The café was bright and airy. I was new to children’s ministry, and a fellow director from another local church had agreed to meet me. Pencil and coffee in hand, I beamed at the woman across the table, waiting for her to bestow groundbreaking wisdom and encouragement.
“Look,” she sighed. “Children’s ministry can be awful. The kids are crazy. The parents are rude. The volunteers are flaky. Sometimes, it just really stinks….”
Our meeting was short. Although she believed in the importance of the work, she shared that she often felt overwhelmed. She told me it was hard, so hard. And then she left me to stir my lukewarm coffee in a puzzled silence.
Since our meeting, I’ve come to understand this woman’s frustrations personally. Being a children’s ministry director is hard. People chafe against change—any change. People don’t want to volunteer. Parents often have a consumer mentality. Kids don’t seem to care about the lesson, or the gospel never seems to break through to their tiny little hearts.
There’s the crunch of VBS and its hot summer days. There are endless rounds of scheduling, curriculum curation, and training. Sunday volunteers drop out on Sunday mornings. They forget to tell you when they go on vacation. They forget to find a sub. Your Saturday date nights are spent typing off a dozen desperate pleas for help. When those fail, there are the back-to-back-to-back-to-back weeks of covering for volunteers, which force you to miss out on fellowship with your church family and a chance sit under the Word. No wonder so many children’s ministry directors confess they feel unseen in their work—more than half of all directors, according to a 2022 Barna report.
But dear weary children’s minister: our God sees you.
Encouragement from the Prophets
Long ago, Elijah was weary, too. He’d just braved a hostile king, defeated a false god, and converted a godless nation. From a ministry perspective, he was a huge success. The programs were working. The message was received.
Then the tides turned. People complained and threatened his life, so he fled to the wilderness. Like many of us, Elijah was out of energy, out of answers, and out of hope. By a drooping juniper tree, he asked God to put him out of his misery. An angel visited him, gave him a meal, and then led him to a cave. There, the Lord visited.
God did not come to rail at Elijah. He did not come to tear him down. He did not come to tell him, “Buck it up, because ministry is hard and sheep bite.” Instead, our God came gently. He reminded Elijah that ministry was not accomplished by human strength, but by the Lord’s power. (1 Kings 18-19). The message of Elijah is that the same power of our Lord sustains your ministry, too.
The New Testament points Christians to the prophets’ experiences, like Elijah’s, for encouragement. “Rejoice and be glad,” Jesus commanded. “For your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:12).
The Gospel for Children’s Ministry Leaders
The Lord’s compassion and mercy to weary children’s ministers (indeed, to all Christians) is seen on the cross. He sent his Son to die for us, to bear the full weight of our sin and shame. But the grave could not hold him: he rose again, defeating death forever. In him, we too are made new, sealed and empowered by the Holy Spirit for “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). In the cross, we have the perfect example of sacrificial ministry. Through salvation, we have an assurance to persevere in the good works of ministering.
Still, we live in a fallen world. Ministry is hard. God sees our frustration and hears our cries. He is gentle with us too, inviting us to bring all our burdens to him and find rest for our souls (Matt. 11:27-30). And he is powerful, reminding that his “grace is sufficient for you, his power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
How can we walk in the good works God prepared for us and remind ourselves of these truths when ministry feels overwhelming? Here are three reminders:
1. God Calls You—And Your Volunteers—To The Work
If you serve as a children’s minister, it is not an accident. Our Heavenly Father, who knows all our days before one of them comes to pass (Ps. 139), ordained this for you. It may not be forever, but it is for today. Lean into him, his goodness, his plan. Trust that “he who called you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
Trust also that he has brought the workers for the harvest, that he controls your volunteer pool. Do not let yourself gossip or complain about them, spiraling in your head. When they frustrate you, pray for them. When they email, pray for them. And when they step up, thank them—privately and publicly.
2. Play The Long Game
At a recent community group gathering, I had a moment of realization when a friend commented on how old she was when our pastor was born. It struck me that we never know who the baby wailing in our arms will grow into.
The Lord could use the tedious, day-in and day-out faithfulness of your children’s team to raise up the next generation of pastors and teachers. Where would you be if not for the adults who poured into you as a child? Thank the Lord for the opportunity to return the favor. While he tarries, we labor in light of eternity. While he tarries, we work faithfully, praying that he would call more people to himself through our ministries and the lives of the children within them. He will not tarry forever.
3 – The Message Matters
We serve because Christ first served us, dying on a cross to take the punishment for our sins and raising to life that we may live eternally with him. In Psalm 78, David foreshadows this glorious message and notes that “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done (Ps. 78:3-4).”
What wondrous works has he done? For every Christian, past present and future, he has made us new. He has replaced our stained rags of sin and shame with perfect robes of righteousness. In Christ, he has given us access to the throne room, to eternal life. By the Spirit, he leads and guides us into all truth. We never have to fear. We never have to doubt. He has loved us with a great love, and because of Christ, nothing can separate us now. That is a message we’re commanded to share, that is a message we’re delighted to share.
So, when the spit-up dries on your favorite shirt and the volunteers cancel and the budget is cut and the schemes of the Enemy come against you, take heart: the battle is won. So, go and make disciples of all nations—and all ages—knowing that he is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20).
The 2025 Rooted Conference includes several workshops for children’s and family ministry. We hope you’ll make plans to join us for gospel-centered training and encouragement.
