Making Your Children's Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid's Week

Sue Miller is executive director of Promiseland and oversees Willow Creek’s children’s ministry. Sue has also equipped thousands of other ministries to do the same.David Staal serves as the president of Kids Hope USA, a national non-profit organization that partners local churches with elementary schools to provide mentors for at-risk students. Prior to this assignment, David led Promiseland, the children’s ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois. Other leadership roles he held at Willow Creek include director of communications and director of children's ministry for the Willow Creek Association. David authored Word Kids Need to Hear (2008), Leading Your Child to Jesus and Leading Kids to Jesus (2006), and Making Your Children’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid’s Week (2004, co-authored with Sue Miller). David also serves as the senior editor of Today’s Children’s Ministry, an electronic publication and web site from Christianity Today International. He lives in Grand Haven, MI, with his wife Becky, son Scott, and daughter Erin.

• CONTENTSForeword by Bi l l Hy b e l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Foreword by George Barna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151. THE GREAT KID-VENTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Journey to Build a Dynamic Children’s Ministry2. IMAGINE THE BEST HOUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 A Compelling Vision Makes All the Difference3. YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Benefits of a Clear Starting Point4. THE BIG SIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Core Ministry Values to Reach Today’s Kids5. LARGE GROUP, SMALL GROUPS, BIG PEOPLE . . . . . . 85 So What Does Sunday Morning Look Like?6. SHARING THE DREAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Get Wild about Volunteer Recruiting7. LESSONS LEARNED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 How to Treat Volunteers8. FIT FOR THE ADVENTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Thriving in Ministry---Not Just Surviving in Ministry9. SUNDAY MORNING HEROES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Real People Making Real DifferencesA Final Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Personal Exercises and Team Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Appendix A: Mission Statements Based on the Great Commission; Indicators of Spiritual Maturity---The Five Gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181Appendix B: The Ten Core Values of Willow Creek Community Church;Six Core Ministry Values . . . 183Appendix C: A Typical Hour in Promiseland; Spiritual Gifts . . . 187Appendix D: Promiseland Curriculum . 191Notes . . . 193Acknowledgments . . . 197