Categories: Leadership

Volunteer Job Description Template

An effective job description should give your volunteer all the expectations of the position and allow them to decide if they can do it or not. This free job description template will help you create a top-notch volunteer description for any and every member of your team. Download the Volunteer Job Description Template Here! Want some of the work done for you? Check out our full Volunteer Job Description Template resource, which includes an editable version of this template, sample job descriptions for 12+ roles on your volunteer team, and explicit instructions and vision for creating rock-solid volunteer job descriptions. Download the full resource...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership, Volunteers

10 Posts to Read If You Want to Update Your Ministry Strategy

This week marks the 1st anniversary of the release of my book Time to Update: 7 Areas to Integrate Digital Discipleship into Your Children's Ministry Strategy, and we're celebrating with a giveaway + highlighting some of our favorite posts about digital discipleship from the last few years! If you want the full step-by-step guide and ideas for updating your ministry strategy to the next generation of digital natives, check out a copy of my book here, or get a little taste by browsing some of our top posts below that helped inspire the book! Just click on the title of the post to read, and find giveaway details at the bottom of the page to enter to win a free copy of the...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

Questions for Exploring New Digital Tools

There are LOTS of digital tools out there that can be helpful for children's ministry leaders, and new ones are released all the time. But how do you know if a new tool or app is worthwhile? Use this list of questions to determine if a new digital tool or app is a worthwhile investment of your time and money. You won’t need to use ALL of the questions for every single tool, but they can be a good starting point to help you explore new digital tools. And if you can show your leadership that you’ve thought through these questions, sometimes having the answers can help make asking for the money easier! Download the questions here! To discover more resources to help younavigate digital discipleship in yourchildren’s ministry, check out the bookTime to Update...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

6 Leadership Lessons from the Olympics

I have LOVED watching the Olympics over the last few weeks. Swimming and gymnastics are my favorite events to watch, and I'm always blown away by the level and skill of the athletes competing. The more we watched, the more I saw a few leadership lessons we as ministry leaders can learn from the Olympics. Here they are: Child discipleship is a team sport. Did you see those handoffs in the relay races or how teams work together on the beach volleyball court? Child discipleship is a team sport that requires all of us to run our race and do our part with excellence. That includes ministry leaders, parents, the church body, and even kids! How can we as ministry leaders partner with and encourage parents in their race? How can we equip volunteers and the church body as a whole to understand their roles in the faith development of children? How...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

KidMin Event Planner Printable

Use this event planner printable as you're planning your next kidmin event! It provides an overview page for planning the what, when, where, who, and how of the event. Download the Planner Printable Here! This Event Planner Printable is only one of many printable planning pages found in our Complete Children’s Ministry Planner, which has everything you need to plan your children’s ministry, including tools to help you along the way. Learn more about the Complete Children’s Ministry Planner...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

5 Tips for Partnering with Local Schools

If you're looking for ways to increase your impact in your community, consider partnering with your local schools! As schools prepare for back-to-school season and the return of teachers and students, your church or ministry can support families and your community in intentional ways. Here are 5 ways to build connections and partner with your local schools:  Ask and listen. Always connect with your local school administration first, asking if you can partner with the school and how you can support them. Share that you want to partner with the school and support their staff and students through prayer. Ask about the needs the school may have, and become familiar with the polices and procedures the school may have in place when it comes to faith organizations and faith conversations. Be ready to connect and listen. Do not assume you know their...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

The Parents In Your Ministry Need This Book

My word of the year this year is habits. Last week, we shared about simple scripture habits for families, and we're continuing this habit theme with a giveaway of Christie Thomas' brand new book: Little Habits, Big Faith: How Simple Practices Help Your Family Grow in Jesus.  In Little Habits, Big Faith, Christie applies the science of habits to faith formation in a way that makes family discipleship easy, doable, and sustainable for every family, all while sharing encouragement and support. She walks readers through a Faith Growth Cycle, which she divides into three stages: seed, sprout, and root. This metaphor effectively conveys the gradual and nurturing process of faith development. By focusing on small, habitual actions, the book emphasizes how even brief moments of spiritual practice can have a significant impact over time. I personally...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Simple Scripture Habits For Families

Sometimes parents feel overwhelmed by the thought of family devotions or reading the Bible with their kids. But you can remind them that even the simplest habits can help them incorporate Scripture into their daily lives! Here are a few ideas to share with the families in your church: Decorate with scripture - Many families have more scripture in their homes than they realize, but it's also easy to make it an art project or part of a holiday celebration! With an activity like Scripture Stars or even encouraging kids to make their own Bible verse poster, families can hang up scripture around their homes where they'll see it every day. If they're decorating for a certain holiday or season, they can find Bible verses that relate to that celebration, add them to some decorations, and hang those up too! Then each time they pass the scripture...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Summer Connection Idea: KidMin Pizza Delivery!

Summertime is a great time to connect with families in unique and fun ways! I saw Darren Goodrich, a Family Pastor at a church in Florida, share this idea in a local children's ministry Facebook group and had to learn more! The idea is simple: set up a signup genius (or other scheduling tool) to invite families to choose a day over the summer when you, the kidmin leader (or someone from your team), will deliver a pizza to the family for dinner! It can be a surprise for the kids or something they know about. Darren shares more about the idea on his blog here, and DKM subscribers can find a step-by-step plan for implementing this idea in their own church (including an email template) here! Darren also shared more about how he got the idea and what the families in his ministry had to say about it: "I really had the idea to...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Step-by-Step Summer Family Engagement Plan

Hear an overview of how one leader used this plan for a summer pizza delivery initiative here! Download a printable/save-able version here! Step-by-Step Plan: 1. Identify Goals and Budget Goal: Enhance family engagement, reinforce community bonds, and maintain connection with the children and their families during the summer. Budget: Allocate funds for pizza, delivery materials (magnets, etc.), and other potential activities like Christmas cookies. 2. Plan and Communicate Calendar and Communication: Create a clear and detailed summer calendar highlighting all events and dates, including the special delivery days. Email and Social Media: Send out emails and post on social media well in advance. Use graphics and engaging language to get families excited. 3. Sign-Up Process Online Form: Use an online form (e.g., Google...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

5 Ways to Increase Engagement on Your Children’s Ministry Social Media

Recently, Deeper KidMin had a few reels go viral (follow DKM on Instagram and join the fun here) and it's been wild. I've experimented with a few different things and learned a lot about what seems to work best for fostering engagement on social media (at least for now - it's constantly changing). You may not be trying to go viral (honestly, I wasn't either) but you SHOULD be trying to reach more of your families and engage with them online. Find 5 tips for your kidmin social media in general here, and check out the tips below to see what I've learned over the last few months and what it means for your ministry to increase engagement online: Use real-life pictures and videos whenever possible. Making appealing graphics and using the graphics provided in your curriculum are great and can save time, but people really want to see authentic...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

KidMin Social Media Planner Template

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]An effective social media strategy for your children's ministry requires planning, but that doesn't mean it has to take up hours of your precious time! Use this week's free download to help you plan weeks' worth of social media posts at a time. Print 1 copy of the first page and use it to choose one idea for each day to help you create a template plan for your ministry social media posts. Print multiple copies of the second page, then use it to map out your weekly posts, several weeks at a time! Download the KidMin Social Media Planner Here! Want to go deeper with your social media strategy? Check out Chapter 7 in the book Time to Update: 7 Areas to Integrate Digital Discipleship into Your Children‘s Ministry Strategy. Time To Update explores 7 areas of your children’s ministry strategy where you can...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

Baptism Adventure: Unique Baptism Resources for Kids and Preteens

As kids are hearing the gospel and expressing their faith at camp and VBS this summer, are you thinking about their next steps? Salvation decisions are an important part of children's ministry since we get to share the gospel with kids at a time when their little hearts are most open to receiving it, but if we don't think intentionally about following up with a child after they've made a decision to give their life to Christ, we're missing a big piece of our roles as disciple-makers. One natural next step: baptism! Earlier this year, I learned about an incredible resource that Rivers Crossing Church in Ohio created to help kids and preteens explore baptism in fun and adventurous ways! A team at Rivers Crossing created 3 books that inspired special Adventure Kits: Maya and River’s Campout Adventure (a fiction book, like a modern-day...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Sermon Notes For Kids List

If you search “Sermon Notes for Kids” on the web, there are literally hundreds of options that show up. So to help you narrow down your search, here’s a list of links to my favorite free sermon notes for kids! Sermon Notes for Kids are a great activity to include in your worship bags and encourage kids to participate in the church service. I recommend including a sermon notes printable every week, but feel free to change up the look, layout, style, or format each Sunday to add variety for your kids! Then start over and cycle back through them. Before long, your kids will have favorites! Emoji Sermon Notes Printable that just released from Deeper KidMin! Sermon Notes Bundle from Deeper KidMin (Including pages for Pre-Readers!) Free Bible Coloring Pages from Sermon for Kids Worship Notes for Kids PDF from MMMCrafts Kid’s...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Summer Devotional For KidMin Leaders Free Sample

Many of our resources and freebies are geared toward the kids and families in your ministry, but this freebie is for YOU, kidmin leader. Here’s one of the devotionals from a 10-week Summer Refresher devotional written specifically with children’s ministry leaders in mind. So block out 20 minutes on your calendar this week, grab your Bible, print the following pages, and spend time with Jesus this summer season. Download Summer Devotional Here! If you enjoyed this Summer devotional, download the full 10 weeks of devotionals for summer...
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Filed Under Blog, Free Weekly Downloads, Leadership

10 Summer Scripture Activities for Kids & Families

Things are heating up as summer rolls around, but that doesn’t mean the spiritual life of your kids has to cool down! While summertime often means even more sporadic church attendance as families enjoy trips, vacations, and downtime, the summer can be an opportunity for spiritual growth for the kids and families you lead, especially if you can equip them with ways to dive deep into Scripture this summer! So here are 10 of our favorite summer activities and resources that help kids and families dig into Scripture over the summer: S'more Scripture - A summer resource for kids that helps them memorize Bible verses! Summer Scripture Scratch-Off - A fun and simple way to encourage a daily habit of prayer and reading scripture over the summer months while focusing on who God and Jesus are! Scripture Scoops - Scoop up the Word of God this...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

5 Reasons Your Kids Aren’t Singing (And What You Can Do About It)

Since we've recently been experimenting with how to better engage kids in worship in my own church setting, I'm excited to share this week's blog post from Dave Ray from Doorpost Songs! Dave and his wife create awesome worship videos created specifically for kids, and you can find some of them in the DKM Marketplace here.  As a worship leader, I don’t know if there’s anything more uncomfortable than singing my heart out while the congregation stares at me with (at best) passive indifference or (at worst) open antipathy. Chances are good you’ve experienced one (or both) of these in your kids’ ministry. Maybe you’ve given up hope that your kids will ever engage in worship. If you find yourself secretly dreading worship time every week, you’re not alone. After twenty years of experience leading kids, I’ve seen five common reasons why...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

What Millennial Moms Want From Your KidMin this Mother’s Day

We've been talking all month long about today's parents, how they're different from parents of the past, and what that means for our strategy in effectively partnering with parents. With Mother's Day coming up, let's talk specifically about today's moms. Research has shown that Millennial moms prefer experiences over things, and they love to customize. Like the rest of their generation, they're technologically inclined, highly connected online, and are always looking for ways to make their lives easier. They value life management assistance (think house cleaners, meal services, organizational apps, etc.), and they are also more likely than moms of generations past to work outside the home and contribute to the family income. So while the carnation still makes a sweet gift, consider getting a little more intentional or creative with how you...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

Parent Resources Shelves: A Digital Interview with a Local KidMin Leader

Last week, we talked about moving beyond a vending machine mentality and into a meal kit mentality when it comes to our strategy for effectively partnering with parents (a month-long conversation you can join here). I ran across a Facebook post from Kelly Turner, a kidmin leader in Springfield, IL, about the success she's found with her parent resource shelves, and I knew we had to talk more! Kelly graciously shared ideas and pictures and even took the time to answer a few questions about her parent resource shelves. I love that they move beyond just a stagnant spot for resources to a deeper strategy for equipping parents. You might be asking: "But aren't parent resource shelves just like a vending machine? Isn't that what we're trying to move beyond?" Yes! We are trying to move beyond just resourcing parents, but an easy first step in...
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Filed Under Blog, Day-to-Day, For Parents, Leadership

Is Your Ministry a Vending Machine or a Meal Kit?

When I ask what leaders do to equip parents or to partner with them, most of them say they provide resources. Equipping parents has become synonymous with that; when we say we "equip parents," what we often really mean is "distribute resources." And while there's nothing wrong with that, if our strategy for partnering with parents stays ONLY in the resources lane, we've got an incomplete and ultimately ineffective strategy. The idea of equipping parents only through distributing resources has turned our ministries into vending machines and created a vending machine mindset when it comes to equipping parents. In a vending machine ministry mindset... The children's ministry leader operates like a vending machine by simply providing resources without much interaction.  Parents are expected to come to the church or ministry location...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

3 Lies Parents Believe About At-Home Discipleship (And the Truths You Can Help Them Discover)

I've been eyeball-deep in research about today's parents - specifically Millennial parents - lately, and a common factor among parents is a list of reasons why they can't disciple their kids at home. But in reality, those reasons are often lies, and as children's ministry leaders, we can help parents replace those lies with important truths about their role as primary disciplers of their children. To speak into this discussion, I'm excited to share this week's guest blog post from Christie Thomas, author and one of our DKM Vendors, all about the 3 lies parents believe about at-home discipleship and the truths we can help them discover: If your efforts to equip families with the best family discipleship resources aren’t well received, know this: The answer isn’t to send home more resources to gather crumbs in the minivan, but to take one...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

5 Things KidMin Leaders Must Do To Effectively Partner with Today’s Parents

If you’ve been serving in children’s ministry for longer than a week, you’ve realized that children’s ministry is not just about the children. It’s about the parents and grown-ups in a child’s life too. That's why we'll be focusing on partnering with parents for the next 4 weeks and diving deep into how to effectively minister to this generation of parents.  To kick off our month-long discussion, we have to identify WHO today's parents are, and surprise: they're Millennials! Millennials may spark a variety of stereotypes in your mind: entitled young adults who eat avocado toast for breakfast and still live with their parents. But in reality, we Millennials are all grown up. The Millennial generation includes anyone born between 1981-1996, which means that in 2024, Millennials now range in age from 28 to 43 years old. (We're getting...
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Filed Under Blog, For Parents, Leadership

3 Tips for Celebrating Easter as a Family When You’re in Ministry

Ministry life means holidays look different for leaders and our families. You're at church earlier (and later) than everyone else. Special meals and gift times are shifted to accommodate service times. The days surrounding a holiday are often filled with leading special events you've spent months planning. So this week's guest blog post focuses on you, kidmin leader, and how to honor your family in the midst of a ministry holiday season. This week's guest blog post comes from David Reneau of Lead Well Ministries, and he shares honestly about his experiences and lessons learned when it comes to celebrating Easter as a family when you're in ministry...  Imagine: it’s the Friday before Easter. You’ve been busy with all the marketing, event planning, service prep, and inviting. You’re probably a little tired and the light at the end of the...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

Interactive Bible Storytelling Technique: Treasure Hunts

You know I'm all about interactive storytelling, especially with today's digital native kids. That's why I'm excited to share this week's guest blog post from Jennifer Lake all about incorporating a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt into your Bible lesson: Bringing the Bible to life is not something new to any ministry leader, but finding innovative ways of engaging your audience is always a win. Treasure/scavenger hunts are both fun and interactive, helping younger learners deepen their knowledge of the Bible. Treasure hunts offer an immersive learning opportunity by inviting kids to hunt for something (an object, a picture, etc.) that relates to the story or helps tell the story. They are also a great way to explore deeper biblical themes and symbols. When you incorporate scavenger hunts into your teaching time, you bring the tapestry of...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership

18 Egg Hunt Alternatives

I've seen lots of questions in various kidmin Facebook groups this year about alternative Easter event options different from the typical egg hunt. I love the creativity those conversations are sparking! Based on the conversations I've seen with ideas from leaders like you, here are a few alternative egg hunt ideas to help you and your families celebrate Easter! Neighborhood Egg Hunt or Around the Town Egg Hunt - This idea requires neighborhood involvement, but it's so fun! Encourage families to hang a printable/poster of an Easter egg on their front doors. They could even have kids cut and color the Easter egg sign out of poster or even printer paper (craft time!). Then, as families walk around the neighborhood, they can “hunt” for the eggs on the front doors of their neighbors and see how many they can find. Find 5 free egg coloring...
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Filed Under Blog, Leadership
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