The Future of Children' Ministry...7 Trends You Need to Know About

Where is children's ministry heading?  What will children's ministry look like five years down the road?  

Let's examine some current trends that may help us see where children's ministry is headed.

These trends will have an impact on Gen Alpha (ages 0 to 12) and Gen Beta (born from 2025 to 2039). 

Gamification. 

Gaming is the preferred preferred entertainment choice of Gen Alpha. 75% of Gen Alpha kids play video games regularly.

Play is the highest form of research.  -Albert Einstein

When teachers use gamification (learning through games), kids say it makes learning more interactive and enjoyable. Children's ministries that understand this and integrate activities, rewards, and competition into their lessons will be able to more effectively teach the Bible to these generations. 

Whether it is through hands-on games or digital video games, gaming will continue to be used to help kids learn and understand God's Word in the days ahead.    

AI 

38% of kids worldwide are excited about the potential that AI has to enhance their lives. They are being empowered by AI tools such as YouTube, TikTok, Roblox, and Fortnite.  The coming generation will develop their own videos, apps, and games by using AI. This could move into the church world with kids using their skills and creativity to learn about and teach the Bible. 

Church attendance patterns

Here is some good news. 39% of Millennials (ages 29-44) attend church on a weekly basis.  This is up from 21% in 2019 and it places them at a much higher rate of attendance than Gen X and even Boomers. Here is some more good news. Millennials are the parents of the kids in your ministry. This translates into more children being in church on a regular basis. By regular, I mean 1-2 times a month.

This means we have a great opportunity to reach and disciple Millennials and their children in the next few years. Churches must be ready and equipped to effectively share the Gospel with these families.

Sports driven children's ministry

We are seeing more and more families put sports before church.  In 2022, kids ages 6-18 were involved in sports for 16.6 hours a week according to an Aspen Institute report.  Many of these families travel during the weekends for games and tournaments.

A few churches are responding by having Bible studies at the sports fields early on Sunday morning. Some of these churches are even hiring "sports pastors" whose job is to take the Gospel and discipleship to the fields.  

I believe we will continue to see many children and families involved in sports on Sunday mornings. Families will have to make a choice about what their priorities are going to be. It will also be interesting to see the impact taking church to the sports fields will have.

Biblical Illiteracy

Per the point above, "regular" church attendance is about 1 to 2 times a month. Kids are coming to church but on a less frequent basis.  For those who come once a month, it translate into them missing 75% of the lessons. For those who attend twice a month, it translates into them missing 50% of the lessons. 

This is producing kids who are Biblically illiterate.  They don't know foundational truths from God's Word.  They don't know the books of the Bible. They don't know key doctrinal teachings. They don't know how to defend their faith. They don't know why we believe what we believe.  

This will lead to kids growing up and walking away from the church and the faith.  This is a major issue that the church must address. Many curriculums are not strategic in what they teach.

That's why I created Connect12 curriculum. It is focused on the "must know truths" of the faith for kids.  It takes kids on a one-year discipleship journey that teaches them key doctrines and apologetics. You can get more information about Connect12 curriculum at this link.  I also created a 30 day discipleship tool that you can use to equip children for their walk with Jesus. You can get more information here at this link.

Bible reading on apps and online

21% of adults use an app or online source for their Bible reading and research.  With Gen Alpha and Gen Beta, this will continue to increase as they grow up. Visit your average children's worship service and you will most often see kids reading Bible verses on a screen.  Very few bring a hard copy of the Bible with them to church.

I prefer to read books that I can hold in my hand. But for coming generations, more and more are using digital Bibles. Phones. Tablets. Laptops.  I think this will continue to be the case and will continue to increase with the coming generations.

Multi-Site Children's Ministries

Multi-site church models continue to be common and successful.  Where there are multi-site churches there are multi-site children's ministries.  Children's ministries that experience significant growth in the coming years will most likely be in a multi-church setting.  Look at the top 20 fastest growing children's ministries in the nation and you will see that the vast majority are multi-site.

Those are the 7 trends I see emerging.  What about you? What are some other trends you see?  Share with us in the comment section below.