Here are some bad habits that I’ve noticed over the years in kidmin:
- Offending attention spans
- The general rule of thumb is 1 minute per age of child. Anything longer than that and kids can shut us off. The mind can only process what the rear can endure.
- Not being prepared to teach
- When we aren’t ready to share the message because we didn’t prepare, it shows in our confidence and delivery.
- No teaching on the correct level
- If your presentation of the gospel is on a level that is too shallow or too deep for the kids they won’t receive it. You can’t give a baby a steak and you wouldn’t feed a teenage baby food. Know the level and tailor the message to your audience.
- Saying things we shouldn’t say
- Shoot, crap, dang, darn, God’s name in vain, heck, sexy, sexy, inappropriate stories, etc, Yes, I’ve heard all those things in kids over the years.
- Trying to do it alone
- Some of the biggest issues I’ve had over the years came from trying to do it all by myself. Sure no one can do it like me but unless I want to do it that way by myself forever I have to let someone else help. Plus, I couldn’t always do it that way anyhow.
- Recruiting the wrong way
- Emotional pleas don’t usually work. Getting in the pulpit and begging never works. Your pastor shouldn’t have to do all the recruiting for you. There is no shortcut to recruiting volunteers. A friend said it this way: “recruiting is like doing the laundry; no one likes doing it and you’re never outgrow doing it”. It takes personal invites and work to make recruiting work.
I’m sure I’ve made many more mistakes and errors than these. How about you?