Communication—good or bad—affects the atmosphere and environment of your ministry. It can determine your ability to keep a great team together. In church work, where a leader is more dependent on volunteers than in most organizations, the need for great communication is even more critical.

We live in a glorious era of technology. Our phones alone contain far more processing power than the first space shuttles. We can have conversations, order pizza, even find our future spouse—all from the palm of our hand. Even the most common individual has some of the greatest knowledge in history at their fingertips 24/7. How do you take this knowledge and make your children's ministry better?

Circumstances may be tempting you to save money by not investing in a leadership growth plan during this season. I want to encourage you that your personal leadership growth and development effect everything concerning your ministry.

When leading volunteers, there are some things I believe will help build volunteers into a ministry team: be personal, be flexible, be someone volunteers will follow, be a good communicator.

Don't write off challenging kids. They may turn out to be your greatest champions.

Problems are guaranteed in life—some problems need to be solved, some problems need to be managed, and ultimately all problems need to be given to God. One of the hardest leadership tasks we can tackle is deciding whether something is a problem to solve or a tension to manage. Some challenges we face in life and ministry are just the reality of the world.