We have a HUGE surprise for our kids in OneLife Kidz this Sunday! I am so excited about it, and it got me thinking about WHY kids’ ministry makes me so excited and why we STRONGLY encourage parents to take advantage of OneLife Kidz each week rather than taking their kids in the auditorium with them.

Believe it or not, there are some churches that don’t allow children in their services. One of our sister churches calls it a “Pro-Kids Policy” rather than a “No Kids Policy” because they believe it is what’s best for their kiddos. We’ve stopped just short of that because we believe it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility to do what they think is best for their children. But we do strongly encourage parents of children 6 weeks to 5th grade to take advantage of the huge investment of time, finances, and human resources we are making in OneLife Kidz for their children.

So here are a few reasons why – as your pastor – I encourage you to have your kids checked into OneLife Kidz each week…

1. Relevance – Our Kidz team works very hard in all of the age groups to teach kids about Jesus on their level. It’s not very relevant for a 3-year old to learn how God wants them to share Jesus at work or for a 9-year old to learn how to honor God in his marriage. But on the flip side, I love it that even my 15-month old comes home each week from OneLife Kidz with something that shows me she is already learning about her Creator. That happens in all of the age groups. Whether it’s a 4 year old or a 4th grader, we believe your child needs to be learning about Jesus on their level, not learning how to apply it as an adult.

2. Learning Community – OneLife Kidz is based on a small groups approach, where kids are put in groups of other children their age rather than one large room with kids of most all ages. We want your child to be worshipping and learning about Jesus with other children just like them, at the same stage of life as them. There is power in numbers, and when your child misses this opportunity they don’t get to see that lots of other kids are learning about Jesus and sharing in their experiences, too. But when they do experience this it teaches them an important biblical principle for life, that God wants them to live a Christian life in relationship with others.

3. Empower Families – We don’t want to just be a drop-off zone for kids. We want to be a part of their spiritual growth, with parents being the BIGGEST part! So each week we send home with each child some resources to help parents take some next-steps with their children spiritually. These take-home sheets allow parents to learn verses and biblical principles with their kids at home. Our Kidz Small Group Leaders also develop relationships with parents to help them through these important years of growth. Finally, we are in the process of developing some new opportunities for parents and kids to learn and worship together!

4. Eliminate Distractions – When children attend a service that is designed for adults, there are inevitably distractions. Parents are distracted, worrying about their kids misbehaving. Others around are distracted when kids inevitably act like kids. Even a sleeping baby is distracting as everyone around watches the baby rather than engaging in worship (or when parents start bouncing the baby, blowing in their face, and cooing – during prayer! Trust me, it happens!). Even more distracting in the past few weeks we’ve had everything from criers, to bathroom runs, to toys and sippy-cups being dropped and rolling down the aisles. When this happens, it distracts dozens of people and potentially distracts someone from the message that God may have for them that day.

For all of these reasons, we strongly encourage parents to take advantage of OneLife Kidz. We believe it is what God wants to use to reach your children for Jesus while also helping us create an atmosphere for adults that will lead many to find Him there, too.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there’s a HUGE surprise for them this week, too?!

Find out more about OneLife Kidz here!

Truett Cathy, founder of the Christian Chicken (aka Chic-fil-a) once said “Focus on getting better before getting bigger. If we get better, our customers will force us to get bigger.” In a sense, that’s where we are as a church right now. We are looking hard at what needs to get “better” for us to truly reach more people instead of just trying to get bigger.

One area that we are focusing on is OneLife Kidz. We have an incredible group of volunteers that is growing weekly. So now we are trying to improve our processes and systems as church leadership to give them everything they need to be successful. Since January we’ve made some great improvements. Elementary areas were re-branded, pre-school rooms were moved around, curriculum was secured for toddlers, and leaders have been put in place.

Now we’re making even more improvements. The biggest one parents will notice this weekend is computerized check-in. We’ve been slow to move to this simply because of the cost, but now we have so many kids coming we need it to get them all checked-in quickly! So we’ve made the investment and as a parent, I know parents will really appreciate the improvements.

Here’s what you’ll notice:

• Check-in will be much faster! A volunteer will type your name in a computer and bam…a name tag for your child, diaper bag (if needed), and security tag/receipt for the parent will all be instantly printed!
• This “receipt”, which is required to pick up your child for security reasons, will include a uniquely generated ID number each week so if parents are needed, that ID number will be shown on the screen in the auditorium.
• The child’s tag will now display any allergies or special notes, letting our volunteers know easily what special considerations need to be made.
• Parents will be asked to no longer enter the child’s room. We have so many kids it gets too crowded! For example, some services will have as many as 10 toddlers or pre-schoolers in each room. When all the kids combine with parents and volunteers, it makes for a hectic time and one that isn’t the safest or cleanest for the kiddos. So now parents will be asked to stop at the door and their child will enter from that point.

Another big change that is CLOSE to happening is what we will call “Round 2.” This is a room for kids whose parents volunteer one service and attend another service. Instead of being in the same class both hours, we will have a special room just for fun for those kids who are there both services.

I am PUMPED about the changes being made for our kids! If you want to be on the front lines of helping us make it happen while making a huge difference in the lives of our kiddos, email volunteer@onelifeknox.com today!!!

Parents, check out what the new check-in tags and security tags will look like: