The Impact of the NextGen Ministry
Author: Whitney Moline
October 25, 2022
Often, we fall into thinking our kid’s ministry is just a babysitting program. That the only reason for it is to give the parents a break. However, kid's ministry is so much more. At The Creek, we teach them foundational truths that we build on as they grow.
According to a study by the Barna Group, the kid’s ministry is one of the most foundational times for a Christian’s growth. In fact, there is a higher likelihood that someone will come to Christ between 1st and 6th grade than any other age. With that in mind, teaching our kids the Gospel and helping them form their own theological
foundation is our biggest priority.
Because of that, one of the biggest things we teach are the "Set-ins" of the Creek, specifically being Set in Motion! At The Creek, the month of October is what we call Impact Month. The entire month is dedicated to ways you can be set in motion either here, near, or far. Yet this isn’t just for the parents. Our CreeKids get to be set in motion as well!
One of the biggest things we teach in CreeKids is the importance of sharing our faith. The best way to teach that is to do it. Every other month we have a parent’s night out that we call "CreeKid's Night." Part of what we do on these nights is a mission project. This month, we got to make coin bags for our friends at Cook’s Childrens. In the bags, we put quarters that we collected and gave them to the hospital. They would then pass out to families who were in the ER or there for a while and need a snack. While it was something so simple, it puts a smile on these sweet families faces. It also puts a smile on our CreeKids faces. Watching them think about these kids, write sweet messages and draw pictures is one of the coolest things to see. At that moment, the kids forget about everything else and think about how to help another kid who needs something to cheer them up. They also begin to connect with God and their faith in a different way.
I remember one CreeKids night, we had a little boy who struggles with following the leader’s directions. That night we decorated birdhouses for the local nursing home. After a long night of struggling with trying to help this kid, he sat down and began to color the birdhouse. He stayed there for the rest of the night making it the best he possibly could. The other kids had moved on to watch a movie but he was determined to sit there and make it perfect for the person receiving it. It was such a sweet moment because our goal is to love these kids and connect them with God. Nothing else had worked with this student, but the Set in Motion project did. When he thought about serving someone else, he completely changed.
My takeaway from that night was being set in motion often helps us as much as the person we are serving. That little boy probably had as much joy as the person receiving it. But he also had a moment with God. That’s what kid's ministry is all about. Connecting the next generation with their savior. Not through a babysitting program, but leading them in our "Set-ins" just as the rest of the church.
BACK