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Children’s Ministry Planning

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Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children— how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ – Deuteronomy 4:9-10

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. - Deuteronomy 6:4-9

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. – Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. – Psalm 78:1-8

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:52

Passages about Training Children

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Who to?Children

Who from? Teachers

How?Pedagogy

Bob – KSally – 1st

Julie – 1st

Mike – 1st

Ellen – 2nd

Nikki – 2nd

Crissy – 2nd

Steve – 3rd

Edgar – 3rd

Praise FactoryDesiring GodGospel Project

CatechismMemory versesLearning stylesVideo teachingRules

Maturity: Orthodoxy and orthopraxy

SongsRewardsDisciplinesResourcesSmall groups

Objective

Children’s Ministry Framework

What?Curriculum

QualificationsSchedulePreparationAssessment

Children’s Ministry

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Objective: Maturity in Christ

• Recite key verses for foundational doctrines• Define terms via a catechism (i.e., what is faith,

repentance etc)• Understand of Biblical storyline and how it points

to Jesus• Understand and articulate the Gospel• Answer common questions• Use reference materials to study Scripture• Recognize the plight of the world and the need

for salvation

Example milestones

Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. – 1 Corinthians 14:20

And he gave the apostles…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. – Ephesians 4:11a-14

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ – 2 Corinthians 10:5

Biblical picture of maturity

Know(Theology)

Be(Worship)

Do(Ethics)

• True fear of God• Repentance and faith• Fruit of the spirit• Desire to glorify God in all things• Decisions made based on a Christian worldview• Self administered disciplines

• Obedience to authorities• Serve the church• Tell others the Gospel• Counsel others with basic truths from Scripture• Endure persecution

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. - Luke 6:45

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. – 1 John 4:13

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35a

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. – James 2:26jamesmirror.com

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Children (K-3rd): Who are We Teaching and What are Their Needs?

Name Grade Parents School

BobSallyEdgarEllenNikkiJulieMikeSteveCrissy

K2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

1st

1st

3rd

2nd

Jake & KrisJake & KrisJack & KrisPaul & KristenCharlie & CaraPeter & LaraGingerGingerNick & Allie

BaptistBaptistBaptistHomeLutheranLutheranHomeHomePublic

• What is the knowledge level of the kids due to training at home, school or elsewhere?

• How do we support and supplement what parents are teaching at home?

• What is the trigger point for reassessing needs as the demographics change?

Other

AWANA

AWANA

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Curriculum: What Options Best Meets the Objectives and Needs?

Praise FactoryChildren Desiring God Gospel Project

Publisher • CHBC • Desiring God • SBC

Cost for teaching materials

• Free • $220 • $180-$269

Curricula • 2-3 year old: 12 key truths• 3-5 year old: 52 truths• K-5th: 104 truths

• K: Redemption• 1st: God’s attributes• 2nd: God’s promises• 3rd: Redemptive history• 4th: Following Jesus• 5th: Names / character of

God• 6th: Providence of God

• Preschool• Kids

Pedagogy • Truth repeated in 3 week cycles based on OT, NT and church history

• Large group / small group• Systematic theology• Music

• Workbooks• Heavy Bible memory

emphasis

• Large group / small group• Music• Video teaching• Maps• Workbooks

Notes • Music directly reinforces lessons

• Requires printing

• Parent lesson summary• 1st – 4th being rewritten

• Print and digital options

Other option include Children’s Firm Foundation by New Tribes Mission and Discipleland

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Practical Theology

Biblical Theology

Systematic Theology

Spiritual Disciplines

Church History

Curriculum: Components of Training to Consider

• Biblical Theology: Study of the narrative storyline of the revelation of God to His people to understand His work in history and plan for eternity

• Systematic Theology: Study of key topics across Scripture to develop a comprehensive understanding of them

• Practical Theology: Application of revelation to life in thought word and deed

• Spiritual Disciplines: Practices of Bible study, prayer, fasting etc.

• Church history/biography: Learning from the saints to imitate their faith

Components

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Pedagogy: How to Do We Teach the Lessons?

• Class sizes: How many classes do we need based on the population of the church? How should group grade levels?

• Catechism: Should we use one or not? If we do, which one?• Memory verses: Should this be an emphasis or is there already enough done in other

venues?• Learning styles: How do we balance auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners? How

do we accommodate the wide age range of K-3rd and developmental maturity? Are object lessons part of the instructional methodology?

• Small groups: Should children be split into small groups by age or otherwise for part of the lesson?

• Songs: Do we want to have singing in addition to what was done in the adult church?• Stories: Do we incorporate stories from church history?• Rewards: What is our view on incentives/rewards?• Review: How do we review and reinforce past lessons?• Response/application: How do we make the lesson alive so that it changes thinking

and behavior and becomes a part of their lives?• Disciplines: How do we teach the spiritual disciplines?• Classroom rules: What are they? How are they enforced?• Parents’ resources: What do we want to send home to parents? Do we want to

provide follow-up ideas for reinforcement of the lesson throughout the week?

Key choices

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Delivery: How Do We Execute?

• Who are the teachers? What are the qualifications?• How frequently do teachers teach?• What is the preparation requirement for teachers? How do we keep this reasonable?

• How do we ensure consistency and quality?• What training do we want to implement?• Do we want to implement any assessments or metrics to ensure that maturation is taking place across knowing, being and doing such as the PEERs worldview test?

• What information is delivered to the elders? How frequently? What is the elders required involvement?

• What are the milestones for assessment of the teachers, curriculum and pedagogy?

Key choices

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Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you love them, think often of their souls. No interest should weigh with you so much as their eternal interests. No part of them should be so dear to you as that part that will never die. The world with all its glory shall pass away; the hills shall melt; the heavens shall be wrapped together as a scroll; the sun shall cease to shine. But the spirit that dwells in those little creatures, whom you love so well, shall outlive them all, and whether in happiness or misery will depend on you. This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan and scheme and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave our that mighty question, “How will this affect their souls?”…A true Christian must be no slave to fashion if he would train his child for heaven. He must not be content to do things merely because they are the custom of the world; to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is usual; to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them; to let them form habits of a doubtful tendency, merely because they are the habits of the day. He must train with an eye to his children’s souls. He must not be ashamed to hear his training called singular and strange. What if it is? The time is short—the fashion of this world passed away. He that has trained his children for heaven rather than for earth—for God, rather than for man—is the parent that will be called wise at last.

– JC Ryle (The Duties of Parents)

Closing Thought

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