Open Letter from a Children's Director
I hesitate to write this, because I’m not trying to guilt anyone or have a pity party. But we are family because of Jesus, and a family member can be honest when they are struggling, right?
It has been almost a year since churches were closed for 6 weeks. I was remembering yesterday how each week for months we were waiting for the next executive order from the governor, to find out what we were allowed to do as a church. It was a sad time.
I had no clue how to restart a kids’ ministry after a pandemic. (Who did?) I am so thankful for where we are now, and that we have had no COVID cases in our kids’ classes. The Lord has been so kind and gracious to us as we have sought to make decisions with wisdom and caution, and not out of fear.
But I am weary. We began offering classes again in September, beginning with the nursery and toddler classes, and have slowly added in classes as volunteers were willing and able to serve, and as COVID numbers in our area continued to trend downward.
That means I have been in almost constant growth/recruiting mode since August. I am calling it recruiting because even though we had a large volunteer pool before COVID, it was dramatically reduced and, in many ways, has been like starting from scratch. Something you may not realize about ministry work until you’ve done it is that getting volunteers in place is one of the hardest and most discouraging parts of the job. Even when I have not been actively recruiting, I have been thinking about what the next step should be, how to best serve families, what steps to take to keep kids and volunteers healthy. It has been a heavy mental load.
To reiterate, the goal isn’t to get anyone to feel sorry for me. I love my job. I was thinking recently that even the most mundane parts of it, like cleaning toys or preparing curriculum, bring me great joy because they serve a purpose in bringing children to church and bringing the gospel to those children. That excites me. The best parts of my job are hugs from the sweet kids on Sunday mornings, and text messages from parents telling me how much their kids are learning, and the gospel conversations they are having as a result.
What discourages me right now is that we once offered five classes per service and can now only offer four because of a lack of volunteers. Those classes in most cases have the minimum number of volunteers. As I said, I’m thankful for where we are, compared to having no classes for almost 6 months last year, but some days it feels like our kids’ ministry is just limping along. It feels like we have in some ways lost sight of the magnitude of the purpose of kids’ ministry – to partner with parents in teaching their children the gospel and prayerfully play a part in helping them to become disciple-making disciples.
I want to say a few more things. I have heard a lot of the reasons why people don’t want to serve with kids. Here are some:
“I’m with my kids all week; I don’t want to be with kids again on Sunday.”
My answer: Most parents spend a significant part of their week with their kids; I’m thankful that so many parents serve with New City Kids! One Sunday a month is a worthy investment in a ministry that serves your family every Sunday of the year.
“I don’t feel a special calling to serve with kids.”
My answer: You don’t have to feel “called” to this area to serve well and joyfully! We all do a lot of things, not necessarily because we feel a special calling, but because there is a need. There is a great need in kids’ ministry.
“I’m not good with kids.”
My answer: Happy to report that you don’t even have to be skilled with kids to fill one of our Helper positions! Can you fill cups of water? Can you hand out activity sheets? Can you help a kid find a Bible verse? You’ll do great.
When I think of the way Jesus viewed children, I’m convicted myself of forgetting how important they are, and what a privilege it is to invest in them from the time they’re in the nursery until they finish fifth grade, some of the most formative years in a child’s life. Jesus didn’t just tolerate them, and he certainly didn’t send them off, as if they were someone else’s responsibility. He said let them come to me. He took them in His arms. I imagine the children bubbling over with excitement to be with Him and tell Him their stories. And I imagine Him smiling and listening and laughing with them, his eyes full of kindness and love toward them.
That is how we should be with the little ones. My hope and dream is to again have classes full of children someday soon. But I can’t do it without all of you. I realize there are real reasons some people can’t volunteer with kids, especially right now. But for most, it isn’t a lack of ability. That is one of the reasons I struggle.
I’ll end by saying that God is good and faithful. Since August, I have set five goals for adding classes in gradually. Each time, those goals have been met as God has provided the volunteers. I won’t stay in this place of feeling discouraged, because this kids’ ministry is His, and He will continue to provide for it.