I started out in full-time ministry in 2007, just a few months after graduating from college (When I say, “full-time,” I just mean that it was my full-time job). After several months as a pastoral intern, my responsibilities began to shift toward children’s ministry. This became my primary area of oversight until I left that position in 2014.

We had a lot of kids coming to the church at the time and there were plenty of programs and volunteers to oversee. I also was having children of my own during these years, so I wanted to know everything I could about ministering to kids.

One thing I learned: kids are human beings. Duh, right? But I observed that many adults in the church were treating the children as if they were a different species altogether.

When ministering to adults, most of us take the Bible’s teaching on the nature of man into account: We’re all created in God’s image, marred by sin, in need of Jesus, destined for eternity. These theological realities ground our practical decisions about what to teach or preach, how to structure a worship service or community group, and how to implement spiritual formation and discipline in the church family.

But our approach to kids tended to be different. We leaned toward the pragmatic: Whatever the kids will think is fun, let’s do it so they come back! We also tended toward the sentimental: kids are so cute. They need cute Bible stories and cute songs and we need to take a lot of pictures.

When I began to teach kids every week, I learned that these impulses often got in the way of real ministry. Having fun is great! But it’s not the main point, is it? Kids are cute! But they’re also real people with real problems.

Over time, I learned that I needed to speak to the kids about hard things, even topics that others might have felt were a little too intense for them.

Sometimes we forget the kinds of real-life issues kids face. A grandparent dies. Parents divorce. A bully harrasses them and makes them feel worthless. Their “crush” tells them to hit the road. They try hard at school and fail to get the grade. They practice all summer and still get cut from the team.

Not only that, but kids deal with real wickedness: hatred, pride, envy, filthy talk, disobedience to parents.

As adults, we should never minimize the sin or the suffering of children. Nor should we withhold the only hope available to them in the face of these challenges: the gospel message that has the power to reconcile them to a good God.

I’m glad that our church is preparing to make an investment in our kids in partnership with their parents.

This past Sunday, Rick Casey announced that he will be leading the search for a new Director of Children’s Ministry at Indian Creek. This will be a part-time ministry leadership position supporting children from birth to 6^th grade, their families, and the programs designed to serve them. You can read the full position description here.

Rick will be assisted in this search by three others: Chris Parish, Cherith Barham, and Kelly Simonton. If you have questions about the position or would like to recommend someone for the role, I’m sure any of these individuals would be glad to speak to you.

In light of this development, I’d ask you to do a few things: First, please join us in praying for the right person for this role.

Second, please follow this link in order to apply for the role, and share the link with anyone you think may be interested.

Third, please make a personal investment in our children as a volunteer. You’d be surprised how many people it takes to serve the amount of kids who are coming to Indian Creek.

We are especially in need of men to volunteer. The sad truth is that some of the kids we serve do not have even one godly man in their life. Let’s change that. Our kids need to see both men and women serving the Lord. They need to hear teaching from both men and women.

Let’s set this new Director up for success by pitching in to help.