How to run a successful Kids Club
By Janene Lewers, Children's Ministry, Youthworks Training
A successful kids' club in Sydney's south
Several years ago as a worker for Kidzlink, my job was to help churches think through how to start up Kids Plus groups. Over the years I assisted a number of churches to begin new kids' clubs. One group that I helped was at St George North Anglican Church in Sydney’s south.
The group started in 2006 with 12 children from the local public school at Carlton (the second largest public school in Sydney at the time). I recently visited Carlton, and the group had grown to 90 children from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Rev Phil Colgan, rector of St George North said two main factors contributed to the growth of the after school group:
1. A leader with the vision and passion to reach children in the area who don’t know Jesus,
2. A good relationship with the local school, which has had committed quality SRE teaching for many years.
The keys to growth
Jana Koulouris, a student at Youthworks College had a desire to connect the SRE ministry at Carlton Public School with her church, St George North. The school is located one block away from the church and Jana gathered a team of similarly committed people, and Kids Plus began in 2006. Here were some important steps in implementing the program:
- The Kids Plus group was advertised by Jana at SRE classes.
- The leaders got permission from parents to walk the children directly to the church as soon as school finished.
- The Kids Plus program ran once a week for 2 hours on a Wednesday afternoon (the same day as scripture, allowing for the opportunity to build on the relationships made during the class).
- The years 5 & 6 group was small, so they decided to separate them into their own program. This saw the numbers increase greatly, and endorsed the theory that this age group seeks to be independent of the younger children, desiring the opportunity to have fun and learn with their peers.
On my recent visit, I saw 80 children walk with the leaders from the school to the church, participate in the program of games, craft and Bible teaching, and then get collected by their parents 2 hours later.
Finding the leaders
Jana has worked hard at the training and recruiting of leaders for Kids Plus. The key has been targeting church members who have flexible work/study arrangements. She always had her eye on new and emerging leaders, and enlisted them for this growing ministry. This has meant, as their mission statement says, they have been "building members towards maturity as well as bringing people into God’s kingdom for God’s glory".
Kids Plus is well organised and professionally run with careful attention to safe ministry practice and quality. The leadership is well trained with a heart to reach children with the love of Jesus.
Involving the church & reaching the parents
This is a ministry that is owned by the whole church. The group is prayed for regularly within the church community. At about 4pm, a number of helpers arrive and start setting up tea and coffee for the parents, who come to pick up their children at 5pm. These helpers are there not just to serve drinks but also to provide a welcome to the parents and an opportunity to connect with them. Twice a year, the Kids Plus program has a Parents Plus afternoon/evening. This is a chance for the parents to see and hear what their children have been learning throughout the year and also for them to meet members of the St George North community. It is a good opportunity for Rector Phil Colgan to make contact with the parents and explain the gospel. A follow up Christianity Explained course is run after these events and a number of people have come to Christ and joined the church as a result.
Once a term a letter goes out to the parents to inform them of what the children are learning, which is another effective way of reaching families with the gospel and communicating to parents their partnership with them.
Starting more kids' clubs
Another Kids Plus group has started at nearby Bexley North Church this year and within the first few months has grown to 25 children using many of the principles that were learned through the group at Carlton. They will be praying that they have a similar impact in that community as the gospel goes out to children and families.
St George North Kids Plus has not only been a blessing to their own church but has also served as a model to other churches in their willingness for visitors from other churches to come and observe the program that they might learn from this model of outreach to the community