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Should Children's Ministers Attend the Adult Service?


When was the last time you were in an adult worship service?  If you are a children's minister / director, you may not be able to remember.

 

I find that for the average children's minister, they rarely attend the adult service. For some it has been months or even years since they were able to worship with other adults.

 

Why is this?


The biggest reason is lack of volunteers. They haven't been able to enlist and equip enough volunteers to run the children's ministry without them. If they tried to step out to get in the adult service, things would fall apart.


Another reason is they don't enjoy the adult service. I find that often children's ministers love children's ministry so much that they begin to feel restless when they try to sit in the adult service.  They would rather be in the children's ministry area than in the adult service.

 

Another reason is they feel like the ministry can't run without them on hand. They are striving for perfection and feel like the ministry will not function at a high level without them being involved every single minute.


A final reason is because they feel guilty being in the adult service while their volunteers are serving.  If they are asking their volunteers to serve, then they feel like they should be there as well all the time.


I understand these reasons. I have personally struggled with some of these as well.  Now that these reasons have been established, let's talk about why children's ministers should attend the adult service.

 

Attending the adult service helps you stay connected to the church's overall vision and direction.  It is easy to become a silo. You can become isolated from the rest of the church while you do your own thing in the world of children's ministry.  Being part of the adult service helps you stay connected to the rest of the church.

 

Attending the adult service helps you grow spiritually. Hearing the Word of God taught is an important part of growing spiritually. It helps you stay healthy spiritually and keeps bitterness, resentment, discouragement, and disillusionment at bay. 


Attending the adult service sets an example for your volunteers to follow.  Hopefully you are making sure your volunteers are attending the adult service. In fact, you should make it a requirement if they want to serve in children's ministry. You should hold yourself to the same standard. 


So what do you think? 


What has been your experience in this?


Do you attend the adult service? Why or why not?


What are some other tips you can share about this?

  

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

 

p.s.  Here are some resources that can help you.

 


 
 
 

7 Comments

Wade
Dec 08, 2025

I can relate to this. It has been a constant struggle to join in an adult service. It's like the illustration of boiling a frog in a pot. If you throw it in at a boil, it jumps out. But if you gradually turn the temperature up, it doesn't realize what's happening until it's too late. Consistently missing worship turns the spiritual temperature up slowly, and you may not realize the negative impacts until it's too late. Here's a couple of thoughts I've had as I've seen this play out in my own life.


  • Everyone needs to be spiritually fed. If you're missing Sunday morning worship consistently, are you attending (not leading) a Bible study, adult Sunday school class, mid-week…

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Dale Hudson
Dec 09, 2025
Replying to

Thanks for sharing Wade. Good thoughts.

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Sandichik
Dec 06, 2025

What a timely and resonant message. I previously struggled with feeling disconnected from the adult church, given my focus on the children's needs and the shortage of volunteers. Now that I delegate more services to our volunteers while attending the Adult church, this insight prompts me to address the well-being of my team. I realize it is my duty to ensure every member of the Children's Ministry is growing and supported. Volunteers cannot pour from an empty cup; their growth is essential to the quality of their ministry. Thank you for this necessary call to action."

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Dale Hudson
Dec 09, 2025
Replying to

Thanks for sharing Sandichik. Good words.

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Maria
Dec 02, 2025

As a former youth person, I sat in the Sunday night service. That was my church for the week. I cannot tell you the last time I sat in Sunday school class as a student. For 30+ years I have taught and 27+ years have done children’s church. I still teach Sunday school and Wednesday night. These kids are fun to teach. I learn as much or more teaching from studying and the questions they ask. This continued work is because I feel a compassion for the youth of our church. No one volunteer.s. They would say we have done our time or let someone else.. it’s very discouraging sometimes. I think small churches suffer the most from burnout.

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Dale Hudson
Dec 09, 2025
Replying to

Thanks for sharing Maria.

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