It’s time to prepare the upcoming school year calendar to be shared by mid July with the families I serve. As much as I’d love to fill the calendar with lots of great and holy things, a reasonable rhythm of WHAT and WHY is the filter for the big picture. A reasonable rhythm requires consideration of the community schedule of families we serve, the leadership who chooses a kidmin director’s ‘time’, and the staff we serve alongside who set the priorities of spaces available.

When I was hired full time, it was much easier to just throw myself into all that we could offer: typical Sunday and midweek programming and special events just about every month, sometimes every other week. Trying new things happened often.  But a part-time position in ministry requires a rhythm.

When church leadership decides a position as Sunday only, 1/4 time, 1/2 time, or 3/4 time, there are some expectations they have determined.  One reasonable expectation being that this part time staff person can not do everything the larger church down the street can do.  Setting priorities offers a reasonable rhythm.

Balance is an elusive target because balance is based on a subjective perspective: whoever you are asking. But a rhythm, being measurable, is much more manageable when the goal is healthy Children’s Ministry.

If we use the five pillars of a healthy Children’s Ministry, worship-grow-belong-service-tell, and the entire calendar year as the canvas, finding a rhythm works to develop a reasonable rhythm.

For excellent regular programming, it takes an average of 2.5 hours for every 1 hour of programming. Any special event or peak moment requires a whole lot more. Think VBS: 4-5 months+whole lot of lay servants+$$=10 – 15 hours of programming.  That may explain why so many churches are stepping away from offering a week of VBS and looking for more bang for their buck.  Perhaps offering a summer VBS program over a summer of Sundays (or Thursdays) and promoting the daylights out of it.

Even part time (half-time = 20 hour) KidMin Directors can effectively and realistically take on weekly Sunday am, Sunday pm OR Wednesday/Midweek pm, and 4-5 peak moments through the year, if you include Christmas and Easter in the 4-5 peak moments. Then you are working on one peak moment quarterly and that is much more manageable and a reasonable expectation.

Periodically our Children’s Council (those who make up the hands and feet of the ministry) writes on individual index cards everything involving ministry with children over the course of the year.  All traditions and even new things: Trunk-or-Treat, Sunday School, CLUB345, Children’s Christmas program, etc.  As a team, they then determine what four items are the most important: asking, “If we did nothing but these 4 things next year, what would they be?”  Once they haggle…er, decide which 4 (which takes a bit of time), they then choose 2 more (which takes no time, because the discussions have already taken place.)  As a Council, we have now chosen what we will throw ourselves into.  Where and when will we be ‘all in’, for the next year.  Of course, other special events take place over the course of the year, but there must be two champions for those special events where I can serve as the resource, cheerleader, and/or promoter for those things.  But me ‘taking the point’ on them has now been decided by the Children’s Council to not be a priority for me this next year.

So where will you throw your resources, your servants, your finances, your space, your over-the-top-best? Break out a clean calendar for the next 12-18 months because a reasonable rhythm takes into consideration the big picture for a true discipleship pathway for both littles and bigs.

“Everything is permissible” – but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23

Edited from the original post of March 2014. Don’t miss any new weekly posts by subscribing above.