose faith story reminds you why you give your life to ministry week after week.

Be the type of person – Mom, Dad, leader, volunteer – who celebrates the one.

Consider leaving me a comment below and tell me how can you celebrate the “one” this week – at home, at work, in ministry! 

*Use of a photo is not an endorsement of the original user’s website or views.

Settling In…Finally!

Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

I’ve mentioned several times through this platform that the question I’ve been asked most in the last few months has been, “How are you doing with everything?”  Earlier this summer, I accepted a new position at church and just a few weeks ago, my father-in-law passed away suddenly.  So, it’s not surprising that, “How are you doing with everything?” has been the million dollar question…too bad I can’t collect each time I’ve been asked that! 🙂

It wasn’t until last week that I really felt like I was in a groove.  As a result of the new position and additional responsibilities, many aspects of my ministry were (temporarily, I prayed) on the back burner.  If you know anything about me, you know that I am all for having a personal ministry.  I love connecting with people under my leadership – volunteers, children and parents.  Sadly, I have not had the chance to offer as many personal touches as I had in the past.  That really bothered me and left me feeling like I wasn’t leading well.

While things are still quite busy and we continue to settle in to the new ministry year, I found a couple of hours to work on re-introducing a few personal ministry elements.  These included expanding our social media presence and resuming our weekly Parent Connect e-newsletter.  I feel strongly that if we are partnering with parents, the lines of communication should not only be crystal clear but also varied in approach.  We have to get the word out to parents where they are likely to spend the most time.

Many of our parents are on Facebook more so than Twitter, so I have concentrated our social media efforts to Facebook only.  I have been thinking about our ministry’s social media presence and whether we should have one page for each area of ministry (Nursery, Early Childhood, Elementary and Preteen) or just have one page for our entire Children’s Ministry.  In the end, I decided to create pages for Sprouts (our Nursery environment) and The Backyard (our Early Childhood environment) – we already had pages for The Treehouse (Elementary) and Route 45 (Preteen).  We are still spreading the word about these pages, but feel free to stop by and take a look.

In addition, I communicate weekly with parents electronically.  Years ago, I sent a weekly email, communicating what’s coming up, what the children would be learning and any resources they could take advantage of.  But let’s face it – the look of email is boring.  So, I wanted to spice things up and make it visually appealing while still delivering important information.  Thankfully, our Middle School Director inspired me to use Mail Chimp to accomplish this.  Honestly, it was one of the best moves I have made.  I love how creative I can be in crafting communication to parents.

There are several other things brewing in my head that will be added in the coming weeks and months but we’re taking it one step at at time.  These simple but effective means of communication have made me feel like screaming, “I’m back!!”  And that feels really good!

How do you communicate with parents and volunteers?  Leave me a comment below and fill me in!

From the Archives: Volunteer Information Packet Must-Haves

Kathie Phillips

When volunteers join our ministry, they are given a packet of useful information to provide insight into our ministry’s policies and procedures. The packet is usually distributed at our volunteer training but occasionally a volunteer will join our ministry mid-year. That’s why we always have packets ready to go.

Our volunteer packets are usually a colored 2-pocket folder (without the 3 prongs): green (for our elementary ministry) and blue (for our preteen ministry). Here’s what’s found inside:

Left Side of the Folder

  • Children’s Ministry Pocket Guide to Discipline (published by Group)
  • Children’s Ministry Pocket Guide to Special Needs (also published by Group)
  • Leading a Child to Christ pamphlet (available through Lifeway)
  • Our ministry handbook*
  • Age-level characteristics information sheet

Right Side of the Folder

  • “Your Favorite Things” information sheet (a pdf copy is available under the “Leader Resources” tab)
  • “What You Do Matters” poster
  • Morning-at-a-Glance (schedule)
  • Lesson Schedule for the Quarter
  • Class List
  • Sub Contact List
  • Resource Closet Supply List

Providing these packets have helped ensure that our volunteers are not only informed but equipped to serve.

*If you would like to see our ministry handbook, please email me at kidminspiration@gmail.com.

Do you provide information packets to your volunteers? If so, what do you include?