I am seeing a disturbing trend in Family Ministry/Children’s Ministry. It’s that if you minister to families, you neglect the kids, and if you minister to kids then you neglect the parents. I think in Preteen Ministry it’s something that I’ve gotten a chance to experience firsthand because of the children’s-students gap.

Both are incredibly necessary.

You will always battle with your vision and focus for ministry.

It is something that you must continually watch over with your people, your time and your efforts. Besides your connection with God in a personal level, the vision for your ministry is the most important part of your ministry role. It’s something that takes time, hard work, and pleading with God to get right.

As things continue to grow and change with technology and curriculum and personalities, you will continue to battle with your vision.

Always know that God’s call on your life and your ministry is always to remain numero uno.

This is non-negotiable. If God has called you to minister to parents to the best of your ability then do it and be awesome. If God has called you to teach preteens how to be missionaries in their world, then do it and be awesome.

Don’t ever sacrifice God’s call on your ministry for the latest fad or the oldest tradition.

God’s call should now be the primary influencer in your life. New things will come and old things will become new, but God’s call should remain your anchor.

Harnessing the power of “And” in Preteen Ministry

I think it’s a tough thing to get right, but I think if you can pull it off then roll with it. There are so many things pulling us in opposite directions:

• Programs vs Connections
• Home vs Church Activities
• Attractional vs Missional
• Evangelism vs Discipleship
• Message Development vs People Development

But what if you could exercise the power of And a little bit more. What if you could minister to both parents and children in an effective manner? What if you could pull off and incredible Evangelism and Discipleship program at the same time? What if you could attract new families and then be able to develop them and send them back into the community as an effective minister and missionary for Christ?

So Preteen Leaders, you already know this but you aren’t a students leader or a children’s leader…. YOU’RE BOTH!

I challenge you today to really ask God for your focus and call to the context of where you are ministering. After you get that, find a way to exercise some balance in the areas that you feel so passionate about.

Children’s Leaders you can minister to Parents and effectively minister to the kids you serve.

Student Leaders you can attract a ton of students and disciple them effectively.

Family Pastors you can gameplan for families and develop programs that effectively reach kids and students.

Work some AND into your ministry in the coming weeks.