Discipling is a key factor in a thriving children’s ministry. Unfortunately it’s one that’s not done effectively by many. Discipleship is more than teaching or training. Discipleship invites the person being discipled to come along and learn from the discipler while doing ministry. Here are some people you need to develop a discipleship program for.

Children: Children need to be discipled. But in most ministries children are only taught and not discipled. Jesus discipled by spending time with His disciples, using teachable moments, and allowing His disciples to minister with Him. Most children’s pastors do well with the teaching, some spend time with children, but how many spend time ministering with children? Children should be a part of every aspect of ministry. They should be mentoring and learning alongside the adult mentors in their lives. This link  has an article to help you disciple the students in your ministry.

Workers: Workers need training, but the best workers don’t come out of a training program. The best children’s ministry workers are those who have been mentored and discipled by someone. They are the ones that have benefitted from working alongside their mentors, from spending time with their mentors, and from having the a accountability that goes along with a relationship. Are you mentoring your workers or just training them.

Parents: Parents are the most important mentors of their children, yet many don’t understand how to mentor their children. We as children’s pastors should put the resources in their hands to help them mentor and disciple their children.