I remember being 9 or 10 and sitting in my Sunday School class in Houston. The teacher was talking about how they had just got a dog. She started talking about how cute it was and all kinds of stuff. I think she was just telling us a story. She didn't know that my dog had died that week. It may have been a few weeks later but recently my dog had died. I remember bawling like a baby. That Sunday School teacher, bless her heart, didn't know what happened. I do remember her staying after class and talking to me and praying with me about my dog. It meant more than she will probably ever know. That couple were awesome Sunday School teachers and I am still a fan of theirs. They did small groups for kids the way they should be done.
As a kid, you don't realize you are going to small groups. Really, I don't think many adults realize it either. We attended Sunday school. We showed up for Royal Rangers. They were just things that we did. We had a few boys in our class. Every once and a while we would go on a campout or have a field trip. We did sword drills (races to see who could find scripture the fastest). We quoted memory verses for candy. We heard Bible stories. We found stuff on the maps in the back of our Bibles. We looked in the concordance for different scriptures. We asked questions. We prayed for each other. Small groups taught us what it means to be a church family. Our small groups should be a lot like that still.
We have two different kinds of small groups at our church, Sunday School and Clubs. I know these are traditional. Many churches won't do them because they are "traditional". I know that if they are done right they can be effective. You don't think so, come visit. Each small group has a different purpose in our ministry. Sunday school is a just that discipleship for kids. Royal Rangers and Mpact Girls are mentoring/ gender specific ministry for our children. They both are needed to have a balanced kid's ministry. These are the ministries that are for our kids. They are the ministries where kids are able to go beyond basic stuff. They are able to ask questions and do hands on stuff. It isn't kid's church where that is designed for visitors.
Sunday School classes are designed to be age appropriate. If it is a preschooler it should be hands on stuff. They learn from playing with stuff and short lessons. If it is an older kid it should be discussion and reading. They are emergent readers in older elementary. Kids should be challenged to get into their Bibles and find stuff. This is why we do JBQ and Bible Study classes during this same time. We want our kids to know certain things when they go to Student Ministry. This is only possible through a small group discipleship.
Royal Rangers and Mpact Girls ministries are for mentoring kids. Everyone needs someone of the same gender to look up to. I can think of different Rangers Leaders/ Commanders that I worked with as a kid they were big influences on me growing up. I know the commanders I have now are the same to my church kids today. They teach things about being young men of God and our ladies share about being young women of God. No where else can guys be guys in a class. It is important for each gender to have this. I have said and will continue to say, "Badges don't matter, mentoring boys and girls that is why we do this." It amazes to see kids come in excited about these classes. It isn't about camping or crowning. It is about the leaders we have connecting with our kids.
I know many feel these programs are dated or you may not see have the logistics to do them. I can tell you this, if you are going to be effective as an entire children's ministry then you will have small groups that have both of these functions. Our leaders and parents have bought into these programs and that is why they are successful. We still have about 70% of our Sunday morning kids attend Sunday school. We also have larger attendance on Wednesday for our Clubs than we do for both services on Sunday.
I have to evaluate these ministries differently than Kid's Church. Sunday School, I want to keep the attendance a high percentage of my Kid's Church kids. I want to see kids excited about learning scripture in these classes. I want to see relationships being built with leaders of my clubs. I want to see stuff happening outside of the classroom too. Relationships may be built in classes but solidified outside of the classes. I should see numbers on Wednesday larger than my Sunday numbers. Wednesday nights, I don't have split family kids that miss every other week gone one weekend or the next. These are the classes for our church kids. They are designed for that. If you are a parent and only bringing your kids to Kid's church you are missing out on these other valuable times. Small groups are for everyone but if we just expose our kids to a main service we are limiting our ability to partner with parents in the discipleship process of a child.
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