This is the first in a series of eight articles on the 8 Goals of Children’s Ministries. The following focuses on “Powerful in Prayer.” Because of the importance of being intentional in teaching and modeling prayer for children, this article offers three simple steps that will help build confident, praying kids: present, participate, and provide.

God showed His great love by serving and giving, and you can help your students do the same. Here are four ideas to get kids active in showing God’s great love to the world, their community, and their family.

It has been said many times and many ways, Christmas comes at the same time every year. So why does it catch us so off guard? Why does it put us all into what feels like one of those snow globes in the hands of a two-year-old that just keeps shaking? In this case, the why is not as important as the remedy that will keep us sane and, more importantly, focused on the real why for the season: JESUS. This article highlights three go-to remedies when life looks crazy.

As leaders in children’s ministry, we know the significance of our job. We have the opportunity to teach kids about Christ. What could be better than that? Yet in the middle of the week-to-week preparations, we can get so focused on the details that we forget the bigger picture. Our job is not simply to ensure our 4s class has a teacher this Sunday—our job is to nurture the spiritual development of kids.

According to Pastor Elyse Murphy in her first book release "Confessions of a Church Kid: Honest Thoughts on Finding God and Becoming Myself," kids face several issues that parents and leaders alike may not realize. This Salubris release is a rare treasure for the hearts of young church-goers. In this engaging read, Elyse shares portions of her real-life story as she speaks out for students that have grown up in the church world with their unique temptations and downfalls. Filled with laughter, love, and life-lows, Elyse, who is now the youth/young adult pastor at Oasis Church in California, opens her heart wide to the world as she confesses her personal journey as a Christian teen. She is the pastor’s kid to whom every Christian kid can relate.

As a recovering back-row leader, Rob Ketterling gives the road map for moving from the back to the front. In his book "Front Row Leadership," Rob shows the reader how to look for obstacles and frustrations and how to push through them. With his conversational writing style, he walks the reader through creating alignment on teams and describes the job of a front-row leader.