Video Training & Ministry Guides
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY BASICS | FAMILY DISCIPLESHIP | SPECIAL NEEDS MINISTRY | Covid-19 resources
Children's Ministry Basics
4 Essentials for Children's Ministry in Your Church Plant
This one-page download by Jared Kennedy walks church planters and their teams through four essentials for launching children's ministry at your local church. These are just the basics for launching a healthy and gospel-centered ministry to children.
Child Abuse and Neglect Training Checklist
This two-page training checklist adapted from the book On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church by Deepak Reju (New Growth Press, 2014) will help you to prepare your children's ministry team for their role as mandatory reporters and equip them to both protect children from abuse and themselves from accusation.
Grace-Based Classroom Management Ministry Guide
This two-page download by Jared Kennedy walks Sunday School teachers and children's ministry leaders through an inventory of their classroom environments, nine key strategies for creating a stable environment, and a process for handling persistently negative behaviors.
Kids Ministry Policies and Procedures Checklist
This two-page training checklist will help you prepare your children's ministry to keep the little ones in their care safe and secure. The checklist covers seven essential policy areas for children's ministry including check-in, check-out, sanitation, and allergies.
Family Discipleship
Many kids struggle with the move up to the adult worship service, but having a hands-on worksheet can make a big difference. This free Sunday worksheet, written by Allison Rushing and designed by Trish Mahoney, doesn’t just engage your kids during the service. It’s designed to help your children pay attention to the worship service and learn about all its parts—singing, confession, giving, the passing of peace, the sermon, and communion.
Seth York, host of the From the Beginning podcast, adapted this refrigerator sheet from Champ Thornton’s Radical Book for Kids. It helps kids know what to do when they get angry. We hope you find it useful!
Special Needs Ministry
Glorious Hope! How the Gospel Values People with Disabilities ($15)
The Glorious Hope video conference is for church ministry leaders and volunteers who want to create an inclusive and inviting culture that meets the unique needs of people with disabilities and their families. The keynote speakers and expert panels explore how the gospel values people with disabilities. Their talks will help ministry leaders to address specific challenges, and to cast a vision for the joy and possibilities of life in a special needs family. Throughout the conference, we seek to make Christ central to special needs ministry, because, as Colossians makes clear, “Christ in you” is our hope of glory.
COVID-19 Resources
What to Consider When Reopening Your Children’s Ministry
Children’s ministry thrives on a culture of trust and a reputation for safety. In the spirit of cultivating and maintaining that culture, Mallory Hammond and Jared Kennedy help you think through what reopening may look like phase-by-phase.
12 Things to Consider When Reopening Your Children’s Ministry
Children’s ministry thrives on a culture of trust and a reputation for safety. In the spirit of cultivating and maintaining that culture, Jared Kennedy, co-founder of Gospel-Centered Family, helps us think through twelve key things that you'll want to take into account when reopening your children's ministry.
Phase-by-Phase Recommendations for Reopening Children’s Ministry
Children’s ministry thrives on a culture of trust and a reputation for safety. In the spirit of cultivating and maintaining that culture, this two-page guide outlines some best practices for reopening children’s ministry after the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Check out this post on the ERLC website that explains more.
Choose the format that is the most digestible for your congregation. You can host your virtual VBS over one week like a traditional VBS, or you might consider spreading out the VBS content over several weeks—perhaps releasing one day’s worth of materials each Wednesday during July.
Check out this post on the New Growth Press website that explains more.