Promiseland is Willow Creek’s highly successful children’s ministry. Using examples from Promiseland and churches of all sizes around the country, this book provides step by step guidance and creative application exercises to help churches develop a thriving children’s ministry—one that strives to be the best hour of every kid’s week. Included are Scripture-based principles and practical resources for church staff members and volunteers who agree with the critical role children’s ministry plays in a local church. Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week, based on twenty-eight years of experience at Willow Creek, explains four ministry foundations: Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategy. Content includes: Detailed answers to questions facing every children’s ministry: • What does Jesus expect from children’s ministry? • How can we evangelize lost kids and disciple saved kids at the same time, and should we? • How do we engage kids so they don’t become bored? • How do we get better at recruiting and leading volunteers? • How can our ministry be a safe place for children? • Six specific ministry values that address the needs of today’s children • Practical first steps for ministries that want to get serious about change • Clear indicators of success in children’s ministry

According to a study by George Barna, a person is most likely to become a Christian between the ages of four and fourteen. Yet the majority of evangelism training is designed to reach adults, not children. Leading Kids to Jesus equips children’s ministry leaders with proven principles to help them have life-changing discussions with kids. The focus is exclusively on personal interactions, not corporate presentations or prop-driven illustrations. Readers learn the best ways to communicate God’s love to toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school children in words they understand. The book adapts two simple communication tools from the bestselling evangelism course Becoming a Contagious Christian, which helps you develop your own three-part story and the four components of the gospel message. Included is a survey of what questions to expect from kids, along with other helps and children’s ministry experience from Willow Creek’s Promiseland staff and volunteers. A companion volume for parents called Leading Your Child to Jesus is also available.

Words matter. Words can build up, or words can tear down. As parents and church leaders, do we use our words well? Words Kids Need to Hear offers compelling, yet simple ways to build up the hearts of children through meaningful and well-chosen words. What children hear from adults they trust makes a significant impact—now and for years to come.Words Kids Need to Hear offers an easy-to-follow learning path. Each of the seven chapters focuses on a single statement kids need to hear from parents, children’s workers, and other close adults. These seven statements are simple to share, yet guaranteed to make a profound impact on a child’s life. They are:• I Believe in You• You Can Count on Me• I Treasure You• I’m Sorry, Please Forgive Me• Because• No• I Love YouEach chapter seeks to educate first, equip, and then motivate to action. Words Kids Need to Hear helps parents and children’s workers use words to build up the hearts of elementary-age children, resulting in closer parent-child relationships that pave a path toward a relationship with God.

What will you say when your child asks how Jesus can fit inside his heart? Here’s help with responding in words your little one will understand. Leading Your Child to Jesus equips you with the simple, effective communication tools that will help you discuss salvation with your child. They’ve been proven through David Staal’s years with Willow Creek Community Church’s Promiseland children’s ministry and through his personal experiences as a parent.Learn how to share you own salvation story, explain the gospel in kid-friendly language, and lead your child in a prayer of salvation. Based on examples from the book of Acts, Leading Your Child to Jesus provides you with key biblical concepts on effective communication and includes exercises to help you put those concepts into action.The enormity of leading your child to Christ doesn’t have to leave you tongue-tied. You can help your little one make the most important decision of his or her life—the decision to follow Jesus.

Dave Staal brings his experience as a parent and a nationally respected children’s ministry leader to help equip other parents and mentors to teach their children the most important lessons in life. With a dozen life-building lessons, parents and mentors will be able to teach their kids to have a balanced, healthy perspective about themselves and other people, and how to honor God with the way they live. Based on Staal’s own experiences as a parent as well as original research done nationwide through focus groups with parents and children, Lessons Kids Need to Learn is a valuable resource for parents, grandparents, teachers, children’s ministry workers, and mentors who care about teaching children how to live into their God-given identities.

Practical Strategies for Gospel-Centered Children's Ministry When building a children's ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that's before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. While all of the tasks of children's ministry are important, leaders can get easily distracted with the everyday work of doing ministry and lose sight of the main focus—the gospel. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children's ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission. This practical resource covers a variety of topics ranging from creating child protection policies to putting together lesson plans to catechism, helpful for children's ministers and volunteers alike as they disciple children with the powerful message of the gospel. Applicable: Includes questions for reflection and evaluation Helps Leaders Disciple the Next Generation: Features advice for sending kids and their families on mission Ideal for Nursery–5th Grade Teachers and Leaders: A practical and helpful resource for children's ministries Published in Conjunction with the Gospel Coalition (TGC)

Create an effective children's ministry with help from the top experts! For over 10 years, Children's Ministry That Works has been helping ministry leaders create dynamic and effective ministry programs in churches across the country. Now, completely revised and updated, this new version will help you be successful for the next 10 years! Overflowing with expert insights from over 25 successful children's ministry leaders, you're guaranteed to find solutions for every area of your ministry! You'll learn the best tips, creative ideas and strategies from leaders like Craig Jutila, Thom and Joani Schultz, Mike Sciarra, Sue Miller, Pat Verbal, Gordon and Becki West, Jim Wideman, Chris Yount, and more! Children's Ministry That Works: Revised and Updated will equip your ministry with these key benefits: Help for key areas of children's ministry, including: Developing your leadership team Safety and liability in children's ministry Partnering with parents Teaching so children can learn Adventurous art and creative crafts Vacation Bible School Successful after-school and mid-week programs and more! 15 brand-new chapters! Plus, substantial revisions to the other chapters to offer you the most current insights and advice of the top children's ministry experts! Easy to read and packed with practical ideas! These ideas have been proven in actual children's ministry and refined and improved over time. Insights for every level of children's ministry! Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a beginner in children's ministry, you'll refer to this resource regularly for the help you need!