Looking For Children's Pastors
As I talked about in my last post part of my new re-invention of myself is working with a search firm that helps churches and faith based non-profits find qualified and fitting staff people. As part of that I've been tracking the web listings of churches looking for Children's Pastors, etc. There are a lot of them, over 50 of them are churches with an attendance of over 1000. I keep asking myself: Are there really that many qualified people to go around? And, if not, what does that say about the state of Children's Ministry in our churches and how we do soul care for our children? This also begs the question of why so many churches are looking and why it takes many so long to find someone who is qualified and a fit. I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this.
6 Comments:
A friend of mine modelled pastoring in a rare but beautiful form. He began working with children in a (so called) parachurch organization. He bonded with the youth so much, however, that as they moved into the "teen ministry", so did he. Likewise, when they were too old for the "youth group", he quit the organization and became a pastor to these now-young adults.
I wonder what it would be like it our leaders would progress with the children through the years? I know it doesn't work in all instances (as people are simply gifted with younger children), but I think there is potential in this approach to "pastoring".
Just a thought.
Really interesting! Especially because parenting is like that - progressive.
I heard another pastor say recently that children's ministers were hard to find... administrative skills become more important when you hit 3-4 digits...
Your question, what does the state of Children's Ministry say about how we shepherd children is a really interesting question. I keep becoming more and more convinced that soul care for families and families as elements of the larger community are somewhere at the heart of soul care for children. How did communities thrive for centuries? I'm guessing that people got a lot of their soul care from family and from one another.
Does it matter that the definition of "family" is changing? People still seem hungry for community. It may take different forms but I don't think the definition of "community" has changed to the degree that "family" has. Just a thought.
Keep up the good work
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That's a fabulous picture... pastors – no, really, shepherds – traveling with their flock as they get older.
In the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, they've developed the habit of teachers following the same group of children through early childhood. The same teacher a child has as an infant could very well be the same teacher that she has when she's five and six. It's fascinating to think about, and many progressive-thinking American educators are now trying to do the same thing. Personally, that's something I never understood – especially in child care centers (where I've worked), why keep bouncing kids around every year to new classrooms and new teachers? Do we really need to move children between a "moving toddler" classroom, and a 3's classroom, and a 4's classroom, and a Pre-K classroom... especially when it's so easy to mold the circumstances and environment around the child as he/she grows and ages?
It seems rather unnatural, it does.
Where did you find it? Interesting read »
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