Supporting Junior Leaders at Kids’ Church

Many Kids’ Church teams are blessed with teenage leaders. At Hope Church, we have a team of junior leaders that we call “LiTs”. They are a great blessing to our teams. However, given that they are younger and have less life experience than the adult leaders on their teams, they will require specific support as we grow them into godly, competent leaders and teachers of God’s Word.

Here are a few thoughts on how we can support them.

1. Pray for them

Be praying for the junior leaders. Pray that God would help them grow in their faith in the gospel, their love for God and their knowledge of his Word. Pray for their growth in godliness and Christ-likeness. Pray for the development of their leadership competencies. And give thanks to God for them.

2. Encourage them

Drop them a line of encouragement. Let them know how great it is that they are serving God and these children at Kids’ Church. Remind them of the importance of what they’re doing.

3. Offer help

If they’re down to give the talk, or be MC, or run the craft, offer to meet up with them (or chat with them on the phone) and help them.

Make sure you do so in a way that follows the safe ministry guidelines (in particular, never be alone with a child under 18, have clear communication with parents, and only meet up one-to-one with someone of the same gender).

Also check in with your team leader before you offer help, as your team leader may have already planned something. But in many cases, your team leader would be delighted for you to help out the junior leader.

4. Give them constructive feedback

Don’t assume that junior leaders will just learn from their mistakes. They often need to have stuff pointed out to them. Offer them constructive feedback. But be gentle as well!

Again, it may be worth checking in with your team leader, just in case they plan to offer feedback as well.

5. Chat with their parents

If you see a junior leader smash a talk or crush a craft activity, share it with their parents. Parents love to hear that their child has been doing a great job.

6. Read the Bible and Pray with them

In certain situations, you may even like to take a junior leader under your wing and meet up with them to disciple them in Word and Prayer. This is a great thing to do!

But again, check in with your team leader, and make sure you follow safe ministry protocol etc.

7. Chat with your team leader

I’ve already alluded to this a few times. Chat with your team leader for ideas on how you can support junior leaders. See if you can brainstorm some ways for you can to help these young guys grow as disciples and leaders.