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CDM partners with churches like yours to equip and encourage leaders ministering to children. We believe that children are an eternal investment, but ministering to children can be lonely. We want you to know that you are not alone!  CDM can help. We have resources to help you develop a vision for children’s ministry

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY CONFERENCES

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY RESOURCES

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY 101

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY CERTIFICATION

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY?

SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY LEADERSHIP

“God established a testimony…which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children that the next generation might know…so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God…”— Psalm 78:5-7a

From diapers to diplomas we have an opportunity to demonstrate the gospel in word and deed, believing that God will work in their hearts in his time and in his way. So, how is your church’s Children’s Ministry doing with this awesome opportunity of making next-generation disciples? CDM can connect you to people, training, and resources that will encourage your entire congregation to participate in this kingdom-growing ministry.

Sue Jakes, CDM’s Children’s Ministry Coordinator encourages the churches that work with her to evaluate their church’s programs using 3 questions:

  1. What are doing well as we love and disciple our children?
  2. How could we improve all that we are doing now?
  3. What elements are we missing from completing the call to disciple our children?

Once you have evaluated your present ministry, CDM can help connect you to the resources and the people with the expertise you need. A great first step is connecting with a member of our Children’s Ministry Leaders Team (look for their information below) Or plan on attending one of our Established Conferences.

As you minister to children, know that CDM can help. You are not alone.

Children’s News/Events


CDM Children’s Worship Curriculum

Teach Me to Worship is adapted from a curriculum originally developed by the staff at Orangewood Presbyterian Church in Maitland, FL. The curriculum presents and explains common elements of worship that the universal church has used throughout the ages. An annual subscription allows full access to downloadable PDF’s of the curriculum (including pages for parents, handouts, teacher’s pages, and instructional videos).

 

Click for more information.

64% of Christians accepted Christ before the age of 18… and are more likely than those who are converted when older to remain “absolutely committed” to Christianity.

— Barna Group

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY LEADERSHIP

CDM’s Children’s Ministry Team is a group of men and women who are “in the trenches” of ministry to children. They volunteer their time and expertise to help CDM serve the local church. They give insight regarding current issues in Children’s ministry, and are available for training and advice. This group of practitioners helps CDM staff members stay in touch with the needs and desires of those who serve in local church.

Katie Flores

Coordinator for CDM Children’s Ministry

Katie Flores is Children’s Ministry Coordinator for the PCA’s Committee on Discipleship Ministries. Katie oversees the effort of CDM to connect and equip those who serve in discipleship ministry to children. She develops and reviews resources to help those who work with children and youth and conducts training for church leaders, staff, and volunteers.

Email: kflores@pcanet.org

Phone: 678-825-1140

CDM Children’s Ministry Team:

CDM’s Children’s Ministry Team is a group of men and women who are “in the trenches” of ministry to children. They volunteer their time and expertise to help CDM serve the local church. They give insight regarding current issues in Children’s ministry, and are available for training and advice. This group of practitioners helps CDM staff members stay in touch with the needs and desires of those who serve in local church.

Jimmy Brock has been involved in children’s ministry since he was a child himself, serving churches in Virginia, California, Missouri, and Georgia as a Sunday school teacher, camp counselor, camp director, nursery coordinator, and Pastor of Family Ministry. In 2017, he added church planting to his children’s ministry portfolio and now serves as pastor of Resurrection Community Church in Virginia Beach, VA.

Email:  jimmy@resurrectionvb.org
Current Residence: Virginia Beach, VA


Sherry Kendrick serves as the Family Ministry Director of Covenant Church of Naples, Florida. She directs both the children and student ministry staff with the goal of discipling children from birth through high school with trained passionate teachers. In addition, she leads the staff to partner with parents to come alongside them as they disciple their children. Sherry has been on staff at Covenant for 12 years. She loves children’s curriculums and tends to collect them. She is the widow of a PCA pastor, Mike, and has three grown children and two grandchildren.

Email: sherry.kendrick@covenantnaples.com
Current Residence: Naples, FL

Dr. John C. Kwasny is the Director of Discipleship Ministries at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Ridgeland, Mississippi.  He is a Biblical counselor, an adjunct professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, and Director of One Story Ministries—authoring a complete discipleship curriculum for the church, home, and school (children and youth).  John has written several books, including Established in the Faith, Suffering in 3-D, and Pursuing a Heart of Wisdom: Counseling Teenagers Biblically.  He and his wife, Martie, have eight children, four sons-in-law, and four grandchildren.

Email: jkwasny@pearorchard.org
Current Residence: Ridgeland, MS

Joseph Parker was born and raised in California, ultimately living there 45 years before God opened his heart to move his family to Atlanta, GA for four and a half years before leading him to Village Seven. After 25 years of ministry with children in various capacities Joseph is looking forward to completing his Mdiv from Western Seminary in early 2018, and Lord willing, pursue ordination later in the year. Joseph and his wife Kelly have been married since 2002 and have two sons, Jacob and Makiah, whom they adopted in 2013.

Email: jparker@v7pc.org
Current Residence: Colorado Springs, CO

Dana Russell, Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ the King in Boston, MA. Dana Russell has been a member of Christ the King in Cambridge, MA for over 20 years and started serving in children’s ministry when the first children were born into the congregation. She spent her early years helping lay the groundwork for nursery and teaching Sunday School. With degrees in engineering Dana did not anticipate serving full-time in children’s ministry until she stepped in as director in 2013. Dana is passionate about equipping teachers and parents in guiding and growing children in faith. With her husband she is also navigating raising three teenaged girls.

Email: dana@ctkcambridge.org
Current Residence: Boston, MA


Becky Sinclair serves as the nursery coordinator for Oconee Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and serves on the Children’s Ministry Team for the PCA. She has a passion for teaching children God’s Word and training those involved in children’s ministry. Becky loves spending time with her husband, David, their children, and 5 grandchildren. Her hobbies include knitting, crocheting, and making cards.

Email: beckypsinclair@gmail.com
Current Residence: Clemson, SC

B. A. Snider has more than 20 years’ experience as a children’s director in churches ranging in size from 200 to 4,000 but finds her passion is the same no matter how many children she’s serving. Show the children Jesus. Teach the kids all of the Bible so they see that the stories from the Old Testament point to Jesus and that the New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled God’s promises—yesterday, today, and forever.

B. A. began her formal ministry as a children’s director and consultant in 1993, but she has taught and led music for children since she was in junior high school. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee and taught college until the Lord called her to seminary and full-time ministry. She graduated with a master’s degree in Christian Education from Columbia International University. Speaking at conferences, consulting with leadership, and training teachers brought her to Great Commission Publications (www.gcp.org) in 2014 as the Children’s Ministry Consultant and Marketing Director.

Email: ba.snider@gcp.org
Current Residence: Buford, GA

Laney Stayton – In one way or another, children’s ministry has been a part of Laney’s life – starting as the child of a pastor and missionary, then through volunteering at her local church as a young adult, and now as a mom of two with another one on the way. After taking a quick detour as a certified shorthand reporter in Texas, the Lord called her to serve as the children’s ministry director of North Shore Fellowship in Chattanooga, TN. She has always had a love for children and desire to help them grow in their understanding of God through His Word, and she loves the opportunity her current role gives to welcome multi-generations to do the same.

Email: laney@nsfellowship.org
Current Residence: Chattanooga, TN

Lisa Updike has been on staff since at Covenant Presbyterian in Harrisonburg, VA since 2013. Her extensive ministry experience includes homeschooling, teaching at Grace Christian School, consulting with teachers at Blue Ridge Christian School, and working as a learning disabilities therapist. She also has spearheaded children’s programs in several churches. She has also authored curriculum for Vacation Bible School, and for Sunday School, and several children’s books. Lisa and her husband, Kevin, have been married since 1989 and are blessed with 4 adult children and two grandsons.

Email: lisa@cov-pres.org
Current Residence: Harrisonburg, VA

“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.”

— Deuteronomy 32:2

TRAINERS:

Regular training for your teachers and children’s ministry staff is our #1 recommendation for keeping a children’s ministry vital and growing.

If you would like to have a trainer come to your church,
please contact Bethany Belue at bbelue@pcanet.org.

Are you wondering about Children’s Ministry?

We will help you find the answers to your questions about Children’s Ministry. Here are some we frequently hear:

Training the next generation of God’s people is not an optional activity for any of us.  We are commanded to make disciples as we are living this life (Matthew 28) and we are commanded to teach the children God’s story (Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78).  The best tool for getting this truth out among your congregation is the pulpit.

  1. Pray for and encourage your pastor to regularly remind everyone of their discipleship responsibilities.
  2. Have regular training for all your youth and adults which emphasizes teaching the Word to children.
  3. Organize a team of people who enjoy discipling children and have them pray about how to cast this vision before the whole church. Rather than put out an “all-call” for teachers, have your team:
    • Pray that God will reveal those who should serve in each place.
    • Regularly post children’s ministry needs for congregation to pray about.
    • publicly acknowledge and thank those teaching children, constantly requesting prayer for this vital church ministry.
    • Encourage those teaching children in creative ways, helping them enjoy privilege they enjoy being called to this highest of Kingdom service.  (Matthew 18)

CDM can help. See a video of Joseph Parker talking about Effectively Recruiting and Training Teachers and a video by Sue Jakes talking about Building a Children’s Ministry Team. Also, check out our Children’s Ministry Free Resources! They will help you equip and encourage your team!

There is so much on the market to choose from and much of it is not consistent with what Reformed and Presbyterian churches teach as the Gospel.

  • Take a look at our curriculum summary chart as we have reviewed much that we would and would not recommend and analyzed it according to the needs of the local church.
  • Consider Teacher Training in the content of your curriculum. There is a tendency to think that you can make anything work for children, but beware. Your curriculum needs to be training your teachers each week to communicate the gospel in a way that is consistent with what is being preached in your pulpit. Teacher friendly, easy to prepare, fun, and inexpensive should not be top priorities when it comes to training the next generation.
  • Many times, when teachers are unhappy with the curriculum that they are using, you have a teacher problem rather than a curriculum problem. Not that the teachers are incompetent, but they need to have a restored vision of what they are doing, a renewed calling to the ministry, and some fresh ideas on making disciples of the next generation.
  • Call CDM to set up a facilitator for you to review curriculum and to train your teachers to understand and use the curriculum you choose.

Many churches sense the need for a part-time staff person to coordinate ministry to children when the church has 60+ children and there are obvious signs of growth in young families.  If your church finds someone in the congregation or community who fits your needs, we will provide training and networking for them.  Check out the sample job descriptions on our Children’s Ministry Free Resource page. If all the signs are pointing to hiring a full-time director of children’s ministry (100 + children and signs of continuing growth), CDM will help you search for a qualified person.  The same training and networking will also be provided for full-time staff if needed.

We are very blessed in the PCA to have a Special Need Ministry team of facilitators to help individual churches define the best course of action with the special needs families that God brings to them.  Click on the link to find out more about Engaging Disability.

This is a question that must be answered by the session of your church.  Within Presbyterian and Reformed circles there is every possible position on this topic ranging from “absolutely not” to Children’s church for all ages during the entire service.  The questions that need to be considered are:

  • What is our motivation to need/have a special time of training for our children during corporate worship?
  • What ages would be best served by this?
  • What do we want this training time to accomplish?
  • How do we staff this time without losing continuity of purpose?

We can help you find curriculum to meet your needs when your leadership has answered these questions.  TEACH ME TO WORSHIP is a curriculum developed by CDM to train children in worship.  Go to www.teachmetoworship.com  and download a sample lesson to see if this would work for your church’s children.

The following is a reasonable ratio chart, but your church may want to adjust depending on classroom size and available volunteers.  However, two adults should always be present when caring for and teaching other’s children.

0-12 mos.      1:2

12-24 mos.    1:3

2-3yrs           1:5

4-5yrs           1:6

6-10 yrs.        1:10

  1. Adults should always be present in a classroom, not only for child protection but also to protect the adult from any accusations.
  2. Background checks are another process that is good to begin when you don’t need it.  Eventually you may feel the need and it will be more difficult to launch a program if there is cause to be concerned about your staffing and volunteers.
  3. Make sure that you have a simple, but fool-proof check-in for all preschool children.  In a larger church, you may want that process to go on through elementary grades.
  4. Post an evacuation plan and a lock-down plan for every room in case of fire, tornadoes or any other danger.
  5. Your children’s ministry team will be able to think of any other necessary precautions for your local church and community.
  6. For developing a child safety policy or for personalized training at your church see our Child Safety page.

Our Children’s Ministry page has some great Child Safety Resources including books, sample policies, and much more.

Teaching Children the First Catechism or the Shorter Catechism is highly recommended. Many churches have a Sunday evening or midweek program to accomplish this. One church holds a week-long catechism camp rather than traditional VBS in the summer. Whatever your church decides to do, the parents need to be on board. The most successful catechism attempts are ones that are supported by the parents and there is ongoing practice and teaching at home in corroboration with the church. The following resources are recommended and can be ordered from the PCA bookstore:

When a church is small, you have the wonderful privilege of getting to know all your children and praying about what structure would work best for them.  The one-room school house served our nation well for over a century and we do not have to be confined to modern education systems to have success in our Christian education programs.

Think outside the box, having older children helping younger children.  Before worrying about what curriculum to choose, get to know the students and begin building relationships with and between them.  Then, as you look at curriculum, you will know exactly which one will suit the training of all the children God has given you at this time.  His plan is always perfect.

If You Build It, We Will Come!

We would love to bring our one-day training event to your church.  We will work with you to make sure the conference accomplishes the purpose that you have in mind. It may include only children’s teachers, parents and staff, or training tracks could extend to youth and church leadership. If you would like to schedule a one-day training event at your church, please contact Kathy Wargo.

To find out more about scheduling a Children’s Ministry Conference at your church click the following link: Bring CDM to Your Church

One of our conference training tracks is focused on Gospel parenting.  As we train our children in the church we must come alongside our parents giving them all the tools that they need for discipling children in the home. This may be something you would want to provide for the parents in your church.

Click on the following link to find out more information on scheduling a Parenting Conference at your church.

We have tried to answer your questions, but we can’t cover every question about Children’s Ministry here, and we know some questions are unique to your church. We want to help you. Feel free to call or e-mail us and tell us about your church. At CDM, we are committed to helping you find the answers you need.
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