While studying at YouthWorks College this year I was encouraged to write a Children’s Ministry Philosophy.  Unfortunately it had to be 2000 words, so now I’m trying to create a summary that will be useful at church.

1) THE PLACE OF CHILDREN IN GOD’S KINGDOM
The presence of just one believing parent entitles a child to a place in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 7:14).  Therefore children of believers are to be discipled and children of unbelievers are to be evangelised until they have made their own commitment to Christ.

2) THE WAY TO INSTRUCT CHILDREN FROM THE BIBLE
We are to; Teach, Remind and Impress.
Teach of God’s saving work (Exodus 10:1-2).
Remind of God’s saving work (Luke 22:19).
Impress God’s laws upon the children at every opportunity (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

3) THE ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS TOWARDS CHILDREN
Teachers must encourage, comfort and urge your children to live holy lives
(1 Thessalonians 2:11-12).  However we must not over burden our children and cause them to despise the ways of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4)

4) THE STRUCTURE OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
The believers of the first church devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, regularly meeting together, sharing a meal, prayer and spiritual songs (Acts 2:42, Ephesians 5:19-20).  So we aim to copy this structure in our children’s ministry.

There are multiple references for each point however I’ve only included the bare minimum as I’d like to turn this into a poster of some sort.  I’ve also left out the points on psychological development and how to measure the sucess of a group.

Has someone done something similar and would like to share their wisdom?  Or if you can see some gaping holes please point them out?
Peoples comments are welcome.

Thax <><

Craig
Including the “bear” minimum may make some people “Grizzly” :-)
Bob

Thank you, I’ve fixed that now.

Craig Thacker - 10 October 2008 01:47 AM

Thank you, I’ve fixed that now.

What did you go and do that for?  Now no one will understand my joke! :-)

The presence of just one believing parent entitles a child to a place in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 7:14).

Byebye faith!

Sorry, but any Children’s Ministry Philosophy with this as it’s basis is doomed from the start according to what I know from the Bible. One confusing and debated verse is not enough to base a philosophy on. Furthermore, none of the rest of your ministry philosophy is dependent on it.

Dannii

Sorry, but any Children’s Ministry Philosophy with this as it’s basis is doomed from the start according to what I know from the Bible.

Basically point one is a composite of ideas both from 1 Corinthians 7 and the letter to the Ephesians where in chapter 1 verse 1 Paul is writing to the Saints and in chapters 5 and 6 puts the Saints into groups of people;
1) Wives and Husbands
2) Children and Parents
3) Slaves and Masters.

This is hard to quote concisely, but the idea is that children of christian parents are considered Saints by Paul.  To me that means children that are saints are in the kingdom of God and receive the full benefit of being an adult believer.

Was this the part that confused you or is that you assume all children are saved from the outset?

1) THE PLACE OF CHILDREN IN GOD’S KINGDOM
The presence of just one believing parent entitles a child to a place in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 7:14).  Therefore children of believers are to be discipled and children of unbelievers are to be evangelised until they have made their own commitment to Christ.

The outworkings of this part of the philosphy is that we will aim to build up a childs faith instead of continually telling them that they are not part of God’s Kingdom.  So for example children that have always believed in Jesus as their Lord and saviour because their parents have taught them too since birth, will have their faith constantly reaffirmed and not thrown into doubt.

Another passage that reaffirms this philosphy is from Luke 18:15-16

15People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

It was the faith of the parents that brought the children to Jesus, and even the babies of believers were considered by Jesus as being the owners of the Kingdom of God.

This therefore affects every bit of Children’s ministry in that depending on the audience the message will have a changed focus.  Scripture ministry in school will have a mixed audience so a call to trust in Jesus will appear more often than in Sunday School where all the parents are attending church at the same time as their children.