So, I have a confession to make. When it came to administrative skills in Children’s Ministry, this girl stunk up the place. The truth is, when I first joined the wonderful world of kidmin, I honestly didn’t see why being a good administrator was so important as a children’s pastor. Who needed that skill anyway? I was amazing with kids. They flocked to me like bugs to a light bulb. I was an enthusiastic queen! With that natural talent alone, I was sure to take any children’s ministry department to the next level! Right???….WRONG!
Often times in children’s ministry, there is such an emphasis on connecting with children and making God’s word come alive for kids that we completely miss the need to possess quality administrative skills for such a role. At the end of the day, being excellent administratively in children’s ministry is not only important but is vital for any thriving children’s ministry department that wishes to be around in the future. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the creation story by the greatest administrator of all time…God Almighty! God didn’t just go SPLAT and the world was created just like that. But he was thoughtful in every detail to ensure that which was created had its best chance to grow and thrive. As leaders over his precious lambs, we are called to do the same. Our God is a god of order and structure. Are you?
“Children’s Ministry departments with no organizational structure
will be limited in their growth.”
Moving forward, just being good with kids will no longer be the major prerequisite that lands you that job in children’s ministry. It will be your administrative skills that will be under the microscope. So how good are yours?
Good Administrators…
Build Teams: They equip, empower, and train their people.
Team-Oriented: They delegate appropriately based off of learned strengths and weaknesses.
Policy & Procedures: They communicate and enforce policy & procedures regardless of relationships.
Vision-Driven: They write the vision, make it plain, and communicate it effectively to others…in other words, its a vision people can run with!
Result-Oriented: They plan in such a way as to get results.
Budget: They honor budgets and steward finances well.
Details: They pay attention to the behind-the-scene details of large events/programming and plan accordingly.
Value People: They care about the well-being of their people.
Not Easily Offended: They don’t allow a person to make them so angry that it affects the way they lead and serve.
Spirit-Sensitive: They understand that the Holy Spirit takes what we can do in our natural strength and supernaturally empowers our efforts. They also understand that in order to lead well, they have to be whole. Because of this they are scripturally grounded and practice a healthy prayer life.
Which ones do you need to work on? What would you add to this list?
Ultimately, everybody has their weaknesses. There is no perfect leader. If administratively you struggle, click the link and check out this month’s Children’s Ministry webinar on Administrative Do’s & Don’ts.
For a more in-depth look on how to sharpen your administrative skills, get your copy of The Progressive Children’s Ministry Leader Today!
