The Abandoned Field of Digital Children’s Ministry
Minsitry Accelerator
If you knew of a public location where kids in your ministry spent 6 hours a day and you could go there, would you?
According to Common Sense Media, children ages 8 to 12 spend about 6 hours per day online. Children ages 0–6 spend 50 minutes per day.
While church attendance has been declining since 1959, access to content is at an all-time high.
The sermon, a long-time staple of the weekly worship service setting, is now more available than it has ever been. Thanks to platforms like YouVersion, you can read just about any translation of the Bible, for free, right from your device.
While adults have a lot to choose from when it comes to spiritual content online, children don’t have the same variety of options. What they do have doesn’t begin to tap into the possibilities available, like video games.
There are some remarkable bright spots, like YouVersion and OneHope’s Bible App for Kids and The Kids Bible Experience, there is plenty of space for more. And while there is some content (videos and Bible readings), there is little (with the exception of Bible App for Kids) with interactive elements and expereinces that help guide these children in their walk with Christ.
The more time kids spend online and the less time they spend in church, the more sense it makes to invest in developing a digital ministry expression. After all, two-thirds of Christians still say they came to faith before the age of 18.
What if the reverse were true? What if children were spending six hours a day in a church service but only 2 hours a month online. Would you say you needed to put more effort into the church service?
You might think “I have a lot on my plate already. Volunteer recruiting is a full-time job by itself. Now you’re asking me to add a ministry I don’t yet understand?”
I am not asking every children’s ministry leader to become an app developer. However, I am asking every children’s ministry leader to consider the following:
Ask Publishers For Digital Tools
I just came from a conference where half of an enormous showroom was children’s curricula publisher space. I saw no digital ministry tools beyond online videos. So much of children’s curricula publishing is stuck in the past: written lessons with little media and take-home sheets for the rest of the week.
But, believe it or not, publishers will listen. If you ask for digital tools, they’ll notice. And if you adopt new curricula that provides the most options now, they will REALLY NOTICE, and then the rest will follow. So add digital tools to your list of “must-haves” when it comes to curriculum.
Push for more than just videos. Videos are a starting point, but there is so much untapped potential in the digital space that videos can’t be the only option.
Ask Yourself Three Questions
“What if we added digital expressions to our ministry?”
Take some time to imagine how your ministry might be different if you were reaching the children and their parents at home online.
Go big with your thinking; don’t limit yourself here. Use your imagination to explore what might be. Go “sci-fi” with it. Dream what is not even possible yet.
“What can we do now?”
I’m not asking you to create all of your dreams now. You have to start somewhere. Most of the time, you will think your starting point is weak. It might be, but that’s why it is a starting point. You move away from the start, you don’t stay there.
Start somewhere.
“When do we begin?”
If you can film an object lesson on your phone, upload it to a Vimeo page, and share it with your kids during the week, you have done more digitally than you have ever done before and you’ll already be doing more than most other ministries.
Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things. — Theodore Levitt
It is not enough to come up with a cloud of ideas and a starting point. You have to do it. Put the time on the calendar and stick to it.
My advice is to give yourself a couple of weeks. Set a date in the next couple of weeks to take one step, whatever step you decide.
Film something, create a parent’s Facebook group, do a ‘live now’ talk for families. Create an online quiz from last week’s service. Promote one of YouVersion’s Bible reading plans for children and families.
Do something.
Some of you may feel that children spend too much time online. It may make you reluctant to participate. You may think “I don’t want to be another thing online.”
With the children in your ministry spending anywhere between 1–6 hours per day online, your ministry should not only be a part of that time, but it should be a vital part.
Time is short, too much is at stake, and a mission field of the largest unreached people group in any given generation is waiting for your unique brand of ministry.
Kidmin Accelerator explores creative, innovative, and practical ideas that help Children’s Ministry Leaders.
