Articles Zone

Phrases that everyone should refrain from saying in front of any Children's Pastor.

Seven Steps to Starting Successfully in a new ministry - or toget a 'new start.'

8 TIPS ON RECRUITING! Including: IMPROVE THE IMAGE of CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES! Try to make it 'the' place to serve! Make sure you have a sharp promo flyer/brochure, have a Children's Ministry Information Center, have a Kick-Off Dinner, have a Children's Ministry Sunday where you honor those who serve with kids, do whatever it takes to highlight the Children's Ministry and to honor those who already serve there.

The world of kids is constantly changing and so it takes constant effort to keep current. Learn how to minister from within the context of the culture... and see your results drastically improve!

Learn how a Children's Pastor who calls himself "The Kidologist" came to Christ as a four year old, received his call to the ministry as an elementary age boy, and headed into children's ministry.

10 Tips for leading effective games, plus a play-by-play example so you can become an expert at leading FUN games that teach a point!

The WORDLESS BOOK is one of the most effective ways to present the Gospel to children. (Although many adults have been led to Christ with it as well!) The WORDLESS BOOK makes the Truth of the Gospel very simple. As its name suggests, it has no words! It contains just four colored pages of red, black, white and yellow and a green cover. WORDLESS BOOKS can be purchased, but are very simple to make yourself.

What the Kidologist, Karl Bastian, suggests as the "Top Ten" books, websites, and events for children's ministry leaders.

How to launch a Children's Ministry in a church with little or no children.

Being the leader of the children's ministry team in your church is an important calling. Children's ministry is now considered one of the major reasons why people choose a church. Take a moment to consider these "words of wisdom."

The Calling I am a minister. I minister to the largest mission field in the world. I minister to children. My calling is sure. My challenge is big. My vision is clear. My desire is strong. My influence is eternal....

A great story about a great Children's Pastor.

Kids are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today as demonstrated by these examples in the Bible!

The ORIGINAL "wordless book" by Spurgeon: "I DARESAY you have most of you heard of a little book which an old divine used constantly to study, and when his friends wondered what there was in the book, he told them that he hoped they would all know and understand it, but that there was not single word in it. When they looked at it, they found that it consisted of only three leaves; the first was black, the second was red, and the third was pure white...

Defining what Children's Ministry is and what it does.

In the busyness of life and ministry, don't forget your Primary Objectives, because one thing is for sure: your Enemy won't.

It has come to our attention that Children’s Pastors see the world a little differently than most others. This handy reference guide will help bridge the language gap that so often divides them from the rest of society. We recommend this guide be kept for ready reference at all staff and board meetings so as to help understand your children’s pastor and his/her perspective.

This was a seminary research project on the subject using essays written by grade school children on the topic: "Who is God, and what is He like?"

Every children's ministry needs a gifted leader who is able lead by coaching. He or she is able to call the plays that mobilize a team or class full of children to meet a goal.

Time and money that you spend creating an exciting environment will pay for itself many times over. The kids will respond by offering their attention while adults will respond by placing their children in your care. Beige walls, an overhead projector, and rows of metal chairs will not work the same magic. Here are some suggestions.

Good ideas to keep in touch with your children and encourage them.

The phone can be an effective tool in building stronger relationships with the children in your ministry. So here are some ideas for ways you can use the phone to touch kids lives and some tips to make you r calls more meaningful.

Are "FIC" (Family Integrated Churches) really better? Or are we merely trading one ineffective extreme for another?

Would you like to KNOW why God put you here on this earth? Wouldn’t it be great at the end of your life to be able to say, “I have finished the race?” But how will you know if you have finished the race unless you know what race you are running? This article, which reveals the personal story of the Kidologist's calling, will give you some insight on how YOU can discover YOUR calling.

Take care of the "Big Rocks" in your life, and then worry about everything else. If you can't, then you simply are doing more than God is asking you to, and you need to take a hard look at your life and ministry. It may require some heart-searching prayer about what God is asking you to do.

If you want to understand children, you've got to get into their homes. It is amazing what you can learn about the interests and influencers of children from their bedrooms! A kid's room is like a diorama of their heart.

This is a teaching outline on personal discipline. Can be used for individual study, or for teaching a workshop.

The power of the word of God will work for kids. We often quote Paul from 2 Timothy 3 about the power of God’s word. Rightfully so. We forgot, however, the context of Paul’s statement is in reference to Timothy having learned the word as a child.

Info and Tips for working with ADD / ADHD kids.

How can we slow kids and families down and bring them closer to a walk with God? Here are a few suggestions.

These are the workshop notes and additional details from the workshop that the Kidologist taught at the Children's Pastor's Conference in Nashville and San Diego in 2001.

Imagine this. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount saying, “This ministry needs your help. I still need seven more disciples to complete our goal of twelve. If God is leading you to serve in this important ministry, please see Peter. He’ll be the one standing in the back with a clipboard. Thank you for your help!”

Puppet Training on doing a puppet all by yourself - ventriloquism NOT required! (Although the AVC's of Ventriloquism are included!) Tips and Advice on how to do a puppet by yourself, how to develop a character, and things you can do to enhance your lesson with a solo puppet.

This is a masters level paper on the 'gradual historical return to Jesus' Theology of Children. Includes extensive footnotes and bibliography.

This is a sermon on the passages of Jesus blessing the children that you can use to teach about the value of children.

Children expect you to be there in the classroom during the Sunday School hour, or whenever your club or ministry meets. But they DON'T expect you to touch their life during the week! So surprise them!

No doubt about it! The kids of today are not the same as when YOU were a kid! Their interests are different, they grow up much faster, and even their 'toys' are amazing! SO HOW DO YOU REACH THEM?

Have you every blown it? Here is some encouragement not to give up as you serve "On the Potter's Wheel"

Understanding ministry in progress.

Using People, not Programs

Learn a strategy that will give unique meaning and purpose to every event - rather than just planning events and tossing in some spiritual impact so it can be called ministry.

Anything done in extremes isn't healthy, and parents should limit both the time and money invested in Pokémon, but like baseball cards, P.O.G.S, stickers, and anything else kids get into, it needs to be balanced, and they need to know what is real and what is make believe. God gave children incredible imaginations.... the creators of Pokémon have tapped into that in a way that baffles adults who aren't on the inside track.

Often the words Purpose, Mission and Vision are used interchangeably. What do they mean and what impact can they have on your children's ministry? A HUGE impact!

Purpose, Mission and Vision are critical to a ministry's success, but without goals they are difficult to bring into reality. Evaluating your progress also becomes nearly impossible! Goals break down a grand vision into attainable action steps. Let us show you how to setup these goals.

You went into children's ministry because you wanted to be a shepherd of children – and all too soon you became more sheepherder than shepherd. What changed?

A Shepherd Guides, Provides, and Protects. We need to do the same for our children.

Neat ideas on how to deal with stress.

Preschoolers are at a strategic age to learn so much about life. Creativity, compassion, patience, confidence, and cooperation are just a few of the many new qualities that begin to develop during these years.

It is much easier to teach a child to trust in a loving God when all is well. However, our children need to learn that God is present and loving even when things are difficult.

Someone once said that the definition of grace is: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Because of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross, we have all of God’s richest blessings – most importantly – we are saved by His grace from all of our sin. By His grace, God has called us...