I once heard someone say that mastering any art, sport, or profession truly only takes the mastering of 4-7 skills. He called it the “rule of a half dozen”. He hypothesized that to be a master you only needed to find and conquer the 6 skill sets involved in doing it. Basketball was used as an example. To be a professional basketball player you need to be able to dribble, pass, shoot, play defense, and rebound. Not every player masters each one but the are somewhat proficient in each and the good ones excel in at least one of the areas.
It got me thinking about the “Kidmin Half Dozen”. What skills do I need to be a good professional kidmin?
Relationship with God is obvious. You can’t give out what you don’t have. Good theology is pretty important too.
You have to be able to effectively deal with five groups of people : those who lead you, your peers, parents, volunteers, and kids. Notice that kids come last. I can’t minister to kids without all the rest.
You can’t lead anyone else until you lead you. No one wants to follow an unorganized, unmotivated, un-passionate leader.
You have to be able to recruit, equip and train other leaders if you want to be around in kidmin for long. If you do it alone you won’t do it long and you won’t leave fruit that remains.
You need creative ideas to share the Word effectively with kids. Writing, thinking, and communicating (see below) creatively unlock the hearts and minds of children. The good news is you are created in God’s image and He is a creator.
If you can’t effectively hold a child’s attention they won’t hear anything you say. I think everyone ought to take a good public speaking course. You need to be able to communicate vision, instructions, expectations, and changes to the people groups listed above.
What would you add?