I got 14 new volunteers this weekend…

We hear a lot of talk today about partnering with parents but how do you do this if you have little exposure in the pulpit?

The best way to partner with parents is to get parents involved with the children’s ministry program.

In other words, use the KidMin Program to disciple the parents. I meet once a month with my small group leaders.

Sometimes I go around the room and ask each leader this question…

What are you getting out of your ministry experience?

The response I hear most frequently is, “This makes me a better parent.”

One day it dawned on me, I didn’t just start a Small Group ministry for kids. My Small Group ministry also is a parent ministry.

Our parent volunteers gained confidence that they could teach their own kids after teaching other people’s kids in our children’s ministry.

I even found that many of our parent volunteers took the Small Group curriculum home and taught their own kids.

How do you get parents involved?

First of all let’s talk about what doesn’t work:

• Bulletin announcements don’t work.
• Pulpit announcements don’t work.
• Begging doesn’t work.
• Guilt trips don’t work.

Three things that work well in getting parents involved.

1. Ask parents to get involved.

Most people need to be asked. It’s rare that someone walks up and says, “I want to get involved with the kids.”

I go after the new parents. Once their kids have attended for four weeks I target them. This is one way that I ask parents to get involved.

“I’ve noticed that your kids are good kids. They are well behaved and participate in service. I can tell that you are the kind of parents that I want to teach other people’s kids.”

Sixty percent say NO. That may not seem like good odds, but one hundred percent say NO if I don’t ask.

2. Ask parents to help with special events.

Many parents do not want to make long-term commitments, but they may get involved with an event like Kids Camp, VBS, or our Halloween Alternative.

This gives parents an opportunity to experience how fun our children’s ministry is.

During the event, I invite them to get involved in KidMin. I purposely delegate most tasks during these events so I can be free to recruit parents.

3. Plan a Parent Weekend.

This is an opportunity for kids to invite their parents to Kid’s Church and get exposed to our Kids Ministry.

This is what I did this past weekend.

I had a “Welcome Parents” Sign In table where parents signed in and got a name tag, then parents were directed to an area set up for them with coffee and donuts.  It gave me a time to chat with the parents informally.

When service started, I had the parents sit with their children in the front row and at the beginning of the service I asked the kids to introduce their parents to everyone.

We honor the parents and make a big deal out of the fact that they are attending Kids Church.

The Moms and Dads attended Large Group with their child or children.  When we dismissed the kids to their Small Groups, I then took the parents to a separate area and shared our vision for their kids with them.

This weekend, I did this exact thing and now have 14 parents to contact and get involved.

What kind of things do you do to get parents involved in the children’s ministry?

(Share your ideas by commenting below.)