Early Habits Lead to Life Long Learning

Reference & Education

  • Author Jeremy Smith
  • Published February 17, 2011
  • Word count 414

When planning, launching or growing a children's ministry, we take on a formidable, rewarding, and exciting challenge. Setting a routine for children in any arena is useful for their well-being. It is said that faith thrives on routine, and a structured approach to education has been proven time and again to yield life-long, useful benefits. Children's ministries rely on the people involved to teach, encourage and even inspire their students. Ministry is a unique teaching challenge, because the end net result, whether the child who believes grows to be an adult who believes, requires so much time to prove or disprove.

We must approach this ministry with the faith that it will be successful.

Many hands lighten the load of any work that must be done, and so establishing and recruiting a defined team to administer, evaluate and deliver the messages to be taught is very important. Leadership is not drawn from a title. Making someone the director of the ministry based solely on their enthusiasm for the work is ill-advised. Choose and build your team wisely, slowly, and with care, in order to introduce your students to people , teachers, administrators, teacher helpers, who will be in attendance and part of the program for some time.

Children’s ministries must not fall apart. We cannot allow this. It will only give non-believers ammunition to pick apart the misunderstood aspects of the faith behind the teaching, the hope behind the vision, and the purpose behind the actions of your children’s ministry.

When we introduce children to the joy of learning and the challenge of improving early in life, we set the foundation for something that could go on for the balance of the child, person's youth and adult life. Learning leads to teaching others. It is more realistic to build learning into someone than faith, yet it needs cues and guidance. Children feel things more deeply, more honestly than jaded adults, so children’s ministries are successful when they appeal to the emotional side of faith, thereby opening room for educators and students to have frank conversations about the basis of faith, the reality of judgment, and the concepts of love and forgiveness. Learning added to faith, or entered into with faith in our mentor reenergizes us body and soul.

Children rarely need a "pep talk", but they do need consistency over time, when being educated in profound and mysterious truths. Children's' Ministries take a place in our history as a constant, useful consistency.

The author is a freelance journalist who writes regularly on the work of charities for children in the developing world. She also supports children's ministries and sponsor a child programs

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