As we move along in our journey as a children’s ministry leader, it can seem like one busy season of life, and ministry simply bleeds into another busy season of life and ministry. We are often working long hours and dealing with physically and emotionally draining situations. We get tired and often don’t have (or take) the time we need to rest and recover. We find ourselves feeling exhausted, not able to muster up the energy we need to do the things God is calling us to do. We feel guilty that we aren’t where we need to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally, and we can struggle to get it together and lead in the way we want to lead.
Parents in our church often feel the same way. They are juggling schedules and activities, and they feel like they are always on the run. They move from one practice or activity to another, finding just enough time for a drive-through dinner to feed their family. Most of them would say that they value rest and quality time to connect; they just can’t seem to jump off the hamster wheel of life and slow it all down. The pressures of the world and the perception that they have to be “busy” wins the day.
This month, we want to encourage you to both pay attention to your own pace of life and help the parents and families in your ministry pay attention to theirs. We all need to learn how to build a healthy rhythm that allows space for rest, reflection, and authentic personal connection. God made us to “be,” not just “do.” If we want to live the abundant life that we were made to live, something has to change in the way we approach each and every day. This month’s coaching video will address building a healthy rhythm and provide you with practical ways to do it.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE!
Copy/ Paste this email into a browser and send it to parents.
Subject Line: Finding Rest
Dear Parents,
In the frantic pace of our daily lives, it’s too easy for us all to get caught up in an unhealthy pattern where we sacrifice so many things that can lead us to a fulfilling life. Can you relate? My guess is the busy schedules that run your life leave little time for true rest, reflection, and time to connect with those you love the most. If we want to live our lives in a way that doesn’t lead us to exhaustion, we need to figure out how to better prioritize things that will foster a healthier pace of life.
This month’s Online Parenting Class highlights the importance of slowing down and drawing inspiration from Scripture and the teachings of Jesus. It encourages you to make intentional choices that lay the foundations of building healthy rhythms for you and teaching your kids to do the same. The practical suggestions, such as prioritizing family dinners and scheduling downtime, will provide you with tangible ways to create a more fulfilling and purposeful family life.
It’s worth taking the time to reflect on how we can incorporate these principles into our lives. We encourage you to embrace a pace of life that allows your family to truly connect, recharge, and live the life you were made for.
To watch this month’s Online Parenting Class video, click the link below.
You can do this! We are always here for you if you need us.
Cheering you on,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
EMAIL 2
Copy/ Paste this email into a browser and send it to parents.
Subject Line: Slowing it All Down
Dear Parents,
As we all seek to navigate the chaos of life, we quickly get reeled into a pace that is unsustainable. We sacrifice crucial aspects of well-being for the allure of constant busyness. We struggle to slow down and turn it all off, fearing we might miss something or get left behind in some way. It’s a real struggle.
We know that slowing down is really important. It gives us the opportunity to rest and reflect, foster meaningful connections, and embrace a healthier pace for our family. This month’s parent resources offer some valuable suggestions and encourage us to adopt a different mindset. When we make the decision to take a step back, recharge, and cultivate a deeper connection with each other and with God, we begin to live in the way we were created to live.
Take a few moments to check out this month’s Online Parenting Class if you haven’t already. Maybe share it with a friend. Read this month’s blog article titled “The Gift of January.” Carve out some time to go through the Toolbox Resource, A Family Guide to Building Rest, which is designed to provide you with some practical steps to take over the course of four weeks to begin building habits and laying a foundation for developing a healthier pace that can help you to live in the way rest that God intends for you to live. These resources speak to the challenges many of us face in the fast-paced world. It’s an invitation to reconsider our priorities, create intentional moments of connection, and lead our families in a way that aligns with our faith.
To read the blog article or watch the video, click on the links below.
We are in this together! Let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your family.
Praying for you as you lead at home,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
M2P January KIDS Parent Video Script
In the speed and chaos of today’s modern life, it’s easy for families to get caught up in what can quickly become a relentless pace. We often sacrifice rest, quality time, meaningful connections, and an overall healthy mentality for a faux excitement that comes from doing something all the time … from “being busy.” You know how it goes. We have to get up each day. We have to get dressed, pack lunches, and head out the door to work and school. There are appointments and practices and homework and meetings. Sometime late afternoon or early evening, we get home, unless we have something that night, but eventually, we have to eat, bathe, and do homework, and finally, we lie down to hope to fall asleep … only to get up the next day and do it all over again. And we wait for our weekends, which actually are full of practices or games or rehearsals and church and so much stuff. It can all be kind of crazy.
As Christian parents, deep down, we know this isn’t the way it should be. We know that there are encouragements from Scripture to prioritize a healthier pace of living, one that echoes the biblical principles of rest, reflection, and a focus on our family. In Genesis 2:2-3, God Himself rested on the seventh day after the creation of the world, setting a precedent for rest and rejuvenation. By figuring out how to take time to slow down in your life, you can model the same rhythm that God demonstrated, and you can create an environment where your family can find a semblance of peace and renewal. In Psalm 46:10, the Psalmist implores us to “Be still, and know that I am God,” emphasizing the importance of quiet reflection and communion with our creator. Slowing down allows families to cultivate a deeper sense of awareness, fostering a deeper connection with each other and with God.
Moreover, in Mark 6:31, Jesus encourages His disciples to “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” This call to retreat and recharge is a reminder that even in the midst of life and responsibilities, taking a step back is crucial.
Hopefully, you can see that developing a slower pace for your family can allow for some real bonding and spiritual nourishment. In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul advises believers to be wise in how they use their time, urging them to make the most of every opportunity. Slowing down enables you and your family to seize these opportunities, savoring the precious moments that can contribute to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
I have a few practical suggestions for you:
First, I would suggest you make family dinners at home a priority. You may ask, “What does this have to do with slowing down and resting?” and I would argue it does. Making time to connect over a meal gives us all a type of soul rest that can slow us down. If we’re all eating at different times and on the go, it plays into the frantic pace of life, and we miss out on practical opportunities to turn it all off and, tune it all out and just be together. In seasons of life where our kids were busy with sports, church, or other things, we would often eat dinner together at 8:30 or 9 just to ensure we had that time to stop, eat, and connect. I’m convinced that making those family dinners a priority did a lot of things for us as a family, and I’m so glad we did.
Next, schedule family downtime. Often, when we have a free night or a free weekend, we might feel as if we need to plug something into that spot and get something done. You don’t. In fact, you likely not only need the rest, but you might need the opportunity to reconnect with your family. Now, when you have this downtime, you’ll have to work to NOT let everyone, and I do mean everyone, retreat to their devices and/or their rooms for their own personal time alone. Our devices make it so easy to isolate ourselves and somehow think it’s good, healthy time away from the chaos, but, in reality, we just get reeled into a different kind of chaos as we scroll, watch, or mindlessly play. Create a culture in your home where there are times of rest when the family is all together, having good and meaningful conversations and building your relationships. This will give everyone another type of soul rest that matters to our well-being.
Finally, figure out ways to regularly; I would argue daily, stop, and reflect on God. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Himself demonstrates the importance of rest and retreat. In Matthew 11:28-30, He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” As parents, taking time to focus on God and embrace a healthier pace allows us to lead by example, showing our children the value of finding rest and refuge in Christ. In doing so, we cultivate a family environment that is grounded in faith, love, and a shared commitment to prioritizing what truly matters.
So, don’t let you and your family move so fast that you are in danger of crashing and burning. Pay attention to how the frantic pace of life your kids might be in is impacting them. Recognize the need we all have to move through life, having a healthier pace, and do what you can to make sure your family makes decisions that will lead you to the life you were made for and really want to live.
As we attempt to lead the kids in our midst into deeper relationships with God, we have to make sure we are pointing them to the best place they could go to grow in their faith. No, it’s not Church or a children’s ministry. It’s not us as children’s pastors (ouch!). And as incredibly impactful as they are, it’s not even their teachers or small group leaders in your children’s ministry. Sure, the people who walk alongside them and the spiritual formation experiences they have at church are important pieces of their faith development. Still, there is one source that is essential to them growing into disciples. That source is the Bible—God’s living and active Word. If the kids we minister to can become passionate readers and studiers of God’s Word, they will be much more likely to grow and mature into an authentic, vibrant faith that can sustain them through the ups and downs of life. If we can help the families in our churches move from simply relying on what they hear other people say about the Bible to learning to dive into the pages themselves (and teaching their kids to do the same), they will be much less likely to have a distorted picture of God and how He operates in the world.
This month’s M2P resources have been created to help you elevate your focus on Bible reading/study in your children’s ministry and encourage the kids and parents in your church to spend more time reading, studying, and engaging with it. Our social media posts will help you to drive home to parents this month the importance of putting the Bible at the center of spiritual growth and development. The Online Parenting Class Videos will provide parents with some practical suggestions for making the Bible more accessible to their kids. This month’s Coaching Videos, Blog Articles, and the latest episode of the M2P Podcast will focus on you and those who serve alongside you in children’s ministry, growing in your own spiritual growth and discipleship while helping parents embrace their role as the primary disciplers at home. Finally, for this month’s Toolbox Resource, our friend and author Joel Lusz is providing you and the families you minister to with a 7-day sample of his 12-Month Discipleship Journal. This year-long devotional journal is an incredible resource comprised of short, dedicated, daily readings of God’s Word along with some pointed reflection questions and interactive prompts that will help the reader engage the Scripture, learn about God and His Word, and discover more of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Although originally written for teenagers, parents of slightly older children can still effectively use this resource to provide their kids with a catalyst for building the habits of daily Scripture reading, reflection, application, and prayer. Parents of younger children can also take full advantage of this resource as they read the daily Scripture to their child and talk through the discussion questions and prompts together. In fact, we think it’s such a tremendous and incredibly well-done resource that we want to provide you with a direct link so that you can pick up the full version of the 12-Month Discipleship Journal as an inexpensive resource that you can either gift or pass along to the parents in your church as a way to further encourage and equip their kids to spend time in God’s Word every day.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:12-17 ESV
The M2P Team
WHAT IS IT?
For this month’s Toolbox Resource, we want to introduce you and the families in your church to a great resource from our friend and author, Joel Lusz. This 7-day sample of his 12-Month Discipleship Journal is an incredible resource comprised of short, dedicated, daily readings of God’s Word along with some pointed reflection questions and interactive prompts that will help the reader engage the Scripture, learn about God and His Word, and discover more of what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Although originally written for teenagers, parents of slightly older children can still effectively use this resource to provide their kids with a catalyst for building the habits of daily Scripture reading, reflection, application, and prayer.
Parents of younger children can also take full advantage of this resource as they read the daily Scripture to their child and talk through the discussion questions and prompts together.
In fact, we think it’s such a tremendous and incredibly well-done resource that we want to provide you with a direct link so that you can pick up the full version of the 12-Month Discipleship Journal as an inexpensive resource that you can either gift or pass along to the parents in your church as a way to further encourage and equip entire families to spend time in God’s Word every day.
HOW TO USE IT
Download the 12-Month Discipleship Journal Sample and post it on your website.
Email parents a copy of the resources and encourage them to give it to their older children or use it together with their younger children for seven days.
Print copies of the resources for parents to grab at church and let them know where they can order the entire journal.
As we attempt to lead the kids in our churches into a deeper faith in Jesus, we often do a great job of sharing stories from the Bible. We want them to know all the key characters and how God worked in their lives. We want them to know how God has worked in the world and the fact that He has the power to do miracles, including overcoming death. We teach them in many creative ways, and we have them take home crafts or sing songs that will hopefully help them remember what they heard. All of this is good and important stuff, but what if we took it one more step? What if, instead of just pointing them to the stories OF the Bible, we pointed them TO the Bible?
In this month’s coaching video, we talk about how we can help parents encourage their kids to grow in their discipleship by spending time reading and studying God’s Word. There is so much “content” coming at all of us, and we, as leaders and parents, must work hard to ensure the Bible is the primary source of information and inspiration for our families. Helping people become comfortable with navigating the Bible and getting them to a place where they read it on their own can be a valuable gift you give them as they continue along their spiritual journey.
This month’s Online Parenting Class talks about a few things parents can do for their kids as they attempt to help them embrace the Bible. If parents are honest, they often aren’t as comfortable with the Bible themselves, so they outsource the teaching of Scripture to the “professionals” at church. In reality, parents should be on a spiritual journey with their kids, and the way they engage and talk about the Bible really matters when it comes to the spiritual development of the family. There are some easy things that parents can do to both grow in their own faith and lead their children into a solid relationship with God that is not simply based on what they have heard about God but on what they have discovered themselves through reading His Word. When it comes to discipleship, the Bible needs to be a central piece of the way families grow, and this month’s videos will help parents take a step toward making that a reality.
As we attempt to lead the kids in our churches into a deeper faith in Jesus, we often do a great job of sharing stories from the Bible. We want them to know all the key characters and how God worked in their lives. We want them to know how God has worked in the world and the fact that He has the power to do miracles, including overcoming death. We teach them in many creative ways, and we have them take home crafts or sing songs that will hopefully help them remember what they heard.
All of this is good and important stuff, but what if we took it one more step? What if, instead of just pointing them to the stories OF the Bible, we pointed them TO the Bible?
There will come a time in their lives when stories fade, questions arise, and they will need a strong foundation to stand on. They will need to know where they can go to get answers and learn truth. They will need a resource that is everlasting and speaks to the true desires of their heart.
In this month’s coaching video, we want to encourage you and those who lead alongside you to continue doing what you are doing to lead kids in the faith while maybe thinking through how you can add a layer. The Bible is central to our faith and should become central in the lives of the parents and kids we lead. As you seek to be a better leader, check out this month’s video and think through how you can perhaps lead in a deeper way.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE!
Copy/ Paste this email into a browser and send it to parents.
Subject Line: Making God’s Word a Family Priority
Dear Parents,
When it comes to helping your kids understand and grow in their faith, what do you focus on the most? Is it taking them to church and having them involved with Sunday school and all the other events? Do you read them stories from the Bible, hoping that they will be intrigued and want to hear more? These are certainly good things that will contribute to them developing a real faith. But here’s another question: Are you helping your kids develop the habits they need to grow on their own and not have to rely on anyone else to have a vibrant faith? Sure, at this point in life, they need to rely on others for many things. But that will one day change. As they grow older, they will need to learn how to be more self-sufficient, and they will need the tools to do so.
One of the most important things you can do for your kids as they continue their spiritual journey is to help them feel comfortable reading and studying the Bible. As a parent, you have the opportunity to model to your kids what it means to read and study the Bible. They are watching you, and if they see you value time in Scripture, they just might, too. Facilitate times in your home where everyone takes at least some time to read their Bible and reflect on what God says. If you make reading the Bible a normal and natural part of life, your kids will develop a critical habit that they will need as they go through life.
This month, we want to equip you with some resources that you can use to lead your kids in spending time reading, studying, and engaging with God’s Word on their own and together with you. Our hope is that you will find this month’s Online Parenting Class Video inspiring and encouraging and that the 7-day devotional Toolbox Resource will act as a catalyst for building the habits of daily Scripture reading, reflection, application, and prayer in the lives of your children and family.
To watch this month’s Online Parenting Class video, click the link below.
You can do this! We are always here for you if you need us.
Cheering you on,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
EMAIL 2
Copy/ Paste this email into a browser and send it to parents.
Subject Line: Spending Time in God’s Word
Dear Parents,
One of the things that we all seem to deal with is the fact that good things get crowded out of our lives. We’re so busy and so preoccupied that we don’t spend the time we need to spend on the things we need to spend it on. If we’re honest, most of us see this struggle play out in the amount of time we spend with God, particularly reading His word. We know that spending time reading the Bible should be a key part of our spiritual development, but for a number of reasons, we don’t spend the time we should getting to know God better through the pages of His Word. We’re content with listening to a sermon, attending a class, or maybe reading another book that tells us what other people think about the Bible.
But, if we really want to grow in our faith and effectively pass it on to our kids, we have to make time to learn more about God and how we can have a relationship with Him. We have to develop the discipline to make time for reading God’s word, reflecting on it, and discerning how He wants us to live each and every day. We have to model spending time in the Bible to our children so they see that we value learning about what it says. We don’t have to be perfect and have all the answers, but we do have to have a posture of learning and growing if we want our kids to do the same.
This month’s parent resources, like the blog article “Teaching Our Kids to Treasure God’s Word,” can help you discover ways to make reading and learning the Bible a key part of your family’s spiritual development. And if you haven’t watched this month’s encouraging Online Parenting Class video, you still have time. To read the blog article or watch the video, click on the links below.
We are in this together! Let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your family.
Praying for you as you lead at home,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
M2P December KIDS Parent Video Script
As our kids are growing and learning in life, they are certainly encountering a lot of different things. They encounter different people, different circumstances, and different ideas. They are trying to process what they think and believe about the world. They are trying to discern what they think is true. They have a lot of input that comes their way, and we need to make sure that the things they are learning are pointing them in the direction we want them to go.
When we think about where we want them to go, a lot of things come to mind. We want for them to be successful, whatever that means. We want for them to be healthy in lots of different ways. We also want them to understand and embrace a true faith in God that will lead them for the rest of their lives. I imagine you wouldn’t be watching this video if you didn’t want that.
You see, just like we nourish their bodies with healthy food, it’s equally important to feed their hearts and minds with the timeless wisdom found in the Bible. When we do that, it’s like giving them a kind of map to navigate life’s adventures. The Bible is packed with stories of courage, love, hardship, and struggle, and the most extraordinary hero of all time—Jesus! Now, the Bible doesn’t specifically answer every question they or we have, but it does offer us hope for the future and challenge us to “live a life worthy of the calling we have received.”
As parents, we have the opportunity, and I would argue responsibility, to guide our children on a journey of faith. I think that we need to be careful that this faith that we help them develop doesn’t just come from things that we think we have heard over the years, principles that we have learned in the past, or vague Christian ideas that we think sound good. The foundation of this journey needs to be the Bible, God’s word, and what He says about us and the world. Think about the stories of Noah and the Ark, David and Goliath, Paul and his conversion, and Jesus as He performs miracles, demonstrates His love, and overcomes death. These are more than just words on paper; they are the building blocks of a strong, resilient faith that will anchor your children in the storms of life. Just like we teach our kids to tie their shoes or ride a bike, introducing them to the Bible can be an essential part of their growth and development.
Now, I know life gets busy, and it’s not always easy to find any extra time in the day to do one more thing. But I would encourage you to make spending time in the Bible a real priority for both your kids and for you. If you become more familiar with what it says in God’s word, you will be better positioned to lead your kids as they discover who God is through all that they encounter. And, if we help our kids get into the habits of reading their Bible, reflecting on what it says, and coming to God in prayer, they will learn and grow as disciples. Life won’t be perfect, and things won’t always go their way, but God will be with them.
As parents, we have a front-row seat to not just witness the formation of our child’s character and values but to influence it, and we need a foundation that is bigger than just what we think. The Bible serves as a foundation for instilling virtues like kindness, patience, forgiveness, and love. When our kids learn about the compassion of Jesus or the bravery of biblical heroes, they are not merely gaining knowledge; they are learning the essence of what it means to be a person of integrity and love. Talk about what you are learning, read stories together, ask your kids if they have any questions, and make studying and talking about the Bible a normal and natural part of family life.
So, in the hustle and bustle of life, let’s not forget the importance of cultivating a vibrant spiritual life in our homes. Know that your efforts, no matter how small, contribute to the growth of these little disciples who carry the light of their faith into the world. So, let’s embrace this beautiful responsibility that we all have and let’s dive into what God has given us, His Word, and let’s help our kids develop a foundation of faith that is built on Jesus and bolstered by their understanding of the Bible and their exploration of it.
When it comes to the way you lead in children’s ministry, where are you placing your focus? Do you believe that the curriculum you choose has the most significant impact? Does your programming plan or ministry calendar win the day? What about your metrics or church growth models? Maybe it’s the books you’re reading, podcasts you’re following, or what the bigger children’s ministry down the street is doing that you’re trying to imitate. Have you ever taken the time to pause long enough to ask/answer the question—what do I believe matters most or feel has the most lasting impact when it comes to effectively discipling this generation of kids? If you haven’t asked/answered that question yet, then you probably haven’t asked/answered the one that follows—what do the parents of the kids who are in my ministry need the most as they seek to lead and foster spiritual growth at home? However you answer those questions for this season or for your particular ministry context, an important truth you might discover along the way is that one of the best gifts that you can give a parent is the influence of other significant, caring, godly adults in the life of their child.
As kids are growing up, learning to navigate the world around them, and wrestling with their many doubts and questions, they need lots of support, encouragement, and even some accountability along the way. Obviously, their parents need to be leading in this area, but many parents also understand the need to surround their kids with other adult mentors who can speak into their lives and spiritual development. For most, they are going to have some adults around them (teachers, administrators, maybe coaches, neighbors, extended family) influencing them in some direction, but not all of these adult influencers speak the same language that parents are speaking or when it comes to life and faith. But what if we, as children’s ministry leaders, could help parents understand the untapped potential of surrounding their kids with godly adult voices who are hearing and saying the same things that they are hearing and saying as parents? What if we could equip parents with the tools they need to access the areas in which their kids need additional influence? What if our children’s ministries became places where every adult leader understood relational ministry and viewed their primary role as a caring adult who invests themselves in life-on-life discipleship with kids, not just a teacher of Bible information?
This month’s M2P resources were created to equip, encourage, and even challenge you, the leaders who serve alongside you, and the parents in your ministry context to consider the power of a relational ministry mindset. The Online Parenting Class Videos paint a picture for parents of what having key adults in the lives of their kids can do for them. The Coaching Video will provide you and those who serve alongside you with some thoughts and ideas as you seek to invite leaders into the children’s ministry and train them to lead well. The Toolbox Resource, entitled Mentoring Assessment, will equip parents with a way to evaluate whether their kids have the adult influences they need to grow deeper in their faith. Our Blog Articles and the latest episode of the M2P Podcast will help you drive this mindset home and offer great insights into this idea. Relational mentoring matters when it comes to the discipleship and faith development of kids.
Your children’s ministry can be a trusted place for providing parents with faithful, influential, godly adults to invest in and walk alongside their kids. If you focus on this area of ministry and do it well, you will multiply the impact your children’s ministry has, kids will grow in their faith, and parents will be thankful.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. – 3 John 1:4 ESV
The M2P Team
In this month’s Toolbox Resource, entitled Mentoring Assessment, we hope to help parents better assess and discern whether their child has Christian mentors who are supporting and encouraging them in their faith journey. There are specific and intentional decisions that parents can make in order to surround their children with the voices they need to help them process the doubts, questions, and issues they are facing. This month’s Toolbox Resource provides parents with a practical assessment they can use to determine the steps they can take to help their children have the godly mentors they need.
HOW TO USE IT
Download the Mentoring Assessment. and post it on your website.
Email parents a copy of the resource and encourage parents to set aside some time to go through it.
Print copies of the resources for parents to grab at church and let them know where they can pick them up.
Relational ministry happens when adults who have genuine faith in Jesus spend time with kids, building relationships with them and sharing the good news of the Gospel through natural relationships. It goes beyond just being teachers and wanting to share content; it’s adults choosing to become spiritual mentors and life-on-life disciplers. It’s what Jesus did with His disciples, and it’s the model of ministry we see all through Scripture. So, as children’s ministry leaders, a big part of our role is to build a ministry where discipleship happens, not primarily through what takes place in a classroom or on a stage, but what takes place as adults pour into kids and they live life together in biblical community and accountability. And you have the opportunity to make this happen in your church because the kids in your care need significant adults who will love and encourage them as they grow in their lives and faith.
In this month’s coaching videos, we will spend some time together unpacking that idea and providing you with some ideas you and your adult leaders can use to help parents lead at home.
As they seek to raise their kids in the faith, parents need lots of help. They may not recognize it, but one of the best things that the church can do for them is build a team of goldy adult teachers and leaders who can model what it means to have an authentic faith and be adults worth imitating. Spiritual mentors can serve as living testimonies, embodying the values and teachings of the faith, and play a pivotal role in shaping the spiritual journey of the next generation. This month’s Online Parenting Class helps parents see the value of having these mentors in the lives of their kids. It will also provide them with practical ideas on how to make this happen. When the church and the home are working together to influence kids, deeper discipleship happens, and the kingdom of God grows.
Relational ministry happens when adults who have genuine faith in Jesus spend time with kids, building relationships with them and sharing the good news of the Gospel through natural relationships. It goes beyond just being teachers and wanting to share content; it’s adults choosing to become spiritual mentors and life-on-life disciplers. It’s what Jesus did with His disciples, and it’s the model of ministry we see all through Scripture. So, as children’s ministry leaders, a big part of our role is to build a ministry where discipleship happens, not primarily through what takes place in a classroom or on a stage, but what takes place as adults pour into kids and they live life together in biblical community and accountability. Christian education and learning stories are important, but there is no substitute for life-on-life discipleship and modeling walking with Jesus. When kids have Christian leaders and mentors who demonstrate what it means to live a life of faith, they are much more likely to embrace this faith on their own. As children’s ministry leaders, you have the opportunity to make this happen in your church because the kids in your span of care need significant adults who will love and encourage them as they grow in their lives and faith.
In this month’s Coaching Video, we will spend some time together thinking through how you can build a children’s ministry that values mentoring relationships, and we’ll provide you with some ideas you and your adult leaders can use to help parents lead at home.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE!
Copy/ Paste this email into a browser and send it to parents.
Subject Line: Surrounding Your Kids
Dear Parents,
As your kids grow up and move through life, there are so many adults who influence them along the way. Teachers, coaches, extended family, friends, and others have a voice into the person your child is becoming. As parents, you have the opportunity to “dial in” some key mentoring relationships that can have a profound impact on your child’s growth and spiritual development. A big part of our job is to do our best to surround your kids with caring and godly adults who will encourage (and nudge) them in the direction that glorifies God. Helping kids grow into the Christ-like people we are praying they will become takes a lot of work, and you, as a parent, need help!
As you think about how to place helpful, Godly influences in your child’s life, make sure to check out the resources we have for you this month. The Online Parenting Class will help give you some more thoughts about why this idea of spiritual mentors is so important and offer some practical suggestions on things you can do to facilitate the relationships you want your kids to have. The Toolbox Resource is a Mentoring Assessment that will give you an exercise to go through to identify some steps you can take to help your child begin to have mentors who can help lead them spiritually. We’re here for you, and this month’s resources will hopefully be helpful as you seek to lead your children well.
To watch this month’s Online Parenting Class video, click the link below.
You can do this! We are always here for you if you need us.
Cheering you on,
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Subject Line: Parenting Through The Chaos
Dear Parents,
We all know that relationships are important, and that is especially true for your kids. They have a lot of relationships in life, and, as parents, we hope and pray that their relationships are pointing them in the right direction. If we can help our kids begin to develop solid relationships with adult mentors who will love and encourage them, we will create opportunities for them to learn and grow in a healthy way.
As you think about these things, take some time to read this month’s blog article titled “Finding Mentors for Your Child” and schedule some time to go through the Toolbox Resource, which is a Mentoring Assessment to help you identify steps you can take to better lead your child to the influences they need. These resources will give some fuel to your fire as you do what you can to help your child build solid relationships with adult mentors who can guide them along the way. This is such a critical time in their growth and spiritual development, and you have the opportunity to help them develop the faith they will need to navigate the world by making sure they are surrounded by voices that will mold and shape them in the right way. Let us know how we can help.
And if you haven’t watched this month’s encouraging Online Parenting Class Video, you still have time. To read the blog article or watch the video, click on the links below.
We are in this together! Let us know if there is ever anything we can do for you or your family.
Praying for you as you lead at home,
[INSERT LEADER’S SIGNATURE HERE]
M2P November KIDS Parent Video Script
Our daughter is a senior in high school, which I know is likely older than your kids are right now. But she’s in the middle of applying for colleges, and my wife and I are helping her as much as she’ll let us. You see, she’s a high achiever and very independent, so there’s only so much she’ll let us do. A few weeks ago, she was in the middle of writing her college essays, and she wanted some help in the editing process. She reached out to a lady at our church who she calls Mrs. Mary. Mrs. Mary is a former teacher; she’s my daughter’s small group leader, and she has been in our daughter’s life as a leader and mentor for a long, long time.
When our kids are young, we tend to keep them close. We keep them close to home, we keep them close to us, and we hope they will begin to grow close to God. As we watch them grow, we know that they need us in a lot of ways. But sometimes, we often think that we are enough. We want to believe that we have everything they need to grow and thrive. But deep down, we know that we aren’t enough. We know that our kids need more. We know that they need healthy adult influences in their lives that will help us point them in the direction we hope they will go.
We are so thankful that, as a senior in high school, our daughter has significant adults in her life that are encouraging her and cheering her on. People like Mrs. Mary, and Nikki, and Kasey, and Courtney, and Sarah, and Hop. But these relationships didn’t just start recently; they have been growing for years. Some of these relationships go back to when our daughter was born and have taken a long time to cultivate. What I know is that these people have been helping our daughter in her life and faith as she has grown up, and my wife and I are so thankful.
I would encourage you to find significant adults who can speak into the lives of your kids. This may happen in small doses when they are young, but as they get older, find ways to build relationships with key adults who will help in your kids’ spiritual and emotional growth. This may take intentional planning and work on your part because our lives are busy, and sometimes, the idea of making relational investments for the future sounds good, but we just don’t think we have time.
Likely, the best place to find the key relationships your kids need is at church. I would encourage you to make being involved in your church a real priority. You’ll notice I didn’t say make “going to church” a priority but being involved in your church. Don’t just settle on going to Sunday services a few times a month and scooting out at the end. Go early and mingle with other families. Stay late and go to lunch with people. Invest in a ministry in your church as an attender or a leader. Just be involved and build relationships with people who can have an impact on your kids.
And then, when there are people who are investing in your kids, make it a priority and to invest in them back. Encourage the people who are doing the encouraging. Thank them and stay close to them. Build community and spend time with them. If you can create opportunities for your kids to be around these people in lots of different ways, the relationships will grow, and your kids will have some valuable mentors as they grow up.
Here’s the bottom line. Your kids need you, but they also need other adults … mentors who are helping you lead your kids. If you will be intentional about surrounding your kids with people who will love and encourage them along the way, your kids will get to their teenage and young adult years, and they will have significant adults to lean on when they need help. And you will be thankful.
As you look across the landscape of life, our current culture, and how those things are impacting the ones who you have been called to lead, equip, and shepherd through your children’s ministry’s span of care, you know that it’s no cakewalk out there. Our families are struggling (to put it mildly). So many of the families in our churches are being distracted, derailed, discombobulated, and are left holding on by a thread as they attempt to navigate a myriad of difficult situations, challenges, and circumstances. You don’t have to look hard to be able to see that the parents of the kids we have the privilege of ministering to weekly are drowning—being hit by wave after wave of yet another crisis to navigate, fire to put out, or difficult situation to manage. And it’s not just the parents; the children whom we are trying to reach, disciple, and point toward Jesus are themselves dogpaddling like crazy just to keep their heads above water. Through it all, parents are often at a loss for what to do, where to help, and how to engage. This growing sense of confusion, anxiety, overwhelmedness, and inadequacy causes the parents in our children’s ministries to freeze up, act out, give up/in, or check out, leaving their children to navigate life and spiritual growth on their own. As children’s ministry leaders, part of our role and calling necessitates that we come down off the lifeguard stand, jump in the deep, choppy waters, and do everything we can to come alongside parents and provide them with the help, support, and resources they need to lead their families well.
This month’s M2P resources have been specifically designed to help you and the leaders who serve along with you in children’s ministry to dive into this sea of difficult issues and offer parents some much-needed flotation devices so that they can keep from drowning as they swim amongst the waves of difficult issues that will invariably come their family’s way.
Our Blog Articles and Coaching Video will provide you and your leaders with thoughtful insights, creative ideas, and practical steps that you and your ministry can offer families who are (or at some point will be) trying to navigate choppy waters. Our Online Parenting Class Video and this month’s Toolbox Resource entitled Hope In The Midst Of Trouble will provide parents with a practical tool they can use to start (and stay) in the personal and spiritual conversations they need to be in with their kids at home.
And don’t forget to listen to the latest episode of the M2P Podcast with Brian Haynes—a widely recognized pastor, speaker, author, and thought leader in the areas of family ministry and parenting well through the mountaintop moments as well as the difficult times. Check it all out, and let us know how we can better serve you as you seek to serve the parents in your church.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. – Psalm 46:1-3 ESV
The M2P Team
As we wade into the overwhelming and often paralyzing waters of navigating challenging issues that our families are facing, we want to do everything we can to come alongside parents and provide them with the help, support, and resources they need to lead their families well. To accomplish that goal, this month, we are providing you as a children’s ministry leader with a specific, age-appropriate resource that you can offer to parents to use to start (and stay) in the personal and spiritual conversations they need to be in with their kids.
This Toolbox Resource for the parents of K through 5th-grade children is entitled Hope In The Midst Of Trouble and is designed to help parents provide their children with reminders of God’s goodness, His faithfulness, and His promises. It’s a helpful resource parents can use to open ongoing conversations with their kids—reminding them of God’s character, the hope He offers, and that even if they feel that God is far away, the truth of His Word is everlasting.
HOW TO USE IT
Download Hope In The Midst Of Trouble Devotion and post it on your website.
Email parents a copy of the Toolbox Resource and encourage them to set aside some time to prayerfully and thoughtfully work through it as a family.
Print copies of the Toolbox Resource for parents to grab at church and let them know where they can pick it up.
As children’s ministry leaders, there are many things that we can (and often do) have strong opinions about when it comes to “best practices” of shepherding those whom the Lord has placed within our span of care. Be it programming decisions, worship styles, snack choices (to Goldfish or not to Goldfish, that is the question), or teaching methods, there are just some things where it’s okay to agree to disagree (in a Christ-honoring way). But a few things that every children’s ministry leader can agree upon is that the world is a crazy place, our culture is heading in the wrong direction, life is filled with difficult seasons, and the families inside and outside the walls of our churches are struggling mightily. There are just so many difficult and complex issues that our families are facing today. As we all work to live out our calling and honor the Lord through ministering to the people in our churches who are navigating these difficult issues of life, there are certain things that we need to remember and pay attention to. This month’s coaching video gives you and those who serve alongside you some practical ideas and steps to take as you both lead in children’s ministry and support parents. The craziness of the world and the complexity of issues are not going away—until King Jesus returns—but until that glorious day, let’s all agree to glorify the Lord by doing everything we can to help parents navigate it all in a healthy way that will strengthen their faith and give their kids the spiritual foundation they need to stand on solid ground.
When it comes to helping a child think through and deal with the difficult issues of life, there are some practical things that their parents can do to help develop the solid foundation that we all want them to have. Much of what parents can do revolves around building real relationships, having open/honest conversations, and spending time in prayer. This can take a lot of work and can even be a little intimidating for many, but it’s so worth it because just these simple steps can have more of an impact than most parents realize. In this month’s Online Parenting Class, we talk about some specific things that parents can do as they seek to lead their kids through difficult seasons, circumstances, or crises and into a healthy place. It’s not always about teaching and instructing. It’s often more about connecting, listening, being present, and pointing them to the One who created them and loves them deeply.
The world has changed a lot since we were kids, and raising children or ministering to families in this crazy new world seems to be more difficult than ever before. In some ways, technology has taken away childhood innocence through social media, music, video games, and streaming videos. In the past decade or so, culture has planted some giant landmines for both parents and ministry leaders to navigate. In addition to conversations about divorce, illness, death, and other issues that children have brought up for a long time, we now face issues like sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, body shaming, self-harm, depression, and anxiety. At younger and younger ages, even kids in Christian homes are being impacted by issues that are not life-giving. And parents feel the strain of battling against today’s cultural messages.
As children’s ministry leaders, we can speak words of life where the Enemy only speaks words of despair. We have an important role to play in the lives of parents who are raising their kids in this battle for true identity. As we all work to live out our calling and honor the Lord through ministering to the people in our churches who are navigating these difficult issues of life, there are certain things that we need to remember and pay attention to.
This month’s coaching video gives you and those who serve alongside you some practical ideas and steps to take as you both lead in children’s ministry and support parents. The craziness of the world and the complexity of issues are not going away—until King Jesus returns—but until that glorious day, let’s all agree to glorify the Lord by doing everything we can to help parents navigate it all in a healthy way that will strengthen their faith and give their kids the spiritual foundation they need to stand on solid ground.
Click the image above to watch the video or click HERE!
