5Keys

to effective ministry with children in any context!

This area of MIDST encourages everyone to be even more effective in being a faith community. Whether it be ministry or mission, all people, especially children, need these keys to unlock even more possibilities in making and growing life-long disciples of The Lord, Jesus of Nazareth.

Where children are involved, understanding that it takes a village to raise children also means that it takes a faith community to make a disciple. The relationships we all need to do this as well as we can requires an intergen-relational approach … not just generations in the same space … but all generations relating on meaningful levels with one another.

There are at least 5 keys for ministry with children and families

These all help to build on the underlying principle that the role of each of us as individuals and the role of the church/faith community as we live life together is to make life-long disciples … followers of The Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Where children are involved in a household of faith, the primary responsibility of making disciples rightly belongs the the primary care-givers in that household. As we know, households of people working out life together (whether they call themselves a family or not) come in a huge variety of shapes and sizesThese households need love, help and support. And where children are present, this is where we understand that help is at hand as ‘Villages raise children & faith communities make disciples.’

  • The nurturing, loving environment of the home and the missional, discipling nature of the faith community with its peer related programs and its all-in celebrations all need to partner together as they both highly value the following 5 keys for ministry:
  • connections with children
  • participation with children
  • an engagement with children, particularly in the Bible
  • a sense of belonging with children
  • all means of inviting and recognising the range of faith responses of children

Let’s explore ideas and resources to help apply these keys in ways that the become a part of what we value in ministry.

Question: How do we know we value something?

The value we place in something or someone can be measured by the quality and quantity of time, energy, resources and dollars we spend in relationship with the object or person of value.

Merely to assert we value something or someone does not necessarily mean we do. As a parent, children’s worker or minister, merely to assert we value children or children’s ministry does not necessarily mean we do.

Part of what it means to value children and ministry with children then is to take the time, energy and money to grapple with the complexities of each of these keys. Spend the time, energy and money to foster connections, participation, engagement, belonging and faith responses WITH children

These five keys will help you to be more effective in raising children, making disciples and retaining children as a valuable part of the church.

Question: Leadership focus or ministry focus?

There are at least two approches to faith formation.

For those who have been drilled with leadership principles, it would follow that as we instill our leaders and parents with values such as authenticity, accountability, excellence, integrity, reliability we do so with an underlying vision of making disciples who make disciples.

Or there is a ministry approach. This section of the MIDST website is written from a ministry perspective using the key five words … connect; participate; engage, belong; respond.

Both persectives are right and can happily coexist in a faith community or household context. Both have the same goal however it is the domain of others to write from a leadership perspective.

Question: What are the expressed values or keys of your church/group/team?

This is a loaded question in many ways. It’s asking what is actually valued?

For example, we might say, “We value CONNECTIONS with children!” If so, how? To what extent? How much time, energy and/or resource are we giving it? Is it working for everyone? What are we doing well? Let’s continue that and even find ways to improve. What’s not working? What do do about it and how do we check up that what we try is working?

The challenge here is to apply this style of audit to all we say we value.

 

Explore further …

Midst is undergoing a major redevelopment.
The icons & topics below indicate the hope of links to come.

Some of the links below may be active but hopefully there is enough information shown to indicate the scope of the discussion and encourage further thought or research.

If you would like to follow anything up with us, feel free to use the link in the menu above to make contact.

Connect

Celebrate & foster the ways we CONNECT with children

As a faith community we celebrate worship, learn, socialise and go about mission together. When we connect with children in and through these activities we will model and teach appropriate and loving relationships with one another.

Participate

Children need to PARTICPATE

Activities and relationships of the faith community need to involve everybody; calling forth a team effort as we exercise our skills and gifts; learning to deal with unmet expectations and conflict.

Engage

We need to ENGAGE children.

We will engage children in the Gospel message through a kaleidoscope of appropriate, creative, colourful, multi-sensory, multi-learning, multi-age approaches that result in thoughtful and/or heart-felt responses to the Word of God.

Belong

Children need to experience that they BELONG

We want our kids to stay and be part of our church. One of the keys is that children need to sense they belong. Belonging is also a key in encouraging healthy development in children, including their faith development, as we value their contribution to our postive growth as households & churches.

Respond

Help children to RESPOND

As a follow on from children connecting, participating and engaging in faith forming activities, we need to learn the art of appropriately and prayerfully encouraging, inviting, recognising and celebrating faith responses in all their forms.

5Keys Cafe

Exploring these themes together over a coffee.

When ever 5Keys have been explored using a WorldCafe style of learning, the results are collated in this section of Midst.

5Keys Consultancies & Training

There are a number of options to help get the direction right for you in this area!

  • A phone or coffee conversation with Phil on this topic.
  • A review of your program and training against these keys to affirm and encourage those areas you are doing well and suggestions for improvement where and if required.
  • A presentation of an overview of these areas with discussion. (20 minutes or up to 1hr)
  • A 4hr workshop exploring these themes in a interactive discussion.