Tuesday night I spoke to a great collection of college students that attend our church. They meet weekly on the campus of Texas Tech, and do the normal things Christians do when they get together; sing songs, listen to someone teach/preach/talk, fellowship, and generally hang out. It was a fun time, and I’ll be back next week to do more of the same. When I do events like this I inevitably get asked the million dollar question.
“Why would you want to work with kids?”
I’m sure they are confused about me, seeing that I don’t fit their experience of what a normal Children’s Pastor looks like. I guess you could say I’m an abnormal Children’s Pastor. So here’s my official online response to the above question:
Three Reason Why I Love Working With Kids:
- IMPACT -Working with kids give me more potential impact on the entire family than any other demographic. I’ve worked with college students, high school students, and senior citizens; but have never been able to influence the spiritual direction of families more than I do when working with kids. There is something about leading an 8 year old to Jesus that impacts families in a special and unique way. I have never felt more “on the front lines” than I do now that I work with kids.
- VOLUNTEERS –Working with kids always leads to working with adults. When I did college ministry I could usually do any event with myself and one person to lead worship. We could take turns running the sound board, and the two of us could do just about anything. When working with kids this becomes totally impossible! You just can’t throw 300 kids between the ages of birth and 12 in a room with two people…or at least you shouldn’t. Working with kids has allowed me to invest time with volunteers in greater numbers than ever before.
- They’re KIDS –For goodness sakes, we’re talking about kids here. I can get a laugh every week when I ask the boys to put their purses under their chairs. Every…single…week…without fail they will giggle at that joke. Teenagers wouldn’t laugh, and God knows that adults never laugh. Working with kids forces me to be more creative than I ever thought was possible. Working with kids has made me really think through anything I’m about to say to make sure it’s as understandable as possible. (and I think more adult speakers/pastors would be better served to spend more time doing this as well.)
