Every other Sunday during second service, if you head down the children’s wing to the very end of the hallway, you’re likely to find us with some of our congregation’s second-graders. You will probably hear a mixture of yelling, laughing, wildly absurd comments, and discussions about which NASCAR driver is the best. (The only correct answer is, of course, Denny Hamlin. Sorry, James Parkin, we can only speak the truth here.)
These goofy, tender-hearted 6- and 7-year-olds have become some of our favorite people as we’ve taught and led them over the past four years. What we didn’t expect and have come to love, though, is how much this experience has also taught us.
When we got married almost four years ago, we greatly desired to serve together regularly. Not only did we want to get involved and bless our church body through serving, but our mentors encouraged us to serve together as a way to grow in our relationships with each other and with Christ.
When we learned of a need for Sunday School teachers, we soon found ourselves on rotation helping with the 1st/2nd-grade classrooms. Initially, we were there to help, building relationships with the kids and learning the flow of the class. But as we grew more comfortable, our goal switched to leading the class ourselves, and we learned directly under Children’s Ministry leaders and awesome “veterans” like Joel Long.
We had experience serving in Children’s Ministry as teens, but being the leaders—which includes teaching the lesson, planning activities, and this super-easy thing called “classroom management” —was an entirely new experience that presented several challenging opportunities to grow. For example, preparing a lesson wasn’t something Seth was very familiar with at first, and he was surprised at how he really needed to learn how to teach. It wasn’t just about repeating a Bible story or lesson, but learning the intricacies of the passage, how it relates to the Bible/gospel as a whole, and how to summarize it in a way that could engage kids.
Second-graders can usually pay attention well, but we don’t just want them to sit still and learn; we want them to have fun and enjoy knowing more about our God! Looking for ways to keep the kids excited about God’s Word and His goodness has not only grown our faith and understanding of Scripture but also encouraged us as we watch the kids excitedly latch onto truth as well.
For several years, we have had children in class with special needs or learning disabilities that have challenged us in ways we hadn’t experienced before. We’ve had to learn not only how to work with and teach these children according to their individual needs, but also how to work with our incredible special needs team here at Faith, (plus ministry director Joe Swanson and assistant Shae Brown) to come alongside and support these kids’ parents. Though hesitant to approach these situations at first, we have seen incredible growth in our teaching thanks to support from our Children's Ministry team.
Concurrently, we are so blessed to have a church community where parents want to know what’s going on in Sunday school and partner with the ministry. The ability to now confidently minister to these families has led to incredible gospel conversations and it is a blessing to be a part of those relationships.
Helping us each Sunday morning is a great team of high-schoolers—which means we’re learning how to delegate tasks, encourage leadership and nurture servanthood in the lives of these teens. We’ve not only enjoyed bonding with these young adults ourselves, but have gotten to watch them grow in service leadership, even to the point of initiating powerful gospel conversations with second-graders themselves!
While we have learned lots through challenges in serving the past few years, there have been an abundance of unexpected blessings that have far outweighed it all. For example, we have developed strong relationships with people in the church that we would not have otherwise—people in the Children’s Ministry team, other teachers, and the families of the children we serve. Kids that we taught three or more years ago will still race up to us on Sunday mornings, excited to see us. Building relationships that last long after these kids leave our classroom is incredible and an important reminder of the eternal impact of ministering to them and the long-lasting influence we can have. It’s completely humbling and heartwarming, to say the least.
It’s also been really sweet to watch several kids who took a longer time for us to connect with—whether due to personality, behavior or disability—that we got to help grow and then experience powerful gospel conversations. Tangibly seeing the Kingdom of God at work? Yeah, it’s pretty special.
Especially as a young married couple, it’s a unique blessing to see each other serve in unique situations. Ministering side by side means we learn to encourage, help, and sharpen one another towards Christ in ways that only teaching together could give us. It also has given us “parenting practice” as we now eagerly look forward to our own kids reaching this age!
Though we didn’t immediately commit to long-term teaching, we’re so glad we did. Now we get to nurture existing relationships, set an example for our kids, and invest in the next generation at Faith. There is some prep and a bit of a sacrifice on our part, but the blessings received and the fun we have far outweigh it all.
On any given Sunday, you’ll likely hear our classroom from down the hall as we play games, laugh and learn. We’re serious about Jesus and we're serious about having fun. Often, parents will come to pick up their kids, but the kids don’t want to leave class! We love that.
If you’re interested in tangibly serving the body of Christ and getting to have fun while doing it, there is a significant need for helpers and teachers in Children’s Ministry on Sunday mornings. A great leadership team like Joe and Shae makes it easy! With all of the resources, help and support you need readily available, there is no reason you can’t jump on board! We can promise you’ll learn a lot, grow in your faith, and meet some awesome kids—and have a blast while doing it. We sure have!
Listen, bro (or brodette), it’s an hour and a half out of your weekend. A little bit of prep spread out through the week, and no extracurricular commitments besides the occasional free meal (such a tragedy). You can do it.
Search up 1 Peter 4:10-11 if you need. Where else besides Children’s Ministry can you fulfill a biblical commandment and make such an impactful mark on people’s lives? You really don’t need to be some eloquent speaker, “good” with children, or non-awkward. You just need to have an inner child that loves Jesus, and we all know that describes at least a good amount of us here. So, we’ll see you in the classroom soon!
A loving community making disciples of Jesus Christ.
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