Children S Ministry In The Way Of Jesus

Attract kids to church, the logic often goes, and you get parents in the pews. All that's left is to get the kids out of the way. Here children's ministers David Csinos and Ivy Beckwith draw on research in human development and spiritual formation to show how children become disciples and churches become centers of lifelong discipleship.

Promiseland is Willow Creek’s highly successful children’s ministry. Using examples from Promiseland and churches of all sizes around the country, this book provides step by step guidance and creative application exercises to help churches develop a thriving children’s ministry—one that strives to be the best hour of every kid’s week. Included are Scripture-based principles and practical resources for church staff members and volunteers who agree with the critical role children’s ministry plays in a local church. Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week, based on twenty-eight years of experience at Willow Creek, explains four ministry foundations: Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategy. Content includes: Detailed answers to questions facing every children’s ministry: • What does Jesus expect from children’s ministry? • How can we evangelize lost kids and disciple saved kids at the same time, and should we? • How do we engage kids so they don’t become bored? • How do we get better at recruiting and leading volunteers? • How can our ministry be a safe place for children? • Six specific ministry values that address the needs of today’s children • Practical first steps for ministries that want to get serious about change • Clear indicators of success in children’s ministry

Much ministry to children looks more like mere entertainment than authentic spiritual formation. But what if children's ministries were rooted in a mind set whereby we taught children, with our words and actions, how the story of God, the story of church history, the story of the local community, and the story of the child intersect and speak to one another? What if children's ministry was less about downloading information into kids' heads and more about leading them into these powerful, compelling stories? Beckwith aims to help ministers and parents create a ministry that captures children's imaginations not just to keep them occupied, but to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. In addition to providing theological reasons for formational children's ministry, the book offers examples of how Ivy and other practitioners are implementing a formational model.

According to a study by George Barna, a person is most likely to become a Christian between the ages of four and fourteen. Yet the majority of evangelism training is designed to reach adults, not children. Leading Kids to Jesus equips children’s ministry leaders with proven principles to help them have life-changing discussions with kids. The focus is exclusively on personal interactions, not corporate presentations or prop-driven illustrations. Readers learn the best ways to communicate God’s love to toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school children in words they understand. The book adapts two simple communication tools from the bestselling evangelism course Becoming a Contagious Christian, which helps you develop your own three-part story and the four components of the gospel message. Included is a survey of what questions to expect from kids, along with other helps and children’s ministry experience from Willow Creek’s Promiseland staff and volunteers. A companion volume for parents called Leading Your Child to Jesus is also available.

In this transformative resource for youth workers, children's ministry teachers, parents, and VBS volunteers, Jack Klumpenhower teaches how to discover the gospel connections in every Bible story. Show Them Jesus is an instruction manual for teachers of kids and teens written by a lay Bible teacher with thirty years of experience. With a simple framework and real-life examples, Jack helps teachers identify and communicate the heart of the gospel to each child in each lesson. Show Them Jesus challenges the culture of low-stakes, low-expectations teaching and invites teachers to do nothing less than teach and treasure the good news of Jesus—in every lesson. Instead of leaving kids with lessons about changing their behavior, Show Them Jesus offers a new way by sweetly, masterfully, and powerfully showing kids how the gospel really applies to their lives and changes them for eternity. In sharing example after example from his years of experience, Jack provides readers with a more enriched view of Jesus and how to teach this gospel perspective in a classroom setting. This life-changing tool will complement and enrich existing lessons or teaching materials, and it's appropriate for teachers of children and teens in any setting. Millions of church kids are growing up and deciding to leave the church. If we are not primarily teaching our kids about God's love for us in Christ, we may miss our opportunity to capture their hearts. Don't miss your opportunity to show them Jesus.

Bridging Theory and Practice in Children's Spirituality explores the different contexts, methods, and situations that influence and foster a child's spirituality and faith development. Through a blend of theoretical understanding held in tension with practical application, it equips those who are in, or being prepared for, the varied contexts where children are spiritually formed. It represents a broad range of Christian expression writing from a Christ-centered perspective that furthers the conversation about the next steps in children's spirituality and faith development. Moving beyond the basics of faith nurture and what makes for effective ministry, this resource deepens our understanding of the practices in children's lives by bringing together the best of theory and practice and includes contributions from: Dr. Scottie May (Wheaton College) Dr. Kevin Lawson (Biola University) Dr. Erik Carter (Vanderbilt University) John Roberto (Vibrant Faith) Dr. Dana Kennamer Pemberton (Abilene Christian University) Dr. Shirley Morganthaler (Concordia University - Chicago) Dr. Holly Catterton Allen (Lipscomb University) Dr. Robert Keeley (Calvin College and Calvin Seminary) Dr. Mimi Larson (Wheaton College) Lacy Finn Borgo ( Renovaré Institute) and others. Pastors, professors, seminary students and children's ministry leaders and practitioners all believe that nurturing a child's spiritual development is important. Yet often they are unsure about which current trends should be embraced. This book will help equip these people with the grounding needed to evaluate trends and with specific suggestions for moving forward. With short, accessibly written chapters it helps pastors and leaders stay up to date with current trends and is an excellent resource for teaching in college and seminary classrooms.

Children know God. They encounter God in diverse ways as they walk along the spiritual journey. Amidst this diversity, four distinct avenues for connecting with God emerge in the lives of children: word, emotion, symbol, and action. These are the four spiritual styles, broad approaches to spirituality and faith through which children experience God and make sense of their lives in the world around them. Children's Ministry that Fits blends insightful research, relevant theory, and practical ministry into a guidebook for discovering and understanding children's spiritual styles. Drawing from theology, personal experience, and the spiritual lives of children, David M. Csinos offers practical wisdom that will help pastors, parents, and teachers to move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to children's ministry and begin nurturing the spiritual lives of children in welcoming and inclusive environments.

Navigating the ebbs and flows of Children’s Ministry can come with its own set of challenges but take heart. With the right approach your journey through the great world of Kidmin cannot only be successful but enjoyable. In her own whimsical way, Esther Moreno provides key insights to do just that. Whether you are a Children’s Ministry director or a Kidmin volunteer, the principles in this book, if applied, will revolutionize the way you see ministry, and will dramatically change the type of results you are currently experiencing. Esther Moreno has dedicated her life to reaching the next generation for Christ. She has over 15 years of Children’s Ministry experience across various churches and denominations. She is one of the hosts of Children’s Ministry Today on Fishbowl Radio Network. In addition to hosting monthly live webinars on social media, she leads virtual trainings for Children’s Ministry departments all over the country. Esther is a gifted speaker, teacher, and author. She holds a Masters in Christian Education from Ashland Theological Seminary. She currently attends Life Church of Huntsville, Alabama, where she resides with her husband Guylando and their two beautiful children, Grace and Gideon.