You're looking for a youth pastor. Again. What goes wrong? Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff? Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves? Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth minist...
Are you a children's ministry leader on the edge of burnout? Sustainable Children’s Ministry shows you how to recruit volunteers, partner with parents, navigate politics, and care for your own soul instead of frantically scrambling to do it all yourself. This practical resource will help you build a ministry foundation that will still be standing long after you are gone.
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.
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.
Mark DeVries offers an approach that brings teens into one-to-one relationship with older Christians; involves the whole church family from singles to seniors; and frees pastors and leaders from worrying about attendance, budget and competition with other programs.
Many children’s ministries are a flurry of activity, run by dedicated volunteers and staff who put in long hours and work hard for the good of the children and parents they serve. Yet despite good intentions, many children’s ministries today are not effective. They lack purpose and intentionality. A twenty-five year veteran of children’s ministry in the local church, pastor Steve Adams has ministered to families in multiple churches, from tiny church plants to his present position at Saddleback Church. In this book, Steve applies the revolutionary insights of the Purpose Driven Church to children’s ministry and leads readers on a journey of discovery, showing them how to develop an intentional ministry process that moves children toward spiritual health while building a healthy ministry environment for those who work with kids. You will learn how to ask and answer five simple but powerful questions: Why are we on this journey? Where are you and where are you going? Who are we trying to reach? How will we move our children towards spiritual health? What are the essential elements necessary for the journey? There is no single key to a successful children’s ministry, nor is there only one way that works for everyone. But there is a proven process you can follow and Steve shows how children’s ministries all over the world are reaching their God-given potential by discovering their biblical purpose, avoiding the traps of frustration and burnout.
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.
A step-by-step guide to building a strong children's ministry that is a vital part of the church. People know they are called to children's ministry when they get goose bumps and butterflies from something a kid says or an idea that they know will communicate the gospel to children. Building Children's Ministry provides the practical information to transform those feelings and that calling into a successful children's ministry that is integrated into the life of the congregation. The book is divided into topical chapters, including: Getting the support of the pastor and the congregation Statements of purpose Budgets and fundraising Recruiting and keeping volunteers Safety and security Discipline and appropriate policies Choosing and evaluating curriculum Publicity Building Children's Ministry is a practical guide through the challenging (but exciting) steps between recognizing the need for children's ministry and creating a program that ministers to children and their families.
Young adult ministry can scare us, but what if it's not as enigmatic as we've been led to believe? Full of practical advice from their own experience (and a wealth of additional resources), this book from Scott Pontier and Mark DeVries explores six common mistakes churches make in their efforts to reach young adults, offering six paradoxes that return us to a simpler, more biblical ministry model.
While most youth pastors are being regularly evaluated (or even scrutinized) for what they’re doing right now in the youth group, the reality is that the most important thing they are doing won’t actually be evident until much later. That’s because the biggest challenge for any youth ministry is helping teens embrace a whole-hearted devotion to God that lasts far beyond their years in the youth room. Unfortunately, much of youth ministry seems to be designed on the model of setting teenagers up for a “date” with God—a delightful evening that involves music, laughter, food, and light conversation. But what scripture calls us to is not a “one-night stand” with God, but a lifelong love of God that endures.Youth ministry educator and veteran, Duffy Robbins, offers youth workers a blueprint for building that kind of faith in teenagers. In this concise book, ideal for busy youth workers, they’ll be equipped to build a youth ministry that instills that lasting faith in its students.
