So, what do you do for a living?

I have been in Children's Ministry for over ten years now, and I love my job.  Truly!  I do.  It's an amazing job and every day is different.  I am allowed and encouraged to be creative.  I get to be around amazing children and adults.  AND I get to tell them about Jesus!  It is indeed a fantastic position and I am honored to be a Children's Pastor. 

However, there is one question that I have gotten many many times over the years.  And that is this: "What do you do for a living?"  I respond, "I'm a Children's Pastor." To which the response is then, "Yes, but what do you do for a job?"  This surprised me at first.  After all, being a Children's Pastor is my job.  If I had responded, "I am a teacher" or "I am a welder" would the response have been, "Yes, but what do you do for a job?"  But it rapidly became clear that many people do not know what a Children's Pastor does.  Perhaps they think that we simply babysit on Sundays and Wednesdays and if that is the case, then I do indeed understand the confusion. 

So, below you will find some of the duties of a Children's Pastor.  This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but at least it will hopefully help answer the questions about what a Children's Pastor does.  You will notice that in the list I have not placed PRAYER or BIBLE STUDY.  This is not because we don't do it, but because of all the things people wonder about ministry, those two things are a given and we must do them if we want to be effective in our ministry and grow as a Pastor and as a Christian. 

Preparation for services:
    This takes up a good portion of the week's work.  How much will depend on how long the service is, how much of the program needs to be learned because it is "brand new," if we are writing the curriculum or using a purchased one, etc.  And it includes not just the message, but also the games, music, object lessons, review sections, prayer activities, preparing the agendas, technical/video needs, and prep for the volunteers who help as well. 

Contacts and/or calling: 
     While many Children's Pastors do not do as many home visits as perhaps a Sr. Pastor does, we do try to attend the events or programs that our children are involved in...when we know about them.  We can not attend everything, but we do try to attend what we can.  We also often help with the regular calling of the church to hospitals, nursing homes, shut-in's etc.  This also includes correspondence via email, postal mail, social media and etc. 

Event Preparation: 
     Events such as Bible School, Easter Eggstravaganza, Trunk or Treat, Special Family Sundays, and Revivals take lots and lots of planning.  Most people only see the event itself, but for each 2 hour event there is probably 50-75 hours of planning (or more) that was done prior to that event to get things ready so that it goes smoothly and properly.  And that doesn't include the hours put in by the volunteers who help to plan the event.

Meetings:
     In most churches, there is a weekly staff meeting that will be about an hour or so.  Then over the course of the week there are other smaller meetings as things get planned or talked about.  Some may not be seen as a regular sort of meeting, but they are still meetings of a sort and are vital to making sure all bases are covered.  Then there are the Zone or District Meetings that we attend.  They are not as often as our staff meetings, but some are on a monthly basis and some are several times a year.  Again, these can last from 1-3 hours or so and for District Meetings will often involve driving to another location 45 minutes or more away. 

Shopping:
     I know it probably seems odd that shopping is a part of my regular duties, but in order to do things well and using a tight budget (which nearly all Children's Pastors have), it takes a lot of time to search for the best buys on items needed.  Shopping can occur online (so from the office) or having to go to the actual store.  There is always an event coming up so something always seems to be needed. Shopping is something that is never really finished.

Publicity/Information Sharing 
    This takes many forms.  From creating monthly newsletters to creating a poster or flyer for an upcoming program, to updating the department facebook or twitter account or even putting new information on the bulletin board. And let us not forget the many sign up sheets and permission slips that are needed. 

Research 
    Children's trends change by the minute it seems and if we want to be able to minister to them, we need to know what is important to them.  From the popular TV shows and movies, to the music and video games that are bombarding them.  And let us not forget the books and magazines they read.  Aside from our own studies into how to reach children, we need to keep up with what is currently reaching for them from every side.  Sometimes that means watching a movie that they are all talking about or reading the book that they can't put down.  If it is important to them, it has influence and if we want to be able to influence them for the Lord, we have to know about what is important to them.

Paperwork
    There are Board Reports, expense vouchers, and other office details that must be taken care of as with any other sort of position.

Other Teaching...
    Many Children's Pastors teach outside the regular services in some capacity from time to time.  Sometimes it is being asked to preach in an adult service or it could be leading a workshop within the church or at another event.  Some also may speak at a chapel service of a local school, or help with an after school program. 

I'll stop there.  As I said, this is not an exhaustive list, there are many other things I could have included, but it's a start.  Yes, it's a big job, but I think my Children's Pastor friends would all agree that we wouldn't want to do anything else.  We love what we have been called to do and get excited about the things we plan.  God called us to minister to children and their families and we are honored to answer that call.  To Him be all the glory!