Articles Zone

Practical and insightful articles about Children's Ministry.

Looking for some expert advice? This Zone is a treasury of Children's Ministry expertise from the Kidologist and other veterans in children's ministry.

Some of the most popular articles are:

Getting into the Home | Mailbox Ministry | Discipline that Disciples | Entering the World of Kids | First Steps for a New Children's Pastor | The Great KID Mission |

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Guest Starter All Access
Level Title Topic
Free Why We Need Sunday School Ministry

Do we really need to have Sunday School classes?  

Teaching and Training
Free Why We Need Sunday School Ministry

Just how important is Sunday School? Read this article and you will understand the importance of Sunday School Ministry!

Sunday School
All Access Why You Need to Become a Student of Pop Culture

Children today follow and are excited by what is popular in culture. How much of this "pop culture" should a children's ministry leader know or be familiar with? How does this affect your ministry to kids?

Pop Culture, Connecting with Kids
Free Why You Should Always Skip Your Kids' Baseball Games

This article explores the danger of helicopter parenting in turbulent times.

Family Life
All Access Why Your Church Needs a Children's Check-In Solution

Why does your church need a children's check-in solution? Here are the main reasons.

Check-In Solution
All Access Winners and Losers

Suggestions on how to handle ministry turf wars and deal with known ministry priorities.

Priority, Budget, Programs
All Access Words of Affirmation

Huge list of phrases you can tell your kids or volunteers to encourage them and affirm them

Encouragement, Volunteers
Starter YOU are a Bible Character

Did you know that YOU are a "Bible Character?"

Encouragement
All Access You Kept Me From Drowning!

It’s really scary to be in over your head, in rough and deep uncharted waters. The frantic efforts to preserve life when taking in water, thrashing about, scared and panicked about what’s next. Managing to gasp for breath, while trying to stay afloat, is overwhelming.

Coaching
All Access You Need These 7 Things If You Want To Make A Change This Year

Sometimes change happens to us and sometimes it happens through us and sometimes they both happen at the same time! So, if you are currently in the process of leading change, here are seven items you will need to initiate change.

Initiating Change
All Access Your Decision To Leave

So you have decided to leave your position as Children’s Leader at your church. Perhaps “going for the door” was not an easy decision to make. On the other hand, it just might have been the obvious choice. God has been speaking to you and you have agreed, it's time to turn in your resignation.

Resignation
All Access Your Gift To God

Taking care of God’s babies, new Christians, is also a lot of work but is very rewarding. If you do your best and rely on the Holy Spirit, those new Christians will soon be growing, walking on their own, and helping others to grow!

Discipleship
All Access Your KidMin is NOT New Family Friendly

How kid-friendly is your church? 

Kid Friendly Church
All Access Your Life Verse

A Life Verse can be your favorite verse from the Bible—you know, a verse that you really like or want to model. How does your Life Verse relate to your Children’s Ministry?

Life Verse
All Access Your Moment is Now

God created you with a purpose, and despite your mistakes He desires to use you.

Motivational, Take Action,
All Access Your Personal Year in Review

What goals are you setting for the new year?  

New Year, Year in Review
All Access Your Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Job Descriptions for New Children's Ministry Programs

Use these guidelines, along with the downloadable template, to create your next job descriptions. 

Job Descriptions
All Access Your Worst Teacher is Better than the Best Video

Videos are fun, but live teachers are better... even the bad ones!

Teaching
All Access Converting the Child-Care Model

When you allow your children’s ministry to be designated as a “child-care” program, you succumb to secularizing your ministry, which makes it more conducive to a “baby-sitting” service, than a legitimate ministry function that is complimentary to a church.

Child Care
All Access Feedback is Your Friend

Many a leader sabotaged his or her ministry simply because they were not teachable. How and why you should SEEK out feedback.

Leadership Development
All Access Fifty Nifty Parenting Ideas for Dads

50 every day simple and practical ideas for dads - little things that can make a BIG difference!

Fathering
All Access Rethinking Follow-Up of Child Converts

A children’s evangelist gives us five steps that might just change the way you think about the follow-up of child converts. Drawing upon over 30 years of full-time evangelism experience with children, Rev. Barney Kinard challenges us to rethink what we are really doing with follow-up. These insights are not only thought provoking, but they can provide a framework to develop your own follow-up program.

Follow-Up
All Access Travel Tips for Families

Some great ideas for surviving long drives in the car with kids!

Family / Travel
All Access Tweeners: PreTeen Ministry

This is a seminary research paper on the topic of ministry to preteen, 10-14 year old children in today's culture and church.

Tweeners
All Access Why I Believe In Object Lessons

This article explains the reasons why object lessons are important.

Object Lessons
All Access 3 Steps to Successful Recruiting

I have 3 steps to help recruit in children's ministry. Know where you are going, know who you are recruiting, and know what's next.  

Recruiting
All Access Here's Why You SHOULDN'T Align your Preschool and Elementary Lessons

The advantages to aligning preschool and elementary lessons are less than most people believe and the cost is much higher than most people realize. In short, the cost outweighs the benefits.

Lesson Planning
All Access “Focused, Joyful Play”: A Recipe to Motivate Godly Life--Change

Cultivating spiritual change is a lot like cooking. Jesus thought so anyway. Christ compared attitudes to yeast. A little bit of a strong attitude goes a long way. He warned that the legalism of the Pharisees could ruin a whole loaf of spirituality. As a children’s minister, you are a spiritual chef. You influence what spiritual ingredients to which the kids are exposed.

Spiritual Passion
All Access 14 Reasons Why Sunday School Has Declined and 14 Reasons Why Sunday School Could Grow

Over the next 20 years we could experience a virtual flood of new ideas and innovative concepts for the Sunday School hour. These innovative ideas will provide a boundless energy source for the revitalization of the Sunday School and other Discipleship ministries in the church over the coming decade.

Growth
All Access 21 Conversation Starters To Get Your Family Talking

Use these conversation starters to get your family talking!

Family, Conversation
All Access A Few Simple Rules of Thumb

Presenting A Lesson
All Access A Passover Celebration for Christian Families

A Passover celebration can be a significant worship and teaching event for Christian families.

Easter / Passover
All Access Accepting Christ at a Young Age

Very young children are capable of accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. All it takes is making children aware of their need for redemption in a way they can understand.

Early Childhood Ministry/Salvation/Parenting
All Access Are You Taking Your 'Wife' for Granted?

Have you ever noticed a male pastor get so busy he ignores his wife?

Leadership
Free Becoming a Problem?

Allow me to challenge you to accept these problems and not lose heart.

Problems
All Access Children Have Questions About The Attack On America

As America tries to come to terms with the vicious and deliberate attack on our nation, adults and children have been impacted. Many of the children we minister to are asking questions and trying to understand in their minds what happened this week. I would like to pass along the following encouragement and suggestions to those who minister to children.

911
All Access Discipline that Disciples

Making Your Discipline Problems Disappear!

Discipline
Free Don't Waste Your Devotion

How do we encourage our kids to own their faith and love Jesus forever? The key is in our example.   

Passing On Faith To Your Kids
All Access For the Benefits of Others

Distributing the Load
All Access From Playing to Praying

How to Involve Children in Church Prayer

Prayer
All Access Game Time

Having FUN!
All Access Having A Vision for Your Ministry

Having a Vision
All Access How to Kill A Church Program Before It Kills You

The greatest key to success in children’s ministry is knowing which programs to do and which ones not to do. Every situation varies. You have to decide which programs are worth the time, money, people and energy and which are not. Energize the ones that are; slay the ones that aren’t.

Leadership
All Access Internship 101

We have a responsibility to invest in those who desire to go into children's ministry. A well thought out internship is a great place to start. Here are some pointers to help you have a wonderful experience.

Internships
All Access Kinds of Calls

The call comes in a variety of ways or combination of ways, but eventually the called person must be able to say, “God has called me for sure.”

Leadership
All Access Leadership Lessons from the Mat

Good leaders do strive to grow professionally and spiritually. Good leaders also fall prey to a performance mentality. The latest paradigms, the volunteer shortfall, the pursuit of excellence can tense up the best leader.

Leadership
All Access Leading a Child to Christ

This is a short overview of how to lead a child to faith in Christ. It is the outline used by the Kidologist in his workshop by the same name. Includes the classic 'star fish story.'

Evangelism
All Access Little Alex

A comic story and a teaching tool for the children about adapting popular stories as puppet plays.

Comedy and teaching tool
All Access Quick Reference List... for why new ideas around the church WON'T WORK.

Somebody's always suggesting new ideas around the church, like adding on to the building, or switching Sunday school to after worship, or changing the times of services. No sooner than such ideas surface, objections swarm up like spring mosquitoes.

Leadership
All Access Some Kids Are Just Challenging

Children aren't robots; they're people, and have a will of their own. You can influence but not control them.

Discipline
it Bible Curriculum Protect My Ministry 2023 KidCheck Girl Gospel Colors U-Turn Cards Gospel Presentation Learn about DiscipleTown My Awesome Adventure DiscipleTown Unit 22 - Holy Spirit Order of the Ancient Kidology Store
Kidology Curriculum

Kids Church Lessons
written by the Kidologist!

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