Children's Ministry Monthly

Prizes in children’s ministry are tricky things. The general thinking by leaders is that kids like winning prizes. So we use them at outreaches and for special events. We’ll give away a couple of bikes or even an iPod or two. The hope is that the prize will bring in a lot of new faces [...]

Thought I’ve done a clean comedy podcast called Nobody’s Listening and a marriage and family podcast called Geek Loves Nerd and finally this here children’s ministry podcast called Children’s Ministry Monthly… I’ve always wanted to do a show for kids.

What issues and challenges to PK’s face in church? How does it influence their walk with God? What’s it like when the parent is their children’s pastor? All these questions and more answered as James interviews Christian and Lydia, his own pastor’s kids. This episode also features an amazing interview with The Lads, an amazing [...]

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Old school teachers will demand respect from their students. New school understands the need to earn it. Lately I’ve found myself in a position of finding and striking a balance between both demanding and earning the respect of my new mini-congregation. I fall on the new school side of things for the most part. I [...]

Just about everything we do in Children’s Ministry is about the long term. It’s about the investment. This comic series by my podcast mentor, Scott Johnson, called The Bigfoot Diaries really spoke to me. It reminded me that our investment in children, no matter how small… matters. Start with this one, 2, 3, end here. [...]

This month we address issues that discourage children’s ministers with Children’s Pastor, Mark Turner and Pen/Florida District Children’s Education Director, Grant Foster.

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This past Valentine’s day I had a bunch of valentine’s printed up for kids to give out. They doubled as invitations to a special service back at the church. I had it set up so that the visitor and the child who invited them would both get a prize. I had high hopes for this [...]