Your children’s ministry is a vital part of your church. Whether you have one classroom or a building full of kids, they are the next generation of believers who will lead the Church into the future.
Investing in the children in your congregation is of the utmost importance. 64% of children’s ministry leaders strongly agree that churches can’t grow without effective children’s programs.
But your church isn’t the primary spiritual leader for kids. Their parents hold that honor. It’s your job to come alongside these parents, equipping them with the tools they need to successfully mold their children into faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Parental involvement and family engagement are crucial determinants of a children’s ministry’s impact and effectiveness.
But parents can’t be involved and engaged if you don’t communicate with them.
For effective ministry to occur both within the walls of your church and in the homes of your congregants, you need solid communication to bridge the gap between them.
Step #1: Decide what you want to share.
Parents often have little knowledge about what’s happening in their child’s Sunday School classroom unless they serve as a volunteer.
This means that they won’t know the Bible story, the verse their child is working to memorize, or the Gospel truths shared unless you tell them.
It’s easy to share information about upcoming events or invites to sign up for things, but many parents want to know more about your children’s ministry than just what they need to add to their calendars.
You can share many things with parents, but the key is determining what is most important and what next steps you want them to take.
Do you want them to know what the Bible lesson was? How about what missionary the kids are studying? How does the Bible story connect to the big picture of God’s redemption?
Whatever information you decide is important for parents to know about, offer next steps for continued learning.
If you choose to share details of the Bible story for that Sunday, give them questions they can ask their children throughout the week to see how much they remember. If you include the Bible verse the children are memorizing, share an activity to help with the memorization process.
Many parents likely ask their children what they learned that day. Giving them details about the lessons will help them tailor their questions and reinforce what you’re working to instill.
Step #2: Determine your method of delivery.
Once you decide what information to include, you must also determine how to share it.
Sending home a newsletter when children are picked up may be perfect to keep parents up to date with what their children are learning each week. Many curriculum options have a parent newsletter or a lesson summary already available that you simply have to print and distribute.
But printing isn’t always an option, so creating a digital newsletter or email message with the details you want to share may be the right way to go for your church.
If you have an app or connection solution like Realm, you can send digital content each week to every family in your ministry, even if they missed church that week.
Parents often have preferences for how they want to receive communications, so if you already have data on how your congregants want to receive information, use that knowledge to help guide your decisions on the best way to communicate with parents.
Step #3: Provide additional resources.
While you want to communicate regularly with the parents about what’s happening in your ministry, since they are the primary spiritual leaders, they will need your help to effectively disciple their children.
Part of your role in equipping parents is to provide extra resources that they can use with their families outside the walls of your church.
Whether you offer family devotionals, games, or activities they can do together, study tools for continued learning, or something else entirely, parents should be able to come to you for assistance.
If you don’t have the budget for physical resources to give to families, put together a list of recommendations that you can offer parents when they need something.
And then include the information about your resources when you communicate with parents. Even a short note at the end of your newsletter, email, or app message reminding parents that you have additional resources available will let them know that you are willing to walk beside them in their parenting journeys.
The parents in your ministry likely fall into the trap that many others do: believing that their church is responsible for disciplining their children. But the Bible clearly charges parents with the task of ” training up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6).
Equipping parents to effectively disciple their children means walking alongside them.
If you can communicate with them what you’re doing on a regular basis and provide additional ways for them to continue to point their children to Jesus, you’re on the right track to make a lasting impact on the entire family.
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