Episode 228: Start Here | The Building Blocks of a Fruitful Kids Ministry

How do you build a children's ministry from scratch — or step into one and make it better? In this special collaboration between the KidzMatter Podcast and the Cross Formed KidMin Podcast, hosts Hannah Augustine, Hunter Williams, and Tim Beilhartz give you a practical, theology-grounded roadmap for starting strong.

Whether you're brand new to kids ministry or a veteran who needs to get back to basics, this episode is packed with frameworks you can apply right away.

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Transcript

Start Here: The Building Blocks of a Fruitful Kids Ministry

The KidzMatter Podcast × Cross Formed Kidmin Podcast Collaboration

Hannah Augustine: Well, if we have learned anything, it's that none of us know everything. And kids' ministry looks different across the world. And while there's no right way to start a kids ministry, there are some pitfalls and problems that you can avoid along the way. So today The KidzMatter Podcast is collaborating with the Cross Formed KidMin Podcast to give you a basic roadmap for building your kids' ministry from scratch. But if you've been in the game for a while already, don't worry — there are still plenty of takeaways for you.

My name is Hannah Augustine, and after ten years of experience in kids' ministries of different sizes, I've learned a lot about what I want to do, what I don't want to do, and what I'd love to help you not have to do. We don't know everything. There are a lot of great experts on this call, but we definitely want to share what we've learned through coaching, training, and boots-on-the-ground experience. So I would love to dive in and have Hunter share where he's coming from and kind of his backstory. 

Hunter Williams: Yeah, absolutely. So I'm Hunter Williams. I currently serve as a children's pastor at a church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm in a transition — this is pretty much my last week at my current church, and I'm going to be moving on to serve at a setup-teardown church, still in the area. God's favor in this has been incredible. The pieces he put together for all of it are amazing. My intern, who I've had for a while now, I've been able to train him up and he's going to be stepping into some kids' ministry. My children's ministry associate is taking my spot. It just was so smooth and seamless that it made this transition possible.

All that to say — sometimes you hear about people leaving their church because bad things happened. That's not the case here at all. It's really cool that we got to raise up leaders in my current church so they can carry the vision forward. And then I'll get to start somewhere new in a couple of weeks.

I have a family of four kids, and they definitely give me passion for what I do. Seeing how they're growing and learning to love Jesus — living that out in real time with them helps me as I develop things in children's ministry. My wife is amazing and super supportive.

I'm no stranger to the KidzMatter community. I've done some blogs with you guys and attended the conferences, so hopefully I'm not a stranger here.

The best way to see how I think and how I'm wired is through the book I co-authored with Sam Luce called How to Teach Kids Theology. That's where my brain lives all the time — deep thinking with high practicality. I think sometimes it's hard to find that blend, and so I'm always living in that space of high practicality with great depth. That's a little bit about me. I'll stop there so that Tim can share.

Hannah Augustine: All right, Tim — that's a high bar. How awesome are you?

Tim Beilharz: It is a high bar. I'm not sure I live up to that expectation! My name's Tim. I'm coming from Sydney, Australia. I've been in children's ministry for over thirty years now — done a variety of roles, worked full time in a local church setting, spent just over a decade working as an advisor, coaching, training, and lecturing at a Bible college, all about children's ministry and intergenerational ministry. And now I'm back in the local church — a church I've been part of for many, many years. It's my home, and I have such a love for the local church.

Children's ministry is just in my veins. I can't think of anything better than hanging out with children, opening the Bible with them, and exploring together who Jesus is and what he's done for us. That's my passion.

I have a wife and two high school kids, so I'm completely out of my depth. Having specialized in children's ministry, I've got no idea what to do with teenagers — but we muddle along all right! I'm very thankful for an intergenerational church that walks alongside us as we raise our kids to know and love Christ.

In terms of my writing — I blog fairly regularly at timbeilhartz.com. I've written a book called The Child in God's Church, which outlines my vision for what it means when you have a child in God's church: what is the child, what is the church, and when you put those together, what should you expect? It walks through children's ministry, family ministry, and intergenerational ministry. People can find more of my in-depth thinking there.

I also co-host not just the Cross Formed Kidmin Podcast but another podcast called The Shock Absorber, which is all about how we help young people, older people, mature and immature believers — all different kinds of people — come together and learn from each other's strengths. So the intergenerational piece is deeply embedded in what I do.

Hannah Augustine: Fantastic. If you're listening, you're getting a lot of great resources to follow up with. I don't have a book yet, so I am clearly behind. But I do help write the KidMin Academy textbooks — maybe that counts for something! Super excited to have you both here.

So let's turn toward this idea of starting from scratch. If you're listening and you've been in kids ministry for a long time, you might be thinking, "How did I even start?" Or maybe you're beginning a new role and inheriting something. We'll talk from that lens too. But for anyone saying, "I've never done this and I want to do it well" — where would you start? Hunter, let's begin with you.

Hunter Williams: Yeah, I was definitely thinking through this. And before we get started, I want to say to the audience: if you're a veteran who's been in KidMin for a long time, episodes like this are still helpful. We can get so caught up in the busyness of kids' ministry that we forget the basics. And the basics are the bread and butter of this work. It's like in any sport — if you try to get too fancy, you may lose because you're overreaching.

I remember one time when I played basketball — and I know that's hilarious, especially if you've met me in person, since I'm not very tall. But we were in the playoffs against a team we should have easily beaten, and we lost because we were trying too hard to pull off things we shouldn't have. My coach said, "What killed us is we forgot the basics." So just as encouragement to listeners: don't forget the basics. Come back to that foundation. No matter how pretty the outside looks, you've got to have a strong foundation.

As I'm looking to step into this next church, I've really been thinking about this question: where do I start? My brain's always moving with ideas. But I boiled it down to two words: clarity and community.

If I were starting at a new church, I'd want to be very clear on what we're trying to accomplish. What's the goal? What are our beliefs about kids? What are our beliefs about the church? I know a great book on that, by the way — The Child in God's Church. And I'd want to build community, because as I'm coming in, I need to get to know these families, this culture, this context.

Here's what can happen if either one is missing. Clarity without community leads to isolation, to a lack of trust from volunteers and parents, and to a mechanical ministry — where you're clear on programming and policies and vision, but you haven't built the trust and camaraderie around you. It feels like you're just going through the motions.

But on the flip side, community without clarity leads to frustration, a lack of fruitfulness, and poor stewardship of what God has given you.

So when you're starting out, the two words I'd give you are clarity and community. Spend a lot of your early time getting to know those families. Call them, text them, grab coffee with them. Get to know where the parents are at. Get to know your church and its culture. Really get to know your staff — that's your team. And then be clear on what you're trying to accomplish. If you do that, it'll go a long way as you're building out everything else we'll cover in this episode.

Hannah Augustine: You gave two C's, and you mentioned a third that I had jotted down too — culture. Whether you're starting from scratch or stepping into an existing culture, that's going to really determine a lot of what you do. I've been in environments where culture was great, and ones where culture looked great but was quietly poisonous underneath and could rip a ministry apart.

So being able to step in and ask, "What is the culture that my pastor, our church, and I are together trying to create?" — and with that in mind, start as you mean to go. If you start by not communicating clearly at the front end, if you let things slide, those patterns get worse over time. You want to repeat the things that are great and shift the things that are crooked. Really just set the tone of the culture from the beginning. That can relate to policies, procedures, relationships, training, onboarding — all of those things. But figure out what kind of culture you want this children's ministry to have, one that aligns with your church, your community, and you as a leader.

What about you, Tim? Where would you start?

Tim Beilharz: Hunter scratched off pretty much everything on my list! But maybe a fourth C to add is curiosity. I was thinking about this in terms of what Hunter described: What are the demographics of your church? Who have you already got? Who are the families? What ages are the kids? Are they fringe or regular attenders? What's their family makeup? Be deeply curious about who God has put in front of you at this particular moment — they're your starting place.

And then the other dimension of curiosity is to step out into the wider community — the suburb, the city, the area you're responsible for and have mission into. Think about where children and families hang out. What are the schools? The clubs? The community spaces? The sports they're playing? The parks? Who are the families in your area that you're praying for and missionally engaged with?

The key is finding the overlap — because that's where gold is going to be found. Where the children and families of your church are already embedded in the community spaces and may be able to create relational links where you can partner together to reach those who don't yet know Jesus.

Hannah Augustine: Love that. Look at us with the C's! So now that we've got kind of a starting place, I'd love to move to building blocks. And I'm going to go first before Hunter takes everything.

I was going to say theological accuracy — making sure you're building a foundation that's theologically sound, one that will carry you forward. And then intentionality — being intentional with every interaction, from in-person moments to the emails you send to the social media posts you put out. Because when I think back to my own childhood and kids ministry, it was the intentional moments that adults took with me that changed my life. It wasn't great programming. I couldn't tell you what curriculum we used. It was the intentional discipleship and care that shaped who I am today and made me want to go into children's ministry.

And then safety. I know we never want to elevate safety above theology and everything else, but if your ministry isn't safe, parents aren't going to bring their kids — especially in the world we live in today. Jessica Bealer has spoken on this. So do what you need to do: look into background checks, create policies and procedures, develop volunteer manuals, whether that's training videos or whatever fits your context. Vet the people coming onto your team. It's a pain on the front end, but you'll sleep well knowing you've done everything you can to have a trained, equipped, secure team that families can trust.

Hunter Williams: Absolutely. And when it comes to theology, it's not only shown in what we speak or teach — it's also shown in our practices. An unsafe church has a poor theology of children. Because if you really believe kids are made in the image of God and have full worth, you're going to do everything you possibly can to make sure they're in a safe environment.

Safety is also a pathway to kids connecting with God. When they're in a safe environment, they feel safe, they listen, and they trust you. That primes them to hear the gospel you proclaim. If you can't keep kids safe, it's better for them to stay in the sanctuary than to be somewhere unsafe. So safety is very high up there for me.

You touched on theology, and a word I like to use is identity — where identity is your theology, your vision, and your values. Those three things shape who you are as a ministry. And getting clear on them has to be one of the first things you do.

The way I define vision: it's your destination. You can't bring a ministry along with you if you don't know where you're going. And your values are the deep-seated convictions that determine your decisions. The way you value things — kids, curriculum, volunteers, parents — all of that shapes the decisions you make.

Here's a practical example: when we were trying to choose curriculum when I started at this church a few years ago, there are literally hundreds of options on the market. It's overwhelming. So instead of looking at all of them, we filtered them through our four core values. After doing that, we ended up with only three to seriously consider — because those were the only ones that fit our values well. When you have vision, values, and theological rootedness, decision-making becomes so much easier. That's why this needs to be one of your first building blocks.

A lot of kids ministry leaders struggle with making good decisions because you're going to get so many voices telling you what you need to do. But a clear identity gives you conviction. If you want to lead with conviction and confidence, it comes from your theological rootedness, your vision, and your values.

So we've talked about identity and safety. Obviously you've also got to think through your weekly ministry — the curriculum you use every week, your programming, how you're formatting your ministry around that curriculum. That is the meat and potatoes. There are events and other things, but those are secondary, honestly. What you do every week is the main thing. And if you don't get solid at what you do every week, hold off on expanding to the things you don't do every week. Get good at teaching kids faithfully every week, connecting with them relationally, and connecting with families.

Tim, what building blocks do you have?

Tim Beilharz: Well, I thought you were going to talk about your four buckets, because you've helped clarify my thinking on that as well, Hunter. If you've listened to any of Hunter's other podcasts or heard him speak, you may have heard him talk about thinking through four buckets: your children, your volunteers, your parents, and your curriculum. That's a really helpful framework that I now carry with me.

The other piece I'll stay in my lane on is the different spheres of discipleship I write about in The Child in God's Church. When I think about how the child interacts with the church, I'm thinking about three spheres:

The first is children's ministry — the ministry specifically directed to children. I want that to be really quality, using all the things we've already discussed.

The second is family ministry — thinking about how God has given the household to be the primary place of discipleship, and how church leaders can partner with parents and parents can partner with the church. Those two spaces often pull against each other — the church wishes parents would think more like the church, and parents wish the church would acknowledge the struggles of family life. But when they actually come together, it's really powerful.

The third sphere is intergenerational church — actually embedding children into the whole church program. Not just in their specialized teaching and community moments, but integrated into the whole body of Christ, so that the entire church can share with each other.

When I think about a child in the church, one of the key things I'm aiming for is a sense of belonging. I want them to feel like this is their church. You can see the shift between the child who comes to church because it's their parents' church and the child who comes because it's their church — and who would come regardless of whether their parents came. That shift happens for multifaceted reasons, including spiritual realities we're not in control of. But it's really powerful. And so doing everything we can, in God's strength, to cultivate that belonging — that's a key part of what we're driving toward.

Hannah Augustine: That's great. And I think that intergenerational piece is something that's been lost and is difficult now to reclaim given the strong move toward a children's ministry culture — which has been beautiful, but we have lost some things along the way. If you're getting ready to start from scratch or stepping into a new role, this is a good time to think through how churches are doing this well. Start as you mean to go. And especially if this is a church launch, you have a unique opportunity to make that decision now versus having to change course midstream. Maybe it's one Sunday a month where kids are in big church for worship — find some way to build it in so you're not missing that piece.

Well, Tim, I want to start with you this time because it's not fun always being the last one when someone says everything you wanted to say. What would you say is a short strategic roadmap for getting those building blocks in place? A few practical steps?

Tim Beilharz: Yeah, we've already talked about being curious about the people — the children and families in your congregation. The next place I'd go is: who is your leadership team?

The short roadmap would be to get all of those leaders together. Get together as friends in ministry. Get together as people who are going to be on mission together for the children of this church. Hang out, spend time with each other, get to know each other really well. They're not just volunteers — you want them to serve out of friendship and deep relationship with each other. So invest in your leaders and it will pay off when you turn up on Sunday and minister out of the relational depth you have with each other. Don't neglect your volunteers. Make them key friends and key allies in the task you've been set apart to do.

The other thing — and we've already touched on this — is contacting all the families. Texting them, phoning them, having coffee with them. Gold star if you get to have a meal in their home. Child discipleship and child mission is a slow relational process, and that's good. That's exactly how God has designed it to be. It's not a quick fix. So lean into the slowness of relationship — with leaders, volunteers, and families. Enjoy that process of getting to know people.

Hunter Williams: I was trying to think of an acronym, so we're going to try this. I want to set people up for success — so I've got S.E.T.

S is Study. Study your context, your leadership, your people, your families. And don't do it too quickly. One thing I'd recommend is finding out who the stakeholders in the church are — the people who have a lot of sway regardless of their title. Getting to know them can give you real insight: "Why has there been this struggle in children's ministry?" "What are potential pitfalls I might run into?" "What might hinder me as I'm trying to get volunteers or start things?"

Don't just think in your normal categories — really try to connect as broadly as you can. Be a student of what you're coming into. When you do that, you'll build credibility and you'll learn how to speak the language of the context.

Because here's what you'll almost certainly find: different pockets of people in the church have different ideas about what kids' ministry should look like. Parents will think it should look one way. Staff will think another way. Regular congregants will have another view. And then there's what you think it should look like. Try to find the themes, identify the disconnects, and then you can speak with clarity into it. That goes back to our first C — leadership is built on clarity.

E is Establish. After you've studied, and after you've gotten clear on your vision and values, then you can go into implementation mode. Establish the curriculum — but don't jump too quickly into something new. Really evaluate what fits your context. Establish your policies and procedures. While there are general things every church should have, there will be things unique to your building and your situation. Establish your budget — and here's an important principle: budget should always be vision-based. Don't start with the budget and work backward. Study, then build your budget around the vision and the needs you see.

T is Train. Once you've established programming, policies, and budget, then you train your leaders to run the programs. You do trainings on the policies. You train your people to think in terms of vision — not just getting Sunday to Sunday done. Because vision leaks. You want to consistently train people in where you're headed together.

So that's S.E.T. — Study, Establish, Train. Depending on where you're starting, each of those steps may take longer or shorter than you'd like. But hopefully it will set you up for success.

Hannah Augustine: Well done! Who doesn't love an acronym? We've had alliteration, now we've got an acronym. Crushing it.

So this leads into a final thought — what is the biggest pitfall that you see new KidMin leaders falling into? I think we see it in our Facebook community. And I've been there too — there's this feeling of, "I thought I was just going to love on some kids and teach the Bible." And you will! Don't be discouraged. But a lot of this work is going to be done through volunteers. It's you ministering to parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings.

So come in with a clear understanding of what God has called you to do. Work hard, like Hunter said, to build that identity — the vision, the values, the theology — so that you can return to it and ask, "Who am I as the leader of this ministry? What is this ministry called to be and do?" That clarity also helps as you're building your team. You'll know what you need to hold on to and what you can give away. I'm a big fan of giving as much away as you can — even the things you're good at.

But I've learned from experience that I need to hold on to some of the things I'm good at and love doing, even if only occasionally. Otherwise I'll lose my vision and my joy for what I'm called to do. So even as you're stepping into a new role and balancing responsibilities — maybe you're very administrative and thrilled about the organizational side, or maybe you're very relational and the administrative side feels overwhelming — ask yourself: "How can I still incorporate the things I'm gifted in? How can I find people to come alongside me in the areas where I'm not as gifted? And how do I stay rooted to that identity?"

Don't let yourself become disillusioned when things get hard. When things feel weird at church. When somebody says something that doesn't sit right with you. You need to be able to come back to that place of calling — who you are and why God has brought you there.

Tim Beilharz: Yeah, the opposite of all the positive things we've built up — the negative version — is when we don't know our theology and we don't know our strategy, we end up with really chaotic practice. We need to know our children's ministry philosophy: Why do we do what we do? What does "good" look like?

If we don't have a solid theological understanding of who the child is, what the church is, and what children's ministry is — and if we can't articulate a strategy for implementing that theology in our practice — then we won't just not know what we're doing. We won't know why we're doing it. And if you're brand new to children's ministry, it's totally fair that you're figuring it out. But as you grow, "I don't know why I'm doing this" will become the real problem.

Without that clarity, you'll get blown around by every new craze, every podcast episode, every article you read — each one sending you in a slightly different direction. You won't know how to prioritize advice. You won't know how to say yes now, or no for now, or no not at all. Every parent, volunteer, child, and community member will give you different feedback. And if you don't have a clear theology and strategy, you're going to come unstuck.

So even if you're brand new — spend some time thinking about why you're doing what you're doing, and let that shape what you actually do week to week, day by day, as you minister to your kids.

Hunter Williams: And to go along with that: it's so easy when you first come in to be driven by people's opinions, because you're going to get a lot of them right out of the gate. You want to make people happy. You don't want to come in and make people mad. That's why I'm big on being the convictional leader — learning the "why" behind what you're doing.

But the pitfall is that you start prioritizing secondary things above essential things, and you don't even realize you're doing it. You'll come in and focus on creating a new event, on how things are decorated, on adding another night of programming — before you've thought through how to best connect with families and equip them to disciple kids at home. Before you've asked, "How do I make sure our weekly ministry is fruitful? How do I even gauge that?"

Kids ministry is a wild thing when you're starting out. There is so much that's expected of kids ministry leaders that people just don't see. And Hannah, I loved what you said about giving things away. A pitfall is feeling like you have to do everything yourself to prove yourself. You don't. A phrase I love: leadership is not doership. Leaders lead people. And often the best way to lead people is to give things away, to share the load.

That goes along with being honest about your weaknesses. No leader wants to do that. But when you're honest — "Here's what I'm strong at, so I'll stick with this; here's where I'm not strong, and I need people to rise up alongside me" — that's okay. That's actually good leadership.

I'm not good at scheduling volunteers. It goes against every fiber of how my personality is wired. I can do it, but my ministry associate is incredible at it — she's wired for it. So why would I do it when she does it so much better? Be honest about the things you're not good at. It doesn't make you a worse leader. It makes you a better one.

Hannah Augustine: Absolutely. Those are some great thoughts, and I so appreciate both of you jumping in. And there are great ways — like Tim said — you don't want to just run with everything you hear on every podcast. Take time to discern: "Lord, what do I need to apply to my ministry? What will it look like?" You may apply something, but it may look different than what we've described. So take the great takeaways.

We'd love to see you on The KidzMatter Podcast or the Cross Formed KidMin Podcast. Grab those books from Hunter and Tim — they'd be happy to chat more about them too. But guys, thanks so much for joining us today, and we'll see everybody next time.