In his Church and Culture blog, James Emery White recently wrote: “You can drop the ball in the service, but ace it with the kids, and still have a chance that they’ll return. But no matter how good the service is, if the children’s ministry is bad, they won’t come back—unless they’re people without children.
“Too many people treat children’s ministry as a necessary evil. It’s severely underfunded, understaffed and underappreciated.
“Wake up. Children are the heart of your growth engine.
“If a ‘none’ ever were to come to your church uninvited, it would probably be for the sake of their kids. And if a ‘none’ comes because they were invited, what you do with their children will be a deal-breaker.
“In other words, you live and die by the strength of your children’s ministry. I know, you’re thinking they shouldn’t make such consumer decisions. But you’re forgetting they aren’t Christ-followers; all they have is consumerism. And meeting their needs in this way isn’t compromising the gospel one bit. It’s being strategic.
“And, I might add, it’s bringing the message of the gospel, in age-appropriate ways, to the lives of those kids.
“Your church’s children’s ministry is the most important sub-ministry in the life of your church. Now, start treating it that way.” (Click to read the full post.)