Children's Ministries

Striving to be the Best Part of a Child's Week

When we think of children’s ministries, we often think of things like Sunday school, nursery, Vacation Bible School and cookies — lots and lots of cookies. However, true ministry to children goes way beyond programs and cookies. Our goal as a ministry is to partner with parents in the discipleship of children. In reality, our purpose is really the same purpose as that of the overall Church — we desire to glorify God by seeking to present every person (including children) complete in Christ.

The struggle in accomplishing our purpose is that we, as a church, often view children as consumers and recipients rather than participants in the overall mission and purpose of the Church. Like any believer, these children must genuinely explore and grow in their faith by becoming active participants in what it means to serve, to worship, to be good stewards, to reach out to friends, to grow in Christ-like character, etc. In other words, we are seeking to develop well-rounded disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Church must create avenues to foster this growth. Faith maturation does come through programs such as Sunday school, where children are taught what the Bible says about God, about faith, and about the meaning of life. Nonetheless, it also comes through things like Wednesday Night Live where children explore other aspects of the Christian walk: learning to be a girl of faith in our Girl’s Club; hearing speakers and processing God’s Word in AWANA; and, exploring dramatic talents in Anomolie Children’s Theater, etc.

As the Church body, we can help a child further this growth by empowering and encouraging him/her to participate in the overall life of the Church. Inviting children to participate in our worship service, as will happen on Mother’s Day, championing them to reach out to their friends, as happened with our outreach challenge last November and December, and encouraging them to invest their own resources in God’s Kingdom, as they did during the Purpose Campaign, are ways that we can invite children to grow into wholeness together with us.

This aspect of our ministry will continue to develop as we pursue helping children grow in their passion for Jesus Christ and His Church. Think of it this way — we can treat children as consumers today and then work doubly hard later to convince them as adults to participate in God’s Kingdom, or we can lay a foundation today that fosters a passionate pursuit of Christ-likeness which will keep on going and growing throughout adulthood.

Q&A

How many children (birth to 5th grade) call LBC their church home?
Around 1200

By what age do most people
have their basic beliefs in truth, integrity, justice, morality and ethics established?
Age 9

How many adults and youth serve in some capacity in children’s ministries?
Over 450

How many days out of the week are there children’s ministries activities at the church?
6

What percentage of people make their decision to follow Jesus Christ by the age of 18?
64% Why do we, at times, have waiting lists to enroll children in some of our childcare opportunities?
Because we don’t have an adequate number of people serving in those areas to provide the needed supervision