Brian's Blog

As Kids Ministry leaders, we are passionate about our area of ministry.  We work hard and focus on creative ideas to reach more and more children for the cause of Christ.  This is wonderful!  This is what we SHOULD do.

Often, that laser focus and passion leads us to ignore other very important and fundamental needs in our church.  We must remember that, although our PRIMARY focus may be Kids Ministry, the BIGGER role we play is that of a member of our church's pastoral TEAM.

I was speaking at a church in Texas several years back.  The Kids Pastor was doing some teardown for an event he had put on that took place in the Youth Auditorium.  He grabbed all of his equipment from the Youth soundboard, but started to walk away - leaving all of the Youth Ministry stuff unplugged (it had been plugged in when he found it).  I asked him, "Don't you want to plug that stuff in so that your Youth Pastor isn't handicapped when he walks in to set up his service?"  The Kids Pastor shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's not my job - that's his."

This kind of attitude is corrosive to a team.  When you walk by trash in the hallway or parking lot - don't say, "That's the maintenance crew's job."  Pick it up!  When you see a projector has been left on in a classroom - turn it off.  Don't leave it for someone else.

If you are going to be a solid member of a team, you need to remember that ANYTHING can be YOUR job.  Our main focus may be Kids, but our MAIN job is building the Kingdom.  That may mean stepping up and doing things that we never planned on, don't feel gifted for, and are not passionate about.  It's not about what makes us happy - it's about building the Kingdom.

Stop doing YOUR job!