I have had the privilege this year of visiting a lot of churches, and I’ve found many of them are dominated by people my age and older. Sometimes people from the church want to share with me about their church. Often I’ve heard them say, “Our church needs young people. I just don’t know why we don’t have very many any more.” Many of them have noticed that the attendance of their churches is not growing. Some are even willing to admit, at least to themselves, that the congregation is dwindling. Long-term members remember past glory days and wish for a return to those exciting times. I think there is good news and bad news for congregations in this situation.
The bad news is that the old days will not return. You can’t turn the clock back in the church any more than you can turn it back in your family. We may long for the days when our grown children were small, but wishing will not make it so. In the same way, we may want the church we had in the 1960s or 70s, but that church is gone. It’s the same place your son’s little league team is: in the past.
The good news is that God’s church is not in the past; His message and His love are the same, and your church can once again be vital and alive. Just like new children are playing on the old ball diamond your kids played on, there is a new generation of adults that the church can reach for the Lord. When you drive by the kids’ ball field on a summer evening, you’ll see and hear the excitement of the children and their parents and realize that they’re experiencing the same fun and joy you did. I believe it can be the same way at church. When young families find the Lord, they fill the church with the enthusiasm that many churches filled with senior citizens are missing.
It can happen! The church can again be an exciting place, but seniors have to want it to happen. Seniors hold the control. Whether they are “in office” or not, they hold lots of power. They’re usually major contributors financially, and they’re in position to make or break new proposals by vote, by their complaining, or by withholding their giving. You see, if the next generation is to be reached, the older generation must understand that the priority of the church must be to reach people for Christ—as Jesus put it, make disciples. To do that, seniors have to realize that changes will be required to attract and hold a new generation. And there is the problem: older people hate to change. It comes down to deciding this question: Do we want this church to grow and see people the age of our children and grandchildren find God’s hope, love and salvation, or is it more important for the church to be like we have always known it?
Looking at surveys and reports, we find that many of our churches have become a kind of club that caters to the needs and whims of its members, instead of the church Jesus commissioned. The church that takes the Great Commission seriously puts the needs of people in the community to find salvation ahead of the need of church people to be comfortable with doing things the way they are used to.
I issue a challenge to gray-haired church members like me to ask God to give them an extreme love for the unchurched next generation, and let Him have His way in you to welcome and encourage them to find what you found in Christ long ago. Then, your church will once again ring with excitement and be the lively place you remember and long for. The music probably won’t be the same. The schedule might be different. The decorations will change. But, you will once again feel the same Spirit moving that moved the church long ago and you’ll know that young lives are being changed.
(I suggest a specific way churches can reach the next generation in my post of 2/21/11 titled "A Winning Strategy")
Showing posts with label reaching the next generation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reaching the next generation. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
A Winning Strategy
I recently heard a teacher of church consultants who seemed to me to be saying that older, established congregations are doomed. They will cease to exist within the next fifteen to twenty years, because they are aging and becoming irrelevant to the next generation. I agree that many churches are on this track, but I don’t think their doom is a foregone conclusion. I think some of these churches can refocus and begin reaching the next generation. I know for sure that there is at least one path that can return a church to relevance, lower its average age, and help it to grow.
Children’s ministry in itself is a vital part of the church’s arsenal of weapons to win the world. Most people who choose to follow Christ do so before the age of 13 (estimated at 75%). Effort, dollars, and imagination that are invested in children guarantee future benefits for the Kingdom of God. In addition, the effects of children’s ministry can be more immediate. If a church is willing and prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that come from an effective children’s ministry, the kids’ ministry can lead them to refocus and to grow, spiritually and numerically.
Visit established churches today and you will find lot of gray hair and very few children. There are often rooms set aside for children. Many of them are furnished, some even decorated for Sunday school classes that don’t really exist. It’s eerie and sad. These churches don’t have young adult classes either. People have said things like, “Why don’t younger people come and bring their children to church. I used to make my kids sit right with me and behave, too.” The answer I give is, “If you have an excellent children’s ministry, then the kids will bring their parents.”
It’s true: If you love kids consistently and seek to do excellent children’s ministry the kids will get their folks to come. Can a church that has few or no children do this? I’ll give you a simple answer. The simple answer is; yes, it can be done. There are seven steps that a church will need to take. You may find some of these steps not so simple. To do it a church must be committed to doing whatever it takes to share the message of God’s love, hope, and salvation with the next generation.
Some steps:
1. Find some people who love kids and want to share Jesus with them. Start them praying and planning.
2. Identify someone to be the leader. This should be a person, not designated to do the ministry, but to lead a team to do the ministry.
3. Get some training. There are a lot of very good children’s ministry training opportunities available.
a.) You can spend a lot of money, send your leader, and maybe some of the other interested people to INCM’s Children’s Pastor’s Conference, the Orange Conference, D6 or a host of others.
b.) Better yet, you can find a trainer (perhaps someone who teaches at one of those big events) and have her/him come to you church to train everyone from your church who is interested for the cost of one person going to a big event.
c.) Or you could take a group to a training event in your area.
(For full disclosure, my wife, Tina, is a great children’s ministry trainer. There are others, but in my biased opinion, she’s the best.)
4. Plan some special events for kids in your community. Many times churches have special events for the kids of their members, but if you want to grow, you must put the emphasis on kids in the area. Whatever you do, do it so well that kids will want to come. For example: Vacation Bible School is not a new idea, but it can make a splash in your community if you make it excellent. To impact community kids, have it in the morning, so you don’t have to compete with Little League in the evening. Use your imagination, and make it fun. Go over the top with your decorations. If you use a VBS that comes in the box, be creative and don’t limit yourself to what’s in the box.
Other Special Events:
Christmas Craft Making Day
Trunk or Treat
Easter Egg Hunt
Sports Camp or Clinic
5. Keep careful records of everyone who comes. (Tip: offer a door prize so that you can get everyone’s information.) Get the name of the parent or guardian they live with, their address, phone number and e-mail address. Send the kids a thank you for showing up and with some information about the next special event, as well as the ongoing stuff at church. Add their parents to the regular mailing or e-mailing list. This is critical. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Kids may come to several special events before they ever show up on Sunday, so be persistent. That first special event plants the seed, the follow-up waters, the next special event fertilizes, then eventually the fruit of seeing them in church will blossom.
6. Make children’s church excellent. Give the kids that come to the special event something super to participate in at church on Sunday morning. A good way to do it is encourage the kids to sit with their parents in adult worship until the message; then, dismiss them for children’s church. The workers will have them about 30 to 45 minutes, and they should make it exciting. Teaching kids at church is different than teaching them at school. At school they have to come back the next time,; at church, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to return. Make them excited about coming.
6. Develop your Sunday school so kids will want to come to see what else is going on. When you do this, make sure you are ready to start a new class for their parents. Get their class started with a subject that is important to them, i.e. parenting, marriage, or a beginning Bible study.
7. The church needs to expect young families to come and design the church to make them feel comfortable enough to not only become members, but also invite their friends. This will mean looking at the décor, the worship style, and the preaching topics. You will probably have to make changes, perhaps some major changes. Changes are not comfortable, but so what? Is the purpose of your church to make you comfortable, or to win people to Christ? Do you really want to reach the next generation, or do you just want to complain because the world is going to hell? I am much more uncomfortable about the fact that young families don’t know the love of Jesus than I am that I will have to learn to like a different kind of music, or a different church schedule, or that the building may be used a different way.
If you do these steps you will not only have an effective children’s ministry, you’ll find that your church has become more relevant to the current culture. You’ll not only win whole families to Christ, but you’ll find entrances to parts of the community that you never before imagined.
Check out Tina Houser’s web site: tinahouser.net
For a full step-by-step description of how to build or rebuild a children’s ministry, see her book "Building Children’s Ministry". (available at the website)
Children’s ministry in itself is a vital part of the church’s arsenal of weapons to win the world. Most people who choose to follow Christ do so before the age of 13 (estimated at 75%). Effort, dollars, and imagination that are invested in children guarantee future benefits for the Kingdom of God. In addition, the effects of children’s ministry can be more immediate. If a church is willing and prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that come from an effective children’s ministry, the kids’ ministry can lead them to refocus and to grow, spiritually and numerically.
Visit established churches today and you will find lot of gray hair and very few children. There are often rooms set aside for children. Many of them are furnished, some even decorated for Sunday school classes that don’t really exist. It’s eerie and sad. These churches don’t have young adult classes either. People have said things like, “Why don’t younger people come and bring their children to church. I used to make my kids sit right with me and behave, too.” The answer I give is, “If you have an excellent children’s ministry, then the kids will bring their parents.”
It’s true: If you love kids consistently and seek to do excellent children’s ministry the kids will get their folks to come. Can a church that has few or no children do this? I’ll give you a simple answer. The simple answer is; yes, it can be done. There are seven steps that a church will need to take. You may find some of these steps not so simple. To do it a church must be committed to doing whatever it takes to share the message of God’s love, hope, and salvation with the next generation.
Some steps:
1. Find some people who love kids and want to share Jesus with them. Start them praying and planning.
2. Identify someone to be the leader. This should be a person, not designated to do the ministry, but to lead a team to do the ministry.
3. Get some training. There are a lot of very good children’s ministry training opportunities available.
a.) You can spend a lot of money, send your leader, and maybe some of the other interested people to INCM’s Children’s Pastor’s Conference, the Orange Conference, D6 or a host of others.
b.) Better yet, you can find a trainer (perhaps someone who teaches at one of those big events) and have her/him come to you church to train everyone from your church who is interested for the cost of one person going to a big event.
c.) Or you could take a group to a training event in your area.
(For full disclosure, my wife, Tina, is a great children’s ministry trainer. There are others, but in my biased opinion, she’s the best.)
4. Plan some special events for kids in your community. Many times churches have special events for the kids of their members, but if you want to grow, you must put the emphasis on kids in the area. Whatever you do, do it so well that kids will want to come. For example: Vacation Bible School is not a new idea, but it can make a splash in your community if you make it excellent. To impact community kids, have it in the morning, so you don’t have to compete with Little League in the evening. Use your imagination, and make it fun. Go over the top with your decorations. If you use a VBS that comes in the box, be creative and don’t limit yourself to what’s in the box.
Other Special Events:
Christmas Craft Making Day
Trunk or Treat
Easter Egg Hunt
Sports Camp or Clinic
5. Keep careful records of everyone who comes. (Tip: offer a door prize so that you can get everyone’s information.) Get the name of the parent or guardian they live with, their address, phone number and e-mail address. Send the kids a thank you for showing up and with some information about the next special event, as well as the ongoing stuff at church. Add their parents to the regular mailing or e-mailing list. This is critical. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. Kids may come to several special events before they ever show up on Sunday, so be persistent. That first special event plants the seed, the follow-up waters, the next special event fertilizes, then eventually the fruit of seeing them in church will blossom.
6. Make children’s church excellent. Give the kids that come to the special event something super to participate in at church on Sunday morning. A good way to do it is encourage the kids to sit with their parents in adult worship until the message; then, dismiss them for children’s church. The workers will have them about 30 to 45 minutes, and they should make it exciting. Teaching kids at church is different than teaching them at school. At school they have to come back the next time,; at church, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to return. Make them excited about coming.
6. Develop your Sunday school so kids will want to come to see what else is going on. When you do this, make sure you are ready to start a new class for their parents. Get their class started with a subject that is important to them, i.e. parenting, marriage, or a beginning Bible study.
7. The church needs to expect young families to come and design the church to make them feel comfortable enough to not only become members, but also invite their friends. This will mean looking at the décor, the worship style, and the preaching topics. You will probably have to make changes, perhaps some major changes. Changes are not comfortable, but so what? Is the purpose of your church to make you comfortable, or to win people to Christ? Do you really want to reach the next generation, or do you just want to complain because the world is going to hell? I am much more uncomfortable about the fact that young families don’t know the love of Jesus than I am that I will have to learn to like a different kind of music, or a different church schedule, or that the building may be used a different way.
If you do these steps you will not only have an effective children’s ministry, you’ll find that your church has become more relevant to the current culture. You’ll not only win whole families to Christ, but you’ll find entrances to parts of the community that you never before imagined.
Check out Tina Houser’s web site: tinahouser.net
For a full step-by-step description of how to build or rebuild a children’s ministry, see her book "Building Children’s Ministry". (available at the website)
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