This time of social distancing provides your church with an ideal opportunity to invest some time in focused training of children’s ministry and student ministry volunteers. Recently, The Gospel Coalition made available a seven-session curriculum that I developed to train volunteers in children’s ministry and student ministry. The curriculum includes videos from me as well as discussion questions and recommended readings.
Several churches have already used this curriculum to train staff and volunteers. In many cases, what church leaders have chosen to do is to have participants watch one video each week and prepare to discuss the questions. Then, the staff and volunteers have a weekly Zoom call to discuss the content and to explore the discussion questions.
Here’s an outline of the topics that I cover in the curriculum:
- What is a Disciple?
- What is Discipleship?
- Discipleship in Union with Christ
- The Church and the Spiritual Disciplines in Discipleship
- Two Essential Dynamics in Discipleship and Family Ministry
- Family-Equipping Ministry in the Local Church
- Four Models for Family Ministry
The entirety of this family ministry curriculum is grounded in my conviction that children’s ministry and student ministry are, at their best, discipleship ministries that partner with families instead of competing with families. If that vision for family ministry appeals to you, click here to explore the curriculum for yourself: Discipleship and Family Ministry Curriculum.
