Peter Witkowski Children's Ministry

Kid’s Ministry Needs You, Yes You!

“The more we get together the happier we’ll be!”

kids need you blogThis simple children’s song speaks to one of the greatest truths about Children’s ministry. We can’t do it alone. We (Children’s pastors, directors, and key leaders) can’t lead kids alone. There is no so such thing as professional children’s workers. Sure, some are paid to promote a unified vision, maintain safety standards, and direct strategic responsibilities. But the very ministry of teaching and discipling the next generation is the mission of the whole Church. Whether we are reading Deuteronomy 6,  Psalm 78, or about Jesus welcoming the little children, all of scripture assumes that all the church is doing kids ministry. Please notice that Jesus never pulled Andrew aside and said, “Andrew, take care of the kids while I teach the adults.” Passing on the word of God to the next generation is the mission and calling of the entire church. If we are going to have successful kids ministry that reach kids and families, we need our whole church involved. We need parents with kids, we need grandparents, we need singles; we need everybody to help! Kids’ ministry is not just nursery. It’s not just a program designed to give adults a weekly break from their kids. Kids ministry exists to equip parents and the whole church to reach future generations for Christ. We (leaders) can’t do it without you the church! Join us in kids’ ministry! We need you!

The more we get together the happier our kids and churches will be!

Peter Witkowski Parenting

Summer of Service

Summer of ServiceAs a kid, I always look forward to stuffing the school books away and beginning my wonderful summer vacation dedicated to swimming pools and baseball! As an adult, I still too look forward to relaxing during the summer. Rest is good! But we can’t afford to take a vacation from our spiritual life.  If we leave off fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters, praying, and studying the Bible, our souls and are families will be left vulnerable to all kinds of sins. Instead of using summer as a time for self-indulgence which leaves our souls empty, let’s redeem our summers. Let’s take in some sun at the ocean; and, let’s also be active worshipers of Jesus. Let’s commit to maintaining our personal spiritual walks. Let’s volunteer to teach a kids’ Sunday school class, help with VBS, attend the youth Summer Bible study, sing in the choir, and/or serve our neighbors.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. –Gal. 6:7

Peter Witkowski Children's Ministry

Embracing The Rejection of Kids’ Ministry

Lady blog picAlthough kid’s ministry is essential to every church, almost every church (including mine) struggles at times to staff their kids’ zone. During my 14 plus years of kids’ ministry, I’ve been charged with recruiting nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, and special event staff for many a year. Every time, I pick up the phone, I feel like I’m about to start a Job interview. “Will they hire me?” Um, yeah..well thanks… but, no. As I’ve told many people, I think kid’s ministry is in part a ministry of rejection. Thankfully, I had a lot of practice getting rejected while single.

Thankfully, I am  currently married to the best gal ever! But if all those other girls hadn’t said, “No;” I very well may have missed out on marrying my bride. Although experiencing rejection was not highlight of my college career, God ended those relationships to direct to me to their most wonderful girl ever! In much, the same way having people tell us, “No I don’t want to serve in kids ministry” can be a good thing. (It can also be a bad thing, but we will look at that later). We should give people the space to refuse our recruitment calls for the following three reasons.

  1. Allowing people to say, “No” keeps people from being forced into ministry. Our service should be freely given. If we serve to make the pastor happy or to avoid the negative looks of others, we are actually being selfish. We will get no reward from our heavenly father (Mathew 6:1).
  1. Allowing people to say, “No” helps to guard our ministry. That really awesome Christian on the other end of the line may have some secret sin that disqualifies her from serving. By allowing her the right of refusal, we protect the integrity of our ministry. We also may gain the chance to help a friend by asking some good follow up questions.
  1. Allowing people to say “No” promotes the health of the church. We want people to fulfill God’s call on their life. Our thoughts are not God’s. We could see a couple being a great fit in the nursery but God may be calling them to help with senior adult ministry. We should be excited to see people serving in every capacity. Allowing someone to say no may actually grow your church

Ultimately, all ministry is God’s ministry. He will provide the laborers. We need to diligently share our vision, recruit, and prepare adults for kids’ ministry. But, we do so through prayer.  And as we humbly depend on God, we can rejoice even in the No’s. We know that God is working all things for our good and the good of his church! We want the team he has called working with our kids.