A great children’s ministry team is not just of volunteers who are willing to teach or work at children’s ministry events. A great children’s ministry team will help you plan, develop, and execute a great children’s ministry. Here’s 10 ideas for developing your team.

1. Give the team opportunities for imput. Some children’s pastors don’t use their best resources, their team, because they feel they need to do all the planning themselves. Give your team a chance to provide imput, and you may be pleasantly surprised at what happens.

2. Develop Friendships. Create opportunities for team members to develop friendships through events that have nothing to do with children’s ministry. Have a picnic, go to a movie, go bowling, or order pizza and have a game night at your house. Also have one on one time with members of your team. Go to lunch with them and find out what they need prayer about and where they see the children’s ministry going.

3. Don’t Micro-Manage. If you place a team member over an area, make clear expectations of what you expect the team member to do and check periodically to make sure the team member is on task and doesn’t need assistance. But don’t take the job back, and don’t expect the team member to do everything your way. Release it to your team. Don’t micro-manage. If you do, your team members will back off and let you do the job.

4. Use Creative Planning Sessions. Spend time during meetings or social events to do creative planning with your team. During these planning sessions, make it clear this isn’t the time to decide which ideas you’re going to implement. This is the time to throw out ideas you would do if you had unlimited resources and man power. Also during these sessions, no idea is a bad one.

5. Staff Your Weaknesses. We all have areas we’re not good at. Some are more creative than others, some more musical, some more organized and detailed. Your children’s ministry will thrive if you learn to staff the areas you’re not good at and listen to the people who are good in those areas.

6. Cast the Vision. As the leader of children’s ministry, it’s your job to cast the vision God has given you for the future of the children’s ministry and communicate it to your team. Once your team knows the vision, they can run with it.

7. Spend Time Praying With Your Team. Pray develops bonds with your team that nothing else can. Spend time praying with your team about issues in their lives and about the children’s ministry.

8. Give Your Team Resources For Growth. Give your team opportunities to grow by providing books, workshops, and conferences. You might even want to study a book together as a team.

9. Be Vulnerable and Accountable. As a leader, you need prayer support and accountability. If you share your concerns with members of your team, they’ll be able to pray with you and hold you accountable in the areas you need help. A bit of caution here. Get to know your team before sharing too much. Unfortunately there are people in the church who use vulnerabilities of leaders to come against them. Use wisdom here.

10. Pray For the Right Team. Pray for God to lead you to the people He wants on your team. He may surprise you with choices you never expected.