Keeping Your Children's Ministry on Mission

Practical Strategies for Gospel-Centered Children’s Ministry

When building a children’s ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that’s before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. While all of the tasks of children’s ministry are important, leaders can get easily distracted with the everyday work of doing ministry and lose sight of the main focus—the gospel.

Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children’s ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission. This practical resource covers a variety of topics ranging from creating child protection policies to putting together lesson plans to catechism, helpful for children’s ministers and volunteers alike as they disciple children with the powerful message of the gospel.

Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition.

1. Opening Credits
2. Introduction
3. Part 1: A Gospel-Centered Vision for Children’s Ministry
4. Chapter 1: Stop! Believe! Christ Sent Me: Our Both-And Mission to the Next Generation
5. Chapter 2: Knowing What We Shouldn’t Do: Warnings from the History of Family Ministry
6. Part 2: Create Welcoming Environments
7. Chapter 3: Meeting Jesus at the Front Door | Welcoming and Including Kids and Families
8. Chapter 4: Safety and Security in a Corrupted World | Our Responsibility to Protect Kids from Abuse
9. Part 3: Connect Kids to Christ
10. Chapter 5: Three Ways to Tell a Bible Story | The Priority of Gospel-Centered Teaching
11. Chapter 6: The Proud King’s Nightmare | Putting Gospel-Centered Interpretation into Practice
12. Chapter 7: Hands-On, Real-Life, Engaging Discovery | Teaching Kids with Excellence
13. Part 4: Grow with Kids and Families
14. Chapter 8: Step-by-Step, Stage-by-Stage | Helping Kids Embrace the Gospel as They Grow
15. Chapter 9: Catechizing the YouTube Generation | An Ancient Path Toward a Gospel-Formed Life
16. Part 5: Go! Send Kids and Families on Mission
17. Chapter 10: Graceless Parents, Overly Spiritual Ministry, and Sticky Notes | Empowering Families with a Gospel-Fueled Witness
18. Conclusion: Courage for the Harvest
19. Closing Credits