10 Ways to Get Kids Involved in Serving at Church

A few weeks ago...January 1 to be exact, I was teaching the elementary large group lesson at my home church. (If you haven't taken a look at my curriculum, Connect 12, you should check it out at this link.)

It was New Year's weekend, so some of our volunteers were not there.

I was going to use a computer clicker (or whatever you call it) to advance the slides while I taught.

But then I got an idea. Why not ask one of the kids to run the slides instead? They should be able to do this with no problem...they live in a digital world and many of them know more about technology than we do.

I asked one of the kindergartners if he would like to help me run the slides for the lesson. He eagerly responded and sat down at the computer.

He proceeded to click on all the slides on my cues and never missed a slide.

Coming out of that, I am setting up a schedule where the kids (and yes...even kindergartners) can sign up to serve as the tech person.

Once the child finished up with the lesson slides, I could tell he was excited about the opportunity to serve. It reminded me of the importance of giving children the chance to make a difference.

There is something about serving that ignites your faith and helps you grow as a Christ follower. In my new book, Fertile Soil, I talk about how serving is a key factor to seeing kids follow and serve Jesus for a lifetime. You can get the book at this link.

Let's talk about 10 ways you can get kids involved in serving at church.

1. Greeting.

2. Tech and sound system.

3. Cleaning up after service.

4. Writing miss you cards to children who didn't come to weekend services.

5. Helping take up the offering.

6. Singing on the praise team.

7. Serving with their parents in a preschool classroom.

8. Leading part of the service. Lead in saying the Bible verse. Lead in repeating the main point of the lesson.

9. Helping in large group by being in skits, helping teach the lesson, helping with game time, etc.

10. Passing out activity sheets, take-home papers and other lesson handouts.

As with anyone, if you want children to serve well, then provide them with a job description, hands on training and what the wins are for the role.

Your turn. What are some other ways kids can serve at church? What are you doing to get kids serving in your ministry? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.