The childhood years are foundational for a young person’s spiritual development. Yet children’s ministry is too often carried out in isolation from the families to whom these children belong.

When the church and home are aligned in purpose, vision, and strategy the discipleship and spiritual formation of children flourish. So, what does meaningful partnership between the church and the home look like—both theologically and practically?

When life feels full and comfortable, why would anyone think they need Jesus? The “I’m fine, thanks” fallacy is one I’ve encountered time and time again. Young people often don’t perceive their need for Jesus because life feels good, and they don’t see themselves as "bad people."

Here are three approaches to help young people see their need for Jesus, even when they don’t feel it.

Low and irregular attendance at church is a concerning trend for leaders today. As someone particularly concerned with the discipleship of children, sporadic attendance is discouraging, so we can’t ignore the impact this will have on children.

Here’s one area I think children’s ministry leaders need to consider - fostering in our young people a sense of belonging at church.

Think of a time where you’ve asked a question in a discussion and everyone falls silent… is it the good kind of silence, or the not-so-good kind?

One kind of silence is productive, while the other is detrimental to forming a good group culture. One kind of silence promotes discussion, the other hampers it.

Here are two simple tools that will help you create a platform for the types of discussion where you get the good kind of silence.

It can be hard to know how to support young people who have ADHD, whether you are aware of the diagnosis or not. Getting to know each student, especially those with diverse needs, is going to be most helpful. But this can be difficult, if not impossible, with such limited time and a whole class of kids.  

Here are four tips to make your SRE class beneficial for all students.

When doing the right thing is also the easiest thing, students build good habits—and we spend less time managing behaviour. Here are my four top tips for classroom management.

Join Annemarie on a journey into the heart of children's emotions, where frustration, anger, and sadness often run wild. Discover why it's crucial to acknowledge these feelings without judgment and how to clarify boundaries while offering support and empathy.

Where do we turn to when children are misbehaving? Read how you can respond in a godly manner.

Discover how the faith commitment of parents influences the age at which individuals embrace Christianity, reinforcing the importance of familial faith practices.

What Taylor Swift can teach us about including people with disability in our churches

Here are some ways you can prepare yourself when the tough questions come up in your SRE class.

So, what makes a youth group game awesome? Here are five tips that will help you to take game-time to the next level.

Whether you're a Swiftie, a curious bystander, or someone seeking deeper spiritual insights, this article helps us to contemplate the divine origins of talent and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Three expectations and three routines you can develop for your Kindy SRE class.

Equipping and empowering teenagers to serve as junior leaders within your church’s ministry programs is one of the best places for this to happen.

So how should we be thinking about junior leaders, and how can we best help them to start well?

Over the last few years, there has been a corrective occurring in our churches, kids' ministries and youth ministries. More and more I’m hearing about evangelism being put back on the agenda and discussion around strategies for mission and how to increase “mission heat”.

Why do we do children’s and youth ministry? Is it so that in 5-10 years’ time we can have faithful adult disciples of Jesus who can become children’s and youth ministry leaders?

Today, Christian Endeavour has faded from memory and few young people have heard of it. But are there lessons that we can learn from this remarkable youth organisation?

Helping young people grow in their emotional understanding is all part of helping them grow as embodied humans made in the image of God. Here are three ways to help young people recognise and name their emotions.

As the end of year draws near and Christmas time approaches, regular church routines will change. While many of us expect things to be different, neurodivergent children are likely to find the change in routine difficult. How can we help neurodivergent young people cope with these changes?

Hear Josh Peterson share his experience at House Conference.

As we consider our ministries, what are the next steps to help someone with disability not only access the building but meaningfully belong? How can they be valued as contributors to the life and health of the church family through their presence, service, and worship?

There are many joys in serving the children’s or youth ministry team in a church. Young people get to know us, grow in faith, and there’s the joy of working together with brothers and sisters in Christ.  However, team ministry also has its challenges.

Our hopes and dreams for preteens is just the same as it is for all people. We want to present all people, preteens included, fully mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28). However, often we find it difficult to engage them in our church ministry groups and programs. What can we do to help engage preteens in our ministry groups?

While the practice of intergeneration in a local church does not necessarily mean that children have to be present in the main worship service, this is one way in which many churches seek to bring generations together.

We want kids to be learning the spiritual discipline of daily bible reading and prayer, and forming these habits that will nurture their faith for a lifetime. The question is how do we help them get started?

As youth leaders, we have the immense privilege of proclaiming and applying the Word of God to teenagers, in one of the most formative phases of their entire life. Here are some thoughts to help direct us as we work hard on application in our teaching.

“If Christianity was illegal, and you were charged with being a believer, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”.

Because of the values of our culture, it is no surprise that when we say, “Discipleship”, they hear, “Programs”. This is what our parents have been enculturated to expect, and it is what we have been enculturated to provide.

Do children get to speak at your church’s AGM or parish council meetings? How much of a voice did the youngest at your church have the last time that a vision was a cast, a strategic plan developed, or a new ministry initiative launched?