My friend, Cindi Nigh, has been running a great Children’s Church program at Wooster Church of the Nazarene (Wooster, OH) for many years. I asked her to take a few minutes to share some nuggets of wisdom along with how she got into children’s ministry. Take a minute and gain from her experience….
1. How long have you been in Children’s Ministry? I have been in some form of Children’s ministry for almost 40 years! (Yikes! That’s a long time! I’m too young to be that old! :))
2. Why did you get into Children’s Ministry in the first place? As a teenager, I was asked to help out at VBS’s and SS. That began an interest in ministry. I went through CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) training and later college. I remember as a child feeling called to missions. I thought God might have made a mistake since I never went to China or Africa. But I have had opportunity to minister in our country through Release Time Education in three different school districts. I was the Children’s Out-reach pastor in one town where many after-school programs began and more currently as Children’s Pastor where I stay involved in outreach through our church and community. I’m not sure what is next for me, but I know it will be good when God does the calling.
3. Do you have any neat ideas for Children’s Ministry that have worked well for Palm Sunday or Easter? Easter is a lot like Christmas. I am always looking for new ways to share a familiar message. One of my favorite ways I have shared the message was a lesson I got from CMD (Children’s Ministry Deals) called Easter Eggs. Each week, we talked about a different egg and how it represented the story of Easter. Really good stuff! This year I am using Jelly Beans and sharing about one color each week. The kidz will love getting jelly beans each week. The main thing is that we share the best message of all; Because Jesus lives, we also can live a life of forgiveness and hope of eternity with Him someday.
4. What is your favorite book about Children’s Ministry? Why? Oh my…So many books through the years have been very helpful. My most recent though would have to be “Teaching Kids Authentic Worship” by Kathleen Chapman. I have seen many kids grow up in church, make decisions for Christ and then walk away. It breaks my heart, and I wonder why. In the book, the Author moves from the “what” of worship to the “how.” She includes fifty two worship moments that help children learn to focus exclusively on God. This book will help the teacher or parent help children to make decisions that will make God their greatest hero and life-long friend. When a child can truly worship, the likelihood of them walking away from their faith will be lessened. That…I am interested in. I make it a practice to have a Worship Moment each week in KIDZ Church.
Read more about Cindi here.
