Does your church struggle to have enough teachers for Sunday School or children’s church? Do the same people do it all the time and eventually get burned out? When people are approached to help, do they say “that’s not my gift” or look panicked and guilty, only agreeing to help because they feel like they should? Do you wonder how much spiritual truths the kids are retaining, or if they’re simply being babysat? Maybe your church sees children’s ministry as “women’s work” while the men only lead in adult settings. Is your church’s growth stagnant?
If you answered “yes” to any of these problems, you and your church could probably benefit from CEF’s teacher training for children’s church workers focused on equipping volunteers for children’s ministry. From preventing burnout in children’s ministry workers, to growing kids’ faith, family dynamics, and your church population, equipping volunteers for children’s ministry through teacher training for children’s church workers is a must.
Training for Children’s Church Workers Grows Churches
Across the board, effective and inspiring training for children’s church workers determines how far and how deep a church and its ministry goes. Even if a church is large enough to have a full-time children’s pastor, that person spends most of their time scheduling people, choosing curriculum, planning events, and doing a lot of teaching themselves—a scope of work that’s way too much for one person to take on all by themselves, while easily leading to burnout or an inability to spend quality time discipling the children under their care. With so much on their plate, it’s easy for the focus to shift into merely keeping the kids in children’s church entertained and safe, rather than growing in their faith and learning the spiritual truths of God.
And yet, when families with children choose a church to attend, the quality of a church’s children’s ministry is their highest consideration. When children are actively growing in their faith and learning about God, it’s the kids who ask their parents to keep coming back, week after week. And nothing builds a thriving children’s ministry better than equipping volunteers for children’s ministry with training for children’s church workers. With enough trained people, your church could even hold a Good News Club® to draw in even more families to your church. Training is also a place where we identify those who have an extraordinary gift of teaching—those who often become instructors of teachers themselves, and so multiply even more workers who can reach multitudes of children.
Training for Children’s Church Workers Grows Families
Another benefit of teacher training for children’s church workers is the impact it can have on family dynamics within the church and your community. One of the most common pitfalls in churches is men leaving all the children’s work to the women. When Christian men don’t participate in children’s ministry, it sends a message to the entire church that leading children is primarily the mother’s job at home. And yet, fathers have a serious responsibility before God to lead their children well at home.
Whether the problem is that men think children’s ministry isn’t important enough to them, or they simply don’t feel confident or competent enough for it, attending a formal teacher training for children’s church workers could have an incredible impact. Many children lack a positive male influence in their lives, while couples who work together in children’s ministry meet a deep need in children who don’t have two parents or who live in dysfunctional households. They desperately need to see a husband and wife who work well together, who are loving, treat each other with respect, and can share about the things of God in their life. Hosting a CEF teacher training for children’s church workers at your church can help inspire and equip new volunteers for your children’s ministry, regardless of gender, age, or marital status.
Training for Children’s Church Workers Grows His Kingdom
Another benefit that many people don’t even think about when it comes to equipping volunteers for children’s ministry with training for children’s church workers, is that it’s actually the best kind of training for evangelism and discipleship in general. People who can confidently teach the principles of salvation and Christian living to children, in a way that’s both engaging and easy to understand, are much better equipped to teach it to adults or anyone else in their lives. In fact, a common testimony we hear is people who go through CEF training for children’s church workers end up leading family members and friends to Christ. We’ve even heard countless stories of children leading their parents to Jesus after attending children’s ministry run by CEF trained leaders!
When you prioritize holding a training for children’s church workers in your congregation or equipping volunteers for children’s ministry, you can have a ripple effect of impact with the Gospel on your church and community around you. Even if congregants don’t end up serving in children’s ministry themselves, teens who take teacher training will have a whole lifetime to put their newfound knowledge into practice, while parents can learn how to do better discipling their own children at home.
Use CEF’s Training for Children’s Church Workers
For help with equipping volunteers for children’s ministry in your church, consider attending or hosting CEF’s teacher training for children’s church workers amongst your congregation. This training will help equip more teens and adults in your church to help with children’s ministry, while preventing burnout in those already leading children’s churches. It will give your people the confidence and skills they need to help disciple the kids in your church with solid doctrine, while also creating a fun and engaging lesson time for everyone.
CEF instructors put on frequent courses at local chapter offices, in seminars at churches, and even online. To get started, simply find your nearest local CEF chapter through cefonline.com’s “chapter lookup”, and talk to the director about training for children’s church workers in your church.
Equipping volunteers for children’s ministry with CEF means more people participating so you don’t burn out your few faithful workers. In the case of trained men, they’ll bring a larger pool of available workers, set a good example for the fathers in your church, and allow children to see healthy marriages. Those trained volunteers will also be more capable, confident, and joyful as they help children grow in their faith; understanding how to better share the gospel and discipleship truths with anyone in their sphere of influence, not just children. And when children are tangibly growing in their faith through children’s ministry and not just babysat, this makes for happy parents who will stay rooted in your church. Help your church catch a vision for what God can do by equipping volunteers for children’s ministry with CEF’s training for children’s church workers!
