by Jonathan Cliff

Every time I attend CPC there are some guarantees that I know will happen.  First, I will probably run into someone I know at the airport, but can’t remember his or her name.  Second, I will eat more food in that one-week conference than I have in the month prior.  Lastly, and almost assured to happen is that I will commiserate on some level with people that share my burden for children and their families.  It’s not all bad, it’s just refreshing to be in a room with people that dread the Saturday night phone calls as much as I do!

Over their years, I’ve collected my long list of things that I wish parents would do to make my job easier.  When I share my list with other Children’s Ministry Leaders, I find a common pain in all of us. We wish parents would take their kids to church EVERY week.  We wish that parents would stop ARRIVING so LATE for the environments we’ve worked all week to prepare.  We wish that parents would STOP GROUNDING their kids from church when they get in trouble at school, especially in those pre-teen areas.  We wish that parents would take the time to TALK AT HOME about what their kids are learning at church.  You agree, right?  I’d dare to say that I’ve never met a Children’s worker that wouldn’t want to stand up and wave his Bible at ...

by Gina McClain

Parents of preschoolers seem to have a wealth of dreams for their child.  They’re in a season of life where the possibilities outweigh the impossibilities.  At this point, they could be holding the next president, a star quarterback or the first in their family to earn a doctorate.

As a ministry leader, how do we tap into this season… this natural bent toward dreaming… and help parents dream more about their child’s relationship with God, and the ministry God has for them?  How do we help parents set the right trajectory for their kids?  And how do we help them to remain focused on that trajectory through the everyday ins and outs of life?

In my season of ministry I’ve found that focusing (and maintaining it!) on the right ‘End’ requires intentional interactions that help parents discern the trajectory of their family and how to take hold of it.  You see, every family ends up somewhere.  Few families end up somewhere on purpose.  How do we help our families end up somewhere on purpose?

We invite parents to Start with the End in Mind?

The biggest challenge we face as ministry leaders is our need to communicate a message to families that is counter to the culture in which we live.  Today’s culture tells parents that our goal is to raise well-rounded kids that are provided opportunities for the very purpose of gaining a ‘leg up’ over everyone else.  Our culture ...

by Michael Chanley

In an effort to fulfill our purpose statement to serve | serve | serve, to serve God and to serve those who serve His children, INCM has launched six new international conferences:

Hong Kong

Kowloon

Belize (3 separate events)

An additional event, that we cannot disclose the location of for security purposes

Would you prayerfully consider joining us? We are praying for partners to commit to $1 per event, per month for the coming year. Your support of $6 a month will help us to build into local churches in these global communities. Our goal is to create events where the needs of the local church are met. We will cast the vision of the importance of ministering to children and build into local teams to run the conference in coming years. The long term goal is to plant indigenous events through partnership in ministry… adding to the global conversation about Children’s Ministry.

If you can join us, click here: DONATE.

We need your prayer support. If you can join us in prayer, please let us know by joining our INCM group!

Your support will also go to helping us with several exploratory trips. One is in Mexico, the other two are in the Middle East… also in locations we can’t disclose publicly due to security and protection of our partners.

We appreciate any tweets, blogs, or posts of any type. It will all help us to spread the word. Thanks ...

By Dienna Goscha

As a children’s pastor, I realized that I was becoming insulated from the community. All of my work was taking place within the church. How was I to be the salt of the earth and light to the world if I lived in a cocoon built inside the walls of the church? How could I be Jesus to my community in a way that relationships could be built and sustained? The answers to my questions came inside a coffee shop surrounded by preschoolers and their moms.

Each Thursday morning at ten o’clock do not look for me lurking around my church office. Instead, you can find me drinking a medium one shot, skim mocha while reading about hungry caterpillars, lonely fireflies and mad llamas. You will find new little friends of mine named Alex and Daniel and Olivia sitting around me with their moms hovering not too far away. You will probably feel the sense of community and energy that fills the coffee shop for half an hour. And you will find lots of smiling people as they witness the enthralled looks on each child’s face.

Story time consists of more than just reading a few random stories to whatever children happen to show up. Instead, it is an intentional time of character building activities. Each story time contains two classic read aloud books based on a theme such as “I can help my family” or “I can share ...

by Brian Dollar

As I travel around the country, speaking to kids’ pastors and volunteers, I hear some of them say, “My senior pastor doesn’t get me,” “I’d love to do some big things for our kids’ ministry, but my pastor doesn’t share my vision,” or “If it weren’t for my senior pastor, I’d love serving at my church.” These statements concern me and break my heart.  After all, a healthy relationship with the senior pastor is essential for a kids ministry leader to succeed.

Often, I have found that kids ministry leaders expect their senior pastor to do all the work when it comes to building and maintaining that relationship.  They say, “He’s the boss.  It’s his job to connect with me.”  That statement couldn’t be more wrong.  Every relationship is a two way street.

Senior pastors don’t come in “one size fits all.” They have different life experiences, different gifts, different personalities, and different visions for their churches. But in regards to their relationships with kids’ ministry leaders, some principles apply in virtually all cases. Here are some commitments I’ve made to my senior pastor, and I recommend every kids’ leader make them in this important relationship:

• I pray for my pastor and his family daily.

I’ve made a commitment to pray every day for him: for his walk with God, for wisdom in leading our church, for the spiritual vitality of his family, and for God’s protection for him ...