With the new year unfolding, a veteran ministry leader and renowned speaker provided seven resolutions for those engaged in the children's ministry to "grow in 2022."
Building Children's Ministry Founder Dale Hudson reminded the importance of setting goals for oneself every new year, especially for leaders in the ministry. Hudson, a veteran in the children's ministry after serving for three decades, identified seven areas for children's ministry leaders to focus on in 2022 for their development. He reasoned that being "intentional" about one's goals is a sure way to actually achieve them by the end of the year.
"If we are not intentional, after a few weeks our goals get lost in the busyness of life. Don't let that happen to you. If you want to see great results, then you need to stick with your goals for all of 2022," Hudson said.
These are: (1) "spend time with God each day;" (2) "each week, ask someone to volunteer and join your team;" (3) "invest in 3 people;" (4) "read books;" (5) "invest in yourself so you can grow as a leader;" (6) "write 5 appreciation notes each week;" and (7) "spend more time with your family."
Hudson prioritized spending time with God each day as "the most important goal" in a New Year's Resolutions List. Hudson explained this is of utmost importance because it is often forgotten even though the Bible, particularly the Gospel account on the disciples' commissioning (Mark 3:14) speaks of it. He stressed that spending time with God daily is a "first calling" from God.
"It's easy to get so busy working for God that you don't spend time with God. You are I have a primary calling. It's a call to walk with Jesus and draw closer to Him each day. Out of that will come the blessings of God upon your ministry," Hudson highlighted.
"I am challenging you to spend more time with Jesus in 2022," he added.
Creating a volunteer team for the year is secondarily important and achievable by making it a practice to weekly add to one's list of volunteers. Adding "one person at a time" was "how Jesus built His team and is expected to be the "best way" to "dramatically" increase one's volunteers.
Meanwhile, investing in three people who are presently involved in the ministry means identifying "potential" leaders in one's team that "you can personally help grow." Hudson said another factor to look into is a person's eagerness to grow and a person who "have a heart for the next generation." He underscored "love equally..invest selectively" for there are times those one invest in do not turn out according to expectations.
"In a previous church, I invested in volunteer leaders each year and saw many of them become staff members," Hudson revealed.
In so far as reading books is concerned, Hudson said this is essential to all leaders. There is a need though to "set a goal to read a certain number of books" for the year. Hudson, being an author, recommended books he wrote and other resources from his ministry.
Investing in oneself, Hudson explained, may entail attending conferences, "joining a coaching experience," enrolling to online courses, networking with other people or simply spending "more time reading God's Word."
Appreciation is an attribute of good leaders that one can make a practice of by keeping "a stack of thank you cards on your desk" or by sending noted one personally wrote to five people each week. Hudson emphasized that the notes should be "of encouragement," which good leaders are also expected to do.
Ending his article, Hudson reminded the importance of spending more time with one's family that is easily missed when a ministry leader gets too caught up "helping other families." Hudson underscored that one's primary responsibility is being available for one's family. He then suggested taking several days with one's family such as those that allow one to make memories with them.
"Remember your greatest ministry is your family. Don't get so consumed with helping other families, that you shortchange your own family," Hudson stressed.
