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Children’s Church Teachers Training

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Children's Church Teachers TrainingChildren’s Church is what we often call the program for kids during the adult worship service.

Varying opinions exist for whether churches should have a separate program for children or be included in the corporate worship service.

If you do have children’s church program, what should be the cut off age? Should you have it for the entire service or only for the sermon? And, what should happen in children’s church? These are great questions we should all think and pray about rather than just doing something out of convenience or tradition. The answers to these questions could be unique to your particular setting. What does God want you to do?

Because this blog is about teacher training, we will not even attempt to discuss these questions but rather assume you are reading this post because you have a children’s church program and want to train your teachers. Many of the topics and issues related to Bible teaching apply to children’s church teachers but there are a few ways you can specifically help teachers in this kind of setting.

1) Make sure children’s church teachers know the purpose of your particular program.

Some use Children’s Church as an extension of Sunday School, carrying through with the same theme. Others make it an entity to itself. And still others use it as a training ground for preparing children to join the corporate worship service … teaching them what worship is, how to lead worship, etc.

So, the first thing to do is to narrow down the purpose of your Children’s Church and make sure your teachers understand it along with what that might mean for the way they teach.

If more of an extension of Sunday School, then some of what was written in a previous post about Sunday School Teachers Training should apply. But keep in mind that you will possibly have children who come to Children’s Church who were not in Sunday School. Make sure teachers are aware of this possibility and know how to provide some kind of recap for those who weren’t in Sunday School without boring those who were there. The curriculum you use might have this built into it in which case teachers should be helped to understand its importance so they do not skip over it.

If more of an entity to itself, teachers will not have these kinds of concerns for students who were not in Sunday School. The lessons can stand alone without prior knowledge being necessary. Teachers still need to know how to make visitors and those not in Sunday School feel welcomed and a part of the group already together for an hour or so.

If more of a training ground for joining the corporate worship service, the teacher’s role will be quite different from that of a Sunday School teacher. To be most effective, the teacher will work with individual children as mentors and guides so they understand their parts. Help teachers know how to be a good trainer.

2) Help children’s church teachers know what to expect when teaching in this kind of setting.

They could possibly have more visitors in attendance, sometimes children who are not accustomed to “church life.” Consequently they could face certain discipline situations, especially if they do not take time to make these children feel welcomed and instruct them on how to be a part.

They could possibly be expected to teach a broader range of ages than what is typically found in a graded Sunday School program. That can bring some challenges for them to know how to keep older children from boredom but yet not be over the heads of the younger ones.

They could possibly be using a curriculum that moves children from large group instruction / worship to small groups. Small groups can be more intimate and relational. Help teachers know how to make the transitions from one grouping to the next as well as how to best utilize these different group sizes.

3) Help children’s church teachers be prepared.

Some churches will have children’s church for the length of the entire adult worship service whereas others will dismiss children only during the sermon. Teachers need to be prepared for the amount of time children’s church will generally last. Yet, there will be times, more in some churches than others, that their time is shortened or lengthened. Children’s church can be a setting where teachers do not have control over the time element. Teachers will need to be prepared for the possibility of a longer session. And, they should learn how to cut the session without losing flow or important connections. They need to know how to extend or shorten the lesson in the moment.

Help teachers understand the challenges of teaching in this setting and you will tend to have less frustrated teachers.

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12 Replies to “Children’s Church Teachers Training”

  1. I love your site. I am making ready for a conference/training workshop for the incoming Children Ministry workers for Children’s Worship. This has given me the extra confidence and boldness I need as I continue to walk in the gift the Lord has blessed me. THANKS!!!!!!

    • You are most welcome, Jackye. I am confident that as you look to the Lord for wisdom and strength to use the gift He has given you, He will indeed use you to equip these children workers.

  2. wonderful guidelines. l can now teach my children’s teachers with all the confident. thanks for the knowledge. God bless you guys. pastor Margaret

    • How good that you desire further training, Emmanuel. We do not provide actual courses but rather what can be freely read on the site. May God use this be of benefit to you.

  3. I want to know more about being an efficient children teacher. I just joined but I feel like I am not getting it all. I would love to see this children start early in knowing God and I would love to be a part of it. Please I need help. How do I go about this?

    • Hello, Nneka Omede. How good that you see the need to learn more about teaching children. Yes indeed, even infants and toddlers can learn. We can lay a good foundation for them. Let me suggest you start by learning what you can about their age level characteristics. You’ll find several pages that point to help with the various ages. Since I don’t know what age you would be teaching, I’ll give you links to the broad age groupings. On those pages, you’ll find links that break those broad groups down so you can get even more specific.
      Early Childhood
      Grade School Age

  4. I am a leader in the children/teens unit in my local church, and I was searching for the words to welcome the teachers for a proposed teacher’s training. Thank you and God bless you

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