How I continue to be confident in leading children's ministry when I once had no idea what I was doing.
When I originally offered to our church elders board my willingness to lead our church's kids ministry back in 2018 it was because I thought they just needed some administrative organization and help retaining volunteers. And although that was true it turned out those few volunteers needed training and encouragement. Now I was full of encouragement and passion for this ministry, but it became very clear very quickly that I lacked the know-how to teach children, even if it was something I consider myself a bit of an expert on for a long time: the love of Jesus. So what did I do? I did what any human beign does and I turned to my favorite research tool...Google.
I realized fairly quickly that there are a lot of sites that claim to teach and hand out certificates for children's ministry, however I knew that if it was going to be quality, like many things in life, I would have to pay for it. So honestly, if it said it was free and could be achieved in just two weeks, I moved along to the next Google find on the list. Finally I came across the perfect program that seemed and is in fact legitimate.
Finding Engage Program through INCM
What I found was INCM (International Network of Children's Ministry https://incm.org/). This organization works alongside Bethel Seminary (Bethel University) in Minnesota to provide 9 month certification programs in Children's Ministry, Family Ministry, and Pastoral Care, all under the umbrella of the Engage program. I knew of Bethel University and even had some friends attend the university and so I immediately had a bode of confidence in what I could learn from this program. It did cost $1400, which meant to me that it must be worth something and fortunately I have a supportive church elders board who agreed to cover the cost.
I know you may be thinking that your church and it's leaders would never be able to agree to that sort of financial commitment, but what I discovered is that our church's are highly interested in supporting their ministry leaders in order to have high quality leadership. It definitely doesn't hurt to ask, and at worse they say no, but maybe they will be able to pay a portion, or at best they will be all in and able to support you both in spirit and in finances.
"Bottom line, though, is we deserve to invest in ourselves as leaders so that we can in turn invest our best into the ministries we lead."
How I'm continuing to learn and invest in myself and ministry
Finding INCM has proven worth the cost, time and effort. I often refer back to my books and study notes. However, I still felt there was much more for me to learn and have also received my certification in family ministry as well as children's ministry. I recognized that I lackin within my ministry the ability to connect with parents beyond the friendly meet and greets, and desired to dig deep into this next layer of ministry.
In addition to their certification program, they also have a fantastic membership platform that provides loads of trainings, ideas, and necessary ministry documents (such as code of conduct and safety manuals). I only wish I had more time to pour into all the things they offer.
Whatever you do, keep learning
If a certification program is not in the cards for you, I still use the God given gifts of Google and Pinterest almost weekly. Other blogs are extremely useful, and Pinterest has led me to various Christmas pageant ideas, crafts upon crafts upon crafts, worship songs, and topic or character specific lesson plans. I am a strong believer in not recreating the wheel, just tweaking it to fit the needs of our church ministry and some of the best parts of our ministry is learning and then doing what we feel is best. I am certain God will show you what's worth keeping and what's not. I would know from experience!
However, if you are searching desperately for some free resources here are some of my favorites.
Ministry Spark by David C. Cook - https://ministryspark.com/
Childrensministry.com by Group curriculum - https://childrensministry.com/
Lifeway Kids Blog by Lifeway - https://kidsministry.lifeway.com/blog/
Each of these platforms offer articles on various topics of ministry, curriculums, guides, and a plethora of ideas to keep your team and families engaged in ministry.
What tools or knowledge have you gained and applied to your ministry lately? You can never have too many!!
Comments