Grow Blog
CDM’s Children’s Ministry with Purpose Grow Blog connects you with people and resources to disciple the children in your church. Read as we write about children’s ministry opportunities and challenges, connecting with leadership, how to cast vision, and many more important topics.
Save the Date for Lead Retreat
Save the Date for LEAD Retreat— At CDM, we love connecting people to people and people to resources. My favorite time to do this is at our annual children’s ministry retreat. One quote that was shared with a children’s ministry team member after this year’s retreat was, “It’s the one place I can come, and I don’t have to explain myself.” I’m so thankful for [...]
Creative Ways to Teach the Apostles Creed
Creative Ways to Teach the Apostles Creed— The Apostles’ Creed is a great tool to teach children about God, what we know to be true about him and the promises he makes to his people. The structure in which the Creed is written–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–also provides a helpful framework for children to understand the Trinity. But teaching the creed sounds challenging, right? The language [...]
Don’t Neglect the Catechizing of your Covenant Children
Don’t Neglect the Catechizing of Your Covenant Children— Teaching by use of a catechism has fallen on hard times in the church today. I have known conservative evangelical Christians who think learning the catechism is a thing only the Roman Catholic Church does. Even many Presbyterians only contemplate catechism as a series of questions and answers in a little booklet that children memorize. To a whole swath [...]
Honest Grief and Hopeful Joy
Honest Grief and Hopeful Joy— It’s been one week since the tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville. The grief is still fresh, and we all feel deeply for each family impacted. Worship felt a little sweeter yesterday, and Holy Week will have special meaning as we remember the six lives taken too early. We are all praying for Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville as they confidently draw [...]
The Importance of Summer Ministry
The Importance of Summer Ministry— If you’ve yet to watch my short 3-minute video on the importance of summer ministry, click here to watch it and get a quick overview of what I’d like to share with you here. First, in the midst of our very busy schedules, why in the world should we do summer ministry? Isn’t summer a time to recoup from the past [...]
The 4 E’s of Why You Should Train Your Volunteers
The Four E's of Why You Should Train Your Volunteers— When I talk to children’s ministry leaders around the country about volunteer recruitment, I always say one of the best ways to recruit and keep volunteers is to train them! There are many reasons why training volunteers can be challenging: it is hard to gather people together; it’s expensive; the church calendar gets filled up with other [...]
Welcoming New Families to Church
Welcoming New Families to Church— I once visited a church where my husband was speaking. We arrived early, and I sat on a pew on the right side. When people came in, everyone sat on the left side. I was the only person on the right side the whole evening. A student whispered, “Who’s that person sitting on the right side?” My husband responded, “That’s my [...]
Home and Church Resources for Easter
Home and Church Resources for Easter— Holidays are one of the best times for us to connect home and church as we partner in the discipleship of children. Easter is coming quickly as evidenced by the amount of candy, baskets, bunnies, and eggs we see in stores! Our families aren’t going to find good resources there to teach their children about why we celebrate Easter. As [...]