#WhyIDoWhatIDo: Confessions of a Children's Pastor

Recruiting teams.  Large group presenters. Small group leaders. Worship. Pre-K. Nursery. Check-In. And more. Let's face it - recruiting folks for our teams is a never-ending, crucial part of leading in children's ministry. It can be exhausting. Frustrating. And at the same time richly rewarding. Exhilarating. When recruiting for my teams, there's a verse in the Bible that stays in the forefront of my mind.  It's not one of the passages on spiritual gifts. Or a passage like Deuteronomy 6 that talks about passing faith to the next generation. Nothing about Timothy learning from his mom & grandma. Or Jesus telling folks to bring the kids to Him. They're all great. I love them all. But there's one in particular that grabs my attention. After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. - Revelation 7:9 Why this one? Because if we know...

One of my favorite children's ministry resources is a book by Aaron Reynolds called The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School . Aaron was a part of the team at Willow Creek, and has some great things to say about transforming Sunday School classes into fun, engaging, transformative environments.  The book came out in 2007, and was really revolutionary in many ways. The whole "large group/small group" thing was just starting to become a thing, thanks to the emergence of curricula like 252 Basics. Aaron's focus on dramatic storytelling, environment, technology & production was cutting edge.  I was leading a 4th/5th grade Sunday School class, and some friends and I were just starting to dream & imagine what a much more engaging church experience for kids might look like. In many ways, Aaron's thoughts scratched right where I itched. I've walked leaders through parts of this book in 4 different states over the past 11 years. B...