4 Marks of a Children's Ministry Curriculum Worth Using

What Makes a Good Children’s Ministry Curriculum?

Good children’s ministry curriculum has four characteristics: it’s theologically grounded, pedagogically appropriate, workable for volunteers, and genuinely engaging. Here’s what each of those means and why it matters more than most churches realize.
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Why Children’s Ministry Curriculum Is Harder than It Looks

One of the things a lot of people don’t know about me is that I had the privilege of helping develop a curriculum that ultimately came to be used by over a million people each week. When I went to Lifeway, I didn’t expect to be involved in curriculum development. I went there initially to lead Lifeway Research and later took on other responsibilities. But along the way, under Eric Geiger’s leadership, we launched The Gospel Project, bringing curriculum for adults, students, and children together around a common, gospel-centered approach.
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And I have to confess: as I learned about curriculum development, I discovered it was far more complicated and important than I had imagined.
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That complexity and importance is one of the reasons I became such a fan of good curriculum and curriculum development.
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I understand why churches sometimes want to create their own material. There can be real advantages to that. But good curriculum involves much more than putting together a Bible lesson and a few discussion questions. It requires an understanding of theology, pedagogy, scope and sequence, age segmentation, learning objectives, and more.
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That’s why I believe we need more good curriculum, not less. That makes me grateful and excited to get to speak into God’s Kids, a new children’s curriculum with RightNow Media. I believe this curriculum will help a lot of churches and children’s ministry leaders, and it will have a significant impact in the lives of children.
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The Problem with “Be Brave like David”

Part of the impetus behind The Gospel Project was a concern about moralism in children’s ministry. At the time, some widely used approaches to children’s curriculum tended to emphasize lessons like “be brave like David” or “have faith like Daniel.” Those lessons aren’t necessarily wrong, but Scripture is ultimately telling a much bigger story.
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The Bible is not primarily a collection of moral examples. It is the story of God’s redemptive work, culminating in Jesus and the gospel. A good curriculum is going to help children to see that bigger story.
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Thankfully, the broader children’s ministry world has continued to strengthen, with many publishers improving their theological approaches. That’s a good thing. We should want everyone serving children to do this better, and I think God’s Kids will make a strong and important contribution for children and children’s ministries.
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Good curriculum, from a Christian point of view, has several defining features. For the rest of this article, I’d like to focus on four marks of a children’s ministry curriculum worth using. A good curriculum is theologically grounded, pedagogically appropriate, workable for teachers, and engaging (and even fun!). As I’ve said, we need more offerings that display these characteristics.
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1. Good Curriculum Is Theologically Grounded

Children are capable of learning complicated ideas at surprisingly young ages. They’re learning increasingly complex concepts everywhere else in their lives, so the church shouldn’t unnecessarily dumb down the teaching of Scripture or the goodness of the gospel.
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We shouldn’t make truth more complicated than it needs to be. But we shouldn’t oversimplify it either. That means sometimes putting the cookies a little higher on the shelf. Not out of reach, but a chance for everyone, children and teachers alike, to stretch and grow. We can teach big theological concepts with language that is accessible to the learner. For example, we can teach something like the beautiful truth that “Jesus loves me” within the rich reality of who Jesus truly is: Jesus is one person who is fully God and fully man.

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2. Good Curriculum Is Pedagogically Appropriate

“Pedagogy” is a five-dollar word that comes from the Greek word meaning “tutor.” It has to do with the strategy, approach, and goals of learning and instruction. That includes knowing the content and concepts of the material, and also the ways learners will best grasp that material. When people talk about a curriculum’s “scope and sequence,” that means that a curriculum should have a set of learning goals for an age group or grade level, and it should lay out how those goals will unfold. It focuses on what we teach, when we teach it, and how one concept prepares a child for the next.
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We must factor in the fact that a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old learn differently, for example. A good curriculum will account for developmental stages and build concepts intentionally over time.
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3. Good Curriculum Is Workable for Volunteers

If all children’s ministry leaders agree about one thing, it is probably the difficulty of recruiting and retaining volunteers. Things like ministry fairs, open houses, and appeals from the platform can help recruit volunteers. But those volunteers will run back to the pews and burn out quickly if the teaching load is overly burdensome.
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Theologically rich material with perfectly aligned pedagogical objectives isn’t particularly helpful if the average volunteer can’t actually teach it. Churches depend on faithful volunteers who have limited preparation time. Good curriculum should equip them rather than overwhelm them.
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4. Good Curriculum Is Engaging (And Even Fun)

Fun and theological depth aren’t opposites. In fact, when kids can have fun while learning important truths about God, they learn that following Jesus is exciting and engaging. Today’s children live in a visual world, and video can be a powerful teaching tool. When strong theology, thoughtful pedagogy, capable teachers, and engaging media come together, we have an extraordinary opportunity.
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Children’s Ministry Is Discipleship, Not Childcare

This is something that leaders inside and outside children’s ministry can sometimes forget. Children’s ministry isn’t about keeping kids occupied while adults attend church. Children aren’t the future of the church. They are part of the mission, and children’s ministry is discipleship—the Great Commission—in action. Good curriculum is a valuable resource in that mission.
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What Senior Pastors Should Ask Their Children’s Director

Ministry silos are a constant threat. When ministries are disconnected, the church and the people get disconnected, too. Unfortunately, some of the first casualties of a siloed culture can be Next Generation ministries, like students and children. Yet these ministries should be a high priority for senior leaders and lead pastors. In fact, children’s ministry can be one of the most effective means of furthering the church’s mission.
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Senior pastors should highly value children’s ministry and the impact that it makes. This value should translate into a high appreciation and awareness of the team and leader making the children’s ministry happen. In larger churches that might be a full-time staff role. In smaller churches, it might be a part-time, stipend, or even volunteer director.
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But in any of these cases, senior pastors need to learn to develop curiosity about ways to make children’s ministry more effective. The best way to do that is by asking good questions of their church’s children’s ministry director. In fact, if you’re a senior pastor, your children’s ministry director is probably hoping you will ask some of these questions.
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How well is the church doing in supporting and resourcing the children’s ministry?

This can revolve around facilities, budgets, and more. This leads into another key question.

How can I, as the senior pastor, best support you and the children’s ministry?

This will likely provoke a variety of answers, and maybe some surprises. But it’s guaranteed to be a meaningful ask.

How can I help you recruit and retain volunteers?

Obviously, the need for volunteers touches every aspect of a church’s ministry. But the volunteer need for children’s ministry is often disproportionate to the needs in the rest of the church. Getting your team on the same page for recruiting and retaining these volunteers will help your children’s ministry thrive—and when that happens, it will help the whole church thrive too.
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In children’s ministry and children’s curriculum, we’re helping children understand the greatest story ever told. And that deserves our very best.