https://blog.dc4k.org | ljacobs@dc4k.org

Need more helpers in children’s ministry?

 
 

Grandfather and grandson at a park with a ball smiling

Finding volunteers to work in children’s ministry can be daunting, to say the least. I remember years ago when I was a children’s ministry director, finding helpers was the hardest part of my job. I would imagine it is ever harder in our fast-paced world today.

When you have children of divorce in your ministries who might be out of control or have unruly and disruptive behaviors, it can become even more difficult to find workers. I’d like to make a suggestion that will help you out and make a meaningful experience for the kids from divorcing families.

Idea

Think “intergenerational”! Take an intergenerational team approach. An intergenerational team will consist of your typical leaders and teachers but also young people and older, retired people. I want to talk in particular about the Baby Boomers, those born from 1945 to 1964. They are a huge population. Many have retired or are semi-retired and are looking for ways to invest their time in meaningful projects.

When I was writing the book Attract Families to Your Church and Keep Them Coming Back [1], I did a lot of research on the Boomers. Here are some of the things I learned:

  • They are cause driven.
  • They prefer short-term projects.
  • They like mentoring.
  • They are tolerant.
  • They are experienced oriented.
  • They are open-minded.
  • They believe church leaders should deal sensitively with hurting people—including hurting children.

Some churches will set up Boomers to work on a quarterly rotation. That way they can work for three months, go on vacation, visit grandkids, and return to do another three months. With all the traits in this list, they are great to bring into children’s ministry.

Kids of divorce

Many children from divorced families lose contact with their grandparents. If the grandparents from the “other” parent don’t live close, the child more than likely will not get to see them often, if it at all. These kids need grandparent-type relationships. Grandparent types are soft places to fall and tender people with whom to share one’s worries.

  • They can share stories with children.
  • They can share Scriptures.
  • They can model a faith walk.
  • They can pray with individual kids or in small groups.
  • They can love on these kids.
  • They can connect and build relationships in a special way.

In our DC4K (DivorceCare for Kids) groups, we encourage each group to have at least one grandparent-type person on its leadership team. Grandparent people are huggable and comforting to kids from divorced homes.

In one group, a grandfather-type leader told me, “I’m one of the teachers in the four-year-old Sunday morning class, and this spring, we had a little boy whose father left the home. This little fellow and I became attached. My grandchildren live in other states, and his grandparents don’t live close by.

“It was a natural progression, but now he is moving up into the kindergarten class. The Lord has told me I need to move up with him. I need to follow him into the next class at least for a few months anyway until he can get adjusted to school and this new class. Plus, I’ll be with him in DC4K when we start up this fall.”

This little boy and this church are blessed to have a grandfather who is sensitive to the Lord’s direction with this child.

I challenge you to think intergenerational and get the Boomers on your team.

 

This article is updated and adapted from an article originally published on the Kids & Divorce blog on August 28, 2014.

[1] Attract Families to Your Church and Keep Them Coming Back can be purchased from many online bookstores, including Abingdon Press, LifeWay, and Amazon.

 

DC4K blogs posts are great to use for training children’s leaders and volunteers and they are free.  Subscribe to the DC4K blog here.

Want to learn more about how to start a DivorceCare for Kids group for the hurting children in your community? Click here.

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2 thoughts on “Need more helpers in children’s ministry?

  1. Intergenerational volunteers is working well at our church! Having Boomers involved in children’s ministry sends a clear message to their parents that we value young families!

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