Top 10 bad words in Children’s Ministry

What are the Top 10 bad words used in Children’s Ministry?

1. Childcare

I started typing out all ten but then I received a revelation, the idea that Children’s Ministry=childcare, encompasses all that is wrong in Children’s Ministry.

Is childcare inherently bad? No. Childcare is a necessary part of life for many families. Childcare should always be safe, it should be fun, it should give parents peace of mind, and it should make kids want to go back. All are aspects of Children’s Ministry.

So what’s the difference? Why isn’t childcare or babysitting allowed in Church?

Childcare is a bad word. I absolutely HATE hearing people refer to Children’s Ministry as childcare. It drives me crazy.

This is a picture of me.

This is a picture of me when I hear someone say “childcare” when referring to Children’s Ministry.

We do ministry, for kids. We do Church, for kids. We have a worship team that leads worship, for kids, using many of the songs that the adult Church uses. We go through Bible stories with the preschoolers and we go through the ENTIRE Bible with the elementary school kids. Kids give their lives to the Lord every single week.

Referring to kids Church as childcare waters down what’s really happening. It makes people think that Children’s Ministry doesn’t really matter, that anyone can do it, that it’s an afterthought, and worst of all, it demoralizes volunteers. Want to know why no one wants to do Children’s Ministry at your Church? It’s probably because the Pastors themselves believe it’s only childcare. No one thinks of calling the teaching a “speech.” No one thinks of calling the worship, “intro music.” Why then is “childcare” accepted? The fish rots from the head. If your leadership doesn’t believe it’s important, it will trickle down and no one else will. We’re blessed. Every single one of our Pastors have volunteered in Children’s or Youth ministry at some point. That’s #winning.

In fact, Children’s Ministry at your church is the MOST important ministry. It has the most impact, second only, to what happens in the main sanctuary. If you take the number of kids, add your volunteers, then add the parents and family members of your kids and volunteers, you’ll quickly see that Children’s Ministry easily encompasses 60%-75% of your Church. That’s clout!

Childcare doesn’t exist at our Church. It’s banned. We do Church for kids. We bring Kids to LIFE through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we’re awesome at it.

Please tell me that childcare is banned at your Church too!