3 Spiritual Growth Milestones to Celebrate With Kids

Sometimes it’s hard to measure “success” in children’s ministry. How do you know if what you’re doing is effective? What can you share with leadership to show tangible results? Discipleship is a heart matter, so the numbers and the results are often hard to see, but there are 3 spiritual growth milestones you can celebrate in your children’s ministry, and this week’s blog post from Courtney Weaver from David C Cook helps us explore these important milestones to celebrate with kids: 

As children’s ministry leaders, we aim not to regurgitate lessons from our curriculum but to truly teach kids in ways that deepen their faith. While every child’s faith journey is unique, there are key spiritual milestones that signal their growth—and we should be celebrating them!

Think about the example that Abram sets in Genesis 12—God appears to Abram and promises to give him the land of Canaan, and Abram responds by building an altar. Or, remember when God gives Jacob a new name, and Jacob builds an altar to commemorate God’s presence in his life (Genesis 35:6-7)?

Acknowledging the exciting moments in children’s spiritual formation is part of our calling to nurture their faith. Here’s a list of milestones we should be on the lookout for and ways we can celebrate them.

1. Making a Personal Decision to Follow Christ

A child’s decision to commit to the Lord is a significant step in their faith journey. As children ask questions about salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life, we should encourage their curiosity and guide them toward the Bible for the answers.

Here are a few ways we can rally around kids and support their desire to follow Jesus:

• Share biblical resources. Guide kids’ next steps by pointing them back to Scripture. Consider coming up with a list of helpful Bible verses or referring to a biblically-based children’s curriculum—Wonder Ink explains that the right curriculum can make studying the Bible clear and fulfilling so that the kids in our ministries will start to read on their own beyond their involvement in our programs. 
• Rejoice with them in prayer. Once kids make this commitment, spend a few moments praying with them. Thank God for their decision, pray for their continued growth, and invite them to pray, as well. Prayerful celebration reminds kids that they’re entering a life of closeness with God, where they can come to Him with anything on their hearts. Then give them the resources to continue their prayer life at home too! 
• Help them share their decision with family and friends. Salvation comes with an entire family of believers who are eager to welcome those who accept it! Encourage kids to share this decision with their families and friends. Feel free to get creative with these announcements, organizing a small celebration at your church where family and friends can get together to celebrate. And be there in an extra special way for those kids whose families aren’t present. (You could even use this simple salvation celebration card to celebrate kids!) 

While it can be easy to get caught up in how we’ll respond to this exciting decision as ministry leaders, we can’t forget about kids’ families! Are they prepared to celebrate and support this commitment? Have resources ready in case parents need them, like helpful books and Scripture references. Share resources for them to continue their faith at home, or host a series of classes to help them dive deeper into their faith. Check in regularly with parents to see how everything’s going and if there’s anything your ministry can do to continue supporting their child. 

2. Deciding to Serve Others

Children taking the initiative to serve others are taking a significant step in their faith by understanding what it means to show God’s love. Whether we see kids cleaning up after Sunday school or helping younger kids with an activity or craft, the best way to celebrate this behavior is to encourage them to continue it! To do this, children’s ministry leaders can:

• Invite kids to take on leadership roles. Allow kids to lead in small ways, such as leading the group in prayer at the end of Sunday school, children’s church, or midweek classes. You can even have them read a Bible passage before you discuss it as a group.
• Partner with other ministries in the church. Perhaps children can share what they’re learning with ministries in your church, like outreach, small groups, men’s ministry, young adult ministry, or even women’s ministry. For example, the women’s ministry might see similar themes and lessons in their current Bible study, and this will be especially heartwarming if kids’ moms are in this group.
• Participate in community outreach events. Help children experience what it means to serve the community! For example, you could organize a field trip where your children’s ministry visits a local nursing home and distributes handwritten cards sharing Jesus’s love. Find kid-friendly service projects here. 

While inviting kids to continue practicing servitude, we should also emphasize how Jesus Himself shows us the biblical importance of this virtue in what we teach. Remind kids that Jesus “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45), which He demonstrated throughout Scripture by washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17) and healing the sick. Use fun activities or crafts focused on God’s love to show kids the correlation between servanthood and Christ-like love, and remind them to practice this every day.

3. Memorizing and Applying Scripture

As children’s ministry leaders, our goal is to teach God’s Word in a way that resonates with them so that they’ll cling to Him and His Word for the rest of their lives. We use tools, like children’s ministry curriculum, to support core theological guideposts that we want our kids to remember.

When lessons are fully rooted in Scripture, kids can attach memorable takeaways to the verses and passages we discuss. If we see signs that children are retaining these verses and applying them to their daily decisions and actions, this is another cause for celebration! Show your excitement by:

• Creating a fun reward system for memorization. Reward kids for remembering key Bible verses with fun incentives, like a pizza or ice cream party. We should just be careful not to let mere memorization overshadow Bible skills and truths, which are also important to kids’ understanding of the Bible and who God is. Find Bible memory verse resources here! 
• Encouraging kids to share their favorite verses with the group. Ask kids to share the Bible verses they’ve memorized with the group and explain what they mean to them. This can encourage kids to really think about the meaning of the verses, what God is saying through the Scriptures, and get the rest of your group excited about their own Bible verses!
• Giving tangible gifts that display the Bible verse. For example, a pin or t-shirt displaying a key Bible verse can give kids a daily reminder of the verse. They’ll be able to recall it easily after seeing it every day.

Pro tip: Get samples of children’s church lessons to find a curriculum that puts Scripture first. You can browse lessons to determine whether the curriculum will help you foster excitement about God’s Word. This way, you can choose the tools that will best equip you to help kids hear, understand, and retain key Bible verses!

Whether the kids in our ministries know one Bible verse or 100, each of these milestones demonstrates kids’ excitement to pursue their faith. As ministry leaders, the best thing we can do to nurture kids’ faith is to surround them with support and to be there for them along the way. Keep God first and watch Him work!

Author Bio: Courtney Weaver is the Content Marketing Manager for David C Cook’s curriculum resources Wonder Ink and Ministry Spark. Her experience in content creation and deep passion for sharing the beautiful grace of Jesus with others brings a unique blend of expertise to her role. As the worship leader at her church, Courtney understands the importance of engaging believers, not just once a week, but every day. She’s passionate about engaging kids in relationship with God on a daily basis.