How To Get Money For The Kids Ministry

A lot of Kid’s Pastors are naïve when it comes to money – they think that ministry is all spiritual.

Your pastor is thinking about money everyday.

Yes, your pastor is the primary preacher in your church but in most instances he is also the primary fundraiser.

If it’s not your pastor it’s your church board, but someone is carrying the financial responsibility and you want to have influence with these people.

You need to know how to talk to your leader about money in a way that communicates you get it.

I’m not going to lie to you, most pastors are not motivated about Kids Ministry.

Pastors just aren’t thinking about the kids so don’t try to get them to think about it and quit begging for money.

Instead ask yourself what motivates your pastor?

Pastors are motivated by growth and the experts tell us that Kids Ministry is #3 on the list of things that people think about when choosing a church.

Now you have something to work with.

Don’t view Kids Ministry as an expense. Kid’s Ministry is an investment.

If a visitor comes with a six-month old child and the church nursery is full that visitor is not coming back.

It doesn’t matter how big the sanctuary is.

This size of the church is limited by the size of the nursery.

If your classrooms fill up because they aren’t big enough don’t get upset. Leverage it for growth.

At my most recent church I had been talking to my pastor and church board for over a year because we were totally full in Kids Church.

My words didn’t seem to get any traction but I kept at it.

Then one Sunday in January it happened.

We had to turn away some parents at the 11 AM service because there was no room.

We were way past fire code.

Some board members were coming to me saying, ‘You can’t turn kids away’

‘What do you suggest I do?” was my response.

For three weeks in a row we had to turn kids away.

After that the new kids building became part of the Stewardship Campaign, I didn’t need to say a word.

On the other hand it speaks volumes to a parent when a child says ‘Mom I like this church.’

At my first church we had ages three to twelve in one room as we were just starting out.

One Sunday I did the lesson on Sword of the Spirit where I chopped the apples.

On this particular Sunday I had a new three-year old girl named Brooke.

I was a little concerned what Brooke thought about the giant machete but she seemed to do OK.

I was relieved to see the family return to church the following week.

Her Dad mentioned to me that when they were getting ready for church that morning and Brooke spoke up, ‘Mom, Dad, I want to go to the apple slicing church.’

When you hear a testimony like this make sure to sure your pastor and church board hear about it.

An effective Kid’s Ministry will bring your visitors back and this is something that will motivate your pastor.

• This is an excerpt from my new book, ‘The Red Book’