Carrying the Load Together
by David Staal

Volume 14 Issue 2, 2007

The ages and stages of children's ministry

What is the highest priority in children’s ministry? I think the answer to that question is found in another question, namely, what mattered most to Jesus? In Mark 3, we’re told He wanted His followers to go proclaim the Message. What mattered most to Jesus was the Message.

The Message is the highest priority for children’s ministry. Jesus said it over and over. The first thing He said was that He had been sent by God to proclaim the Message; to call people unto Himself. The last thing He said was, “Go make disciples,” and throughout all of Scripture, it talks about how Jesus said the reason that He had come was to proclaim the Message; to seek and save the lost.

What does that mean? It means we need to help kids travel down a path into a relationship with Jesus. Jesus wanted people to travel down a path to be in a relationship with Him.

But is ministry to very young kids really possible? Dr. John Trent says that, “It’s never too early for God’s creative people to do the very thing that He created them to do,” and that’s to have a deep friendship with Him. Jesus Himself says, “It is not the will of your Father in Heaven that even one child should be lost.” So, of course, real authentic, life-changing ministry to kids is very possible.

So, what does this ministry pathway for kids look like? We came across that question in Promiseland when at one point in time we challenged ourselves with, “What are we doing that all fits together as far as a progression for kids? What’s that pathway?” We went on an exploratory journey to figure out what is it that we’re doing to help kids follow Christ.

A Logical Progression

So here’s where we started off. In our infants, toddlers, and age 2 rooms, we told our teachers to continually say the names, “Jesus and God,” to the kids, to introduce them to the reality that there’s this God and Jesus who really exist. They’re at an age where they need to hear that repeated over and over again.

One weekend, a mom came to pick up her toddler. She put him in a stroller, gave him a snack, and the toddler held up his little animal cracker and said, “God. Food.” What we had been talking about that day, over and over, with the toddlers was how God made our food. He could connect God and food. With our infants and toddlers, we’re trying to connect their world with a very real God and Jesus.

Jesus Loves Me …

But, as is the case with every child, they don’t stay that age for very long. They move up, and when they do, they graduate into the 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old rooms, and what they learn there is that Jesus loves. We teach lessons about what God and Jesus have done, and continue to do. God made the animals. Jesus loves everyone. Jesus made my family. Jesus heals people.

When the kids get into kindergarten and first grade, they learn that God and Jesus love them personally. If you’re a kindergartner, this will blow your mind! “This God and Jesus I’ve been hearing about for the past couple of years wants to be in a relationship with me? He wants to be my best friend? He also wants to take all the punishment for all the wrong things that I do?”

… This I Know

When the kids move into the second and third grade rooms, their cognitive and learning abilities have increased to the place where we point them very deliberately to the Bible, into areas where they learn what being a disciple of Jesus is all about.

We call it “This I Know,” because we start to give them proof so that they can rely on the Bible to be the place where they can turn for answers just like Christ-followers are supposed to be able to do. As a result, these second and third graders are armed with more knowledge about a relationship with Jesus.

The kids then move into fourth and fifth grade, which is the upper end of our ministry. We hope that they come out of this room saying, “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me!” They’re on the cusp of going into middle school or junior high and facing all sorts of life challenges. We’re trying to instill in them some rock solid beliefs so that they are well anchored in their followership of Jesus when they leave us. The critical message there is, yes, Jesus loves me.

We want those words ringing in their ears: “I can say no to that because, yes, Jesus loves me; When I feel peer pressure from all my friends for me to do wrong stuff, I can say no to them because, yes, Jesus loves me; When I’m being threatened, pushed around, and encountering all sorts of challenges, yes, Jesus loves me!”

Nothing is cooler than to hear little kids talking about Jesus around the family table, or when they’re in pre-school and they relate some of the action-packed stuff they’ve learned from the Bible about Jesus to their buddies!

Carrying the Load Together

There is great satisfaction in the hearts of children’s ministry leaders who aid in the progression of helping kids become Christ followers. And all along the way, each group cheers the other on. If you’re in the infant, toddler, age 2 room, you know that for the age 3, 4, and 5 leaders to do their job well, they’re relying on you to introduce these kids to Jesus.

When you’re in age 3, 4, and 5 rooms, you know that the kids are going to be offered the opportunity to say, “yes,” to Jesus in just a year or two. So, the whole time, you’re saying, “I need to lay out the case for these kids as far as why Jesus is so fantastic.” They know that the next group of leaders are counting on them.

Then, in the kindergarten and first grade rooms, they’re saying, “Oh, boy, I hope they’ve done their job down there in early childhood, because we need to offer the opportunity to kids to say, ‘yes,’ to Jesus.” And they know that the second and third grade leaders are counting on them because they’re saying, “We’re going to solidify this. We’re going to help these young disciples, these young followers, to really grasp hold of their faith and learn what it means to follow Jesus.”

Finally, our fourth and fifth grade leaders, are cheering on the whole team. They’re saying, “Team, do a great job, and as we sit with these kids for the last two years they’re in our ministry, we’re going to strengthen them and give them solid wings to fly on, so that they leave our ministry saying, ‘Yes, Jesus loves me!’”

A Smooth Transition

Last year, during our Memorial Day services, we had a graduation where the fifth graders came up on stage and everybody got to recognize that they were graduating out of our Promiseland ministry into our junior high ministry. We were able to look at every volunteer in our ministry, no matter what age group they work in, and say, “Thank you for what you’ve done!”

Because when everybody knows the piece of the path they own, they can do a great job. Nobody has to own the whole thing. That would be too heavy a load to carry.

All of us are in the business of helping kids discover a brand new day, but we also know that ministry is an uphill walk. But when you willingly go uphill, it strengthens you. It strengthens your heart, and that’s how the heart of a children’s ministry gets strong. With a strong heart, you’ll be able to lead kids down a path to help them follow Christ. With that strong heart, when you lead kids down that path, then you’ll both end up in a great place. You’ll end up with Jesus.

David Staal is the director of Promiseland, Willow Creek’s children’s ministry, and is the author of Leading Kids to Jesus and Leading Your Child to Jesus.

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