I'm asked often about what kinds of resources are available for those who want to create a missional children's ministry rather than an attractional children's ministry - those who want to create a children's ministry more concerned with caring for children's souls and partnering with God in the coming of God's kingdom and loving God's world than with simply attracting more people with more and more programs and gimmicks. Several of these resources are listed on this website but I thought maybe a description of some of these would be helpful. And I'd be interested in hearing from you about resources you find helpful that I may not know about.

I'm not sure if these 2 books are still in print but if you can find copies of them I think you'll find them helpful: A Theology of Christian Education and A Theology of Children's Ministry by Lawrence O. Richards. Richards was really ahead of his time in much of his thinking which is why I think he was dimissed as "pie in the sky" when I was in seminary. But he does a good job of explaining spiritual formation processes, the differences between formal, informal, and non-formal education paradigms, and the role of community and family in the spiritual formation of children. Two other resources I recommend highly are Offering the Gospel to Children by Gretchen Wolfe Pritchard and John Westerhoff's classic, Will Our Children Have Faith? The Gretchen Wolfe Pritchard book tackles the role of community, families, worship and curriculum in the spiritual formation of children. And while she comes from a liturgical church background I think many of her ideas and thoughts are applicable to any kind of church serious about growing children who love God and follow Jesus. In Will Our Children Have Faith? Westerhoff deals primarily with the role of the intergenerational church community in the spiritual formation of children and with the ways in which how a church tells God's story and its own story impact the soul care of its children.

Hope this is helpful to you and, again, let me know of resources you find helpful.

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.

Hi, everyone-
I'm so sorry that I've been so negligent in keeping this blog up. I've decided that's going to change. I've been inspired by all my friends who blog. But I have appreciated hearing from all of you who have posted on this site. It's been fun to correspond with you and hear what you are thinking and saying about Children's ministry.

Let me tell you what I've been up to the last few months. I left my job at Colonial Church at the end of Dcember, 2004. And after spending about a month in Florida (why stay where it's cold if I don't have to??)I stuck my fingers into a few different pies. A lot of travel and speaking kept me busy through the latter part of the winter and the spring. In February I traveled to the Emergent Convention in San Diego where I led a Children's Ministry forum (and watched my books sell at the Zondervan store), then it was off to Kansas City for Children's Pastor's Conference and then to Seattle for a few days on Bainbridge Island with friends and, then, board meetings for Mars Hill Graduate School. From Seattle I headed to NYC for a speaking opportunities on Postmodern Children's Ministry at Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn and at Walnut Creek Community Church in Connecticut. In March I spoke, again, at CPC in Atlanta and May brought the Nashville Emergent convention where I led a forum, a book club, and a seminar on Postmodern Children's Ministry.
Something all this speaking has shown me is the hunger that exists out there for a new way of thinking about Children's Ministry and the spiritual formation of children. I continue to be amazed at the comments and questions I get from people who have read the book.

And in the midst of all of this I've incorporated my own business, Soul Shepherds, Inc. The primary plan for this business is to assist churches who are searching for Children's Pastors and other Christian Education professionals. From my calculations there are at least 50 churches in the US of over 1000 in attendance who are looking for Children's Ministry professionals. I offer services ranging from helping the search committee organize and profile the candidate and the position and screening resumes to full scale searches where the church simply turns the search over to me and I provide them with 3 or 4 qualified candidates. The other piece of the business is writing, speaking, and consulting. As a Children's ministry consultant I offer program evaluation, coaching for Children's Ministry leaders, and consulting around issues of the spiritual formation of children. If you are interested in finding out more about any of these services you can e-mail me through this website, or at ivy@vtlsearch.com.

Hope your summer is going well. And I do intend to post more pieces talking about children, spiritual formation, and emerging church issues. Thanks for your patience.