Best Practices for Children's Ministry: Leading from the Heart

by Andrew Ervin

Overview

There is a growing number of local church laypeople entering children's ministry leadership. While this is helpful for furthering the Kingdom, these leaders face a huge learning curve. There are few resources available in the Wesleyan tradition for children's ministry leadership.

Best Practices for Children's Ministry seeks to answer this need. With insight and understanding of the children's ministry world, author Andrew Ervin provides leaders with the tips, strategies, and skills they need to develop a strong and successful children's ministry.

Times have changed. No longer does programming alone satisfy as the summation of children's ministry. No, the role of the children's ministry leader is far more complex. With Best Practices for Children's Ministry, leaders will find the answers and solutions they need to better practice children's ministry. 192 pages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834131606
Publisher:	Nazarene Publishing House
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	825 KB

About the Author

ANDREW ERVIN is the Children's Pastor at Salem Fields Community Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. For over twenty years, he has lead children's ministry teams in the local church, which has fueled his passion for helping children come to know Christ and discipling them to become strong believers in the Kingdom. Ervin has a MA in Religion from Northwest Nazarene University and a BS in Elementary Education from Eastern Nazarene College. He has served as chairman of the Nazarene Children's Leadership Network, which holds leadership development events nationally. Ervin and his wife, Sharon, and their three children reside in Virginia, where he drinks all of the sweet tea, diet coke, and white chocolate mochas he can find.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 9

Foreword 11

Introduction 13

Chapter 1 Leadership and Children's Ministry 15

Times Have Changed

Chapter 2 Communicating Up, Down, and All Around 27

The Art of Vision Casting

Chapter 3 It's All About Teamwork! 37

Chapter 4 The Art of Developing Volunteers 49

But Call Them Leaders!

Chapter 5 They Want Disney on a Dime 59

Creating Fun Environments that Lead Children to Christ

Chapter 6 It's More Than Just About Kids 69

Partnering with Parents

Chapter 7 An "Others Focused" Children's Ministry 85

Chapter 8 Your Best Teaching Tools 95

The Holy Spirit and You

Chapter 9 They Will Know if Fun Is a Core Value! 105

Chapter 10 Is Your Children's Ministry a Safe Place? 115

Chapter 11 Celebrating the Rites of Passage 133

Chapter 12 Creating Family Discipleship Experiences 147

Chapter 13 Great Children's Ministry Leaders Keep Growing 163

Chapter 14 Spiritual Formation 177

Keeping Your Bubbles in the Middle

Appendix A Resource Listing for Children's Ministry 187