How to Maximize Your Children's Ministry Calendar

A new year of children's ministry has begun. Hopefully, you have your calendar for 2023 planned out.

Successful children's ministries are very strategic and purposeful when they plan their calendar.

Let's look at some ways you can maximize your ministry calendar this year.

Plan out your calendar at least one year in advance. I actually planned out my children's ministry calendar a year and a half in advance.

Here's a tip: Get a large desk calendar. Bring the key leaders of your team together. Go through and put down your events and programs on the calendar. Once you have that done, transfer it to an electronic calendar.

Sync up with other ministries. Ideally, you will plan out your calendar with the other ministries in your church. This will help you avoid any calendar conflicts. An example would be this - you don't want to have a mother & daughter event on the same night the church is having a Bible study for mothers. Collaborate and work with the other ministries so families don't have to choose between programs and events. A well planned "master calendar" will help ministries align and have maximum impact.

Be flexible. There will be times when other ministries add something last minute or affect change some key dates that affect your ministry. Often this is out of your hands. When this happens, don't pitch a royal fit. Be ready to adjust as needed.

Remember less is more. When I first started out in ministry, I was taught that "the more lines you have in the water" the more fish you would catch. In other words, have as many ministries as you can and you will reach more people.

Over the years, I realized that the opposite is true.

You can do a few things well or you can do a lot of things mediocre.

Something else to remember is that families will only give you so much time. An example is this, if you have an event on Saturday, many families will consider that their "church time" for the week and will not show up on Sunday. Make sure your calendar is leading people to what is most important and to what can have the biggest impact in their lives.

Sometimes the best thing you can put on your ministry calendar is eraser marks.

Your ministry calendar should reflect your vision and strategy. Your ministry calendar should be a pathway to your ministry goals. Here's an example. If discipleship is one of your key areas of focus, then your calendar should be a pathway to discipleship. Don't just put random events and programs on your calendar.

Start with the end in mind. What do you want kids to know at the end of the year? What Bible knowledge do you want the kids to have by the end of the year? How do you want to partner with parents and empower them to raise their children to follow Jesus? Your calendar should be steps forward in your areas of focus.

A well-planned and managed calendar helps ensure you’re being strategic, efficient and effective with your time.