When you receive Jesus in your heart, you become a member of His Holy Church. If you decide to follow His Words, than you begin to function in ministries, eventually growing to leadership. If you decide to obey more proactively, then eventually you will lead other leaders.
The same is true for children’s church. It is the natural progression to eventually teach teachers.
For if we are to teach only from the pulpit, and only to children, then how can we flex our mental muscles, and exercise to innovate? Where will diversification come from? How can we have fresh ideas to do anything? How can we make sure our minds are open and constantly adapting to change?
Spirituality should be a given — this is true. As teachers we should be up on our devotions. We should make sure that we are right with God, that our hearts are looking to Him. We should ensure that our lesson plans are taken from His Word, that our teachings are aligned with the vision of our church. We should be sure of our identity in Christ. We should take ownership of our ministry as teachers, as builders of His Kingdom.
Anointing is paramount. Supernatural giftings are possible. But in order to be good stewards, in order to show gratitude for the gifts that He gives us, we have to take these skills and practice them. We have to take His talents and use them for His Kingdom, not hide them away and let them stay within boxes that we or other people set for us. We shouldn’t limit ourselves to doing only the bare minimum; this would be wasting what was given to us. This would be dishonouring the Giver, in effect giving little regard to the gift.
There should be teaching between teachers. There should be intentional discipleship. When we involve ourselves in mentoring, it opens us up to growth. And it encourages the entire team to be involved as well, and to inspire them to serve in a greater capacity.
We should be able to share out of own experiences. Apart from the fellowship aspect, teambuilding and whatnot, it also encourages self-reflection, the oft-overlooked discipline of examen.
The next generation should inevitably come from our own family. People from our own group would be the most effective culture carriers. And we should be actively trying to bring our people from “here” to “there”.
Training from outside sources is good, and ideal. It is highly recommended to always be learning, to formalise teaching even, to ensure that the organisation is up to the latest trends and technologies that are necessary for greater education.
But there should also be a push, a greater desire, to cultivate our own sense of identity as a ministry, formulate our own effective teaching and preaching strategies, and communicate them to our fellow builders of faith. For the most well meaning constructs will be useless if they don’t directly apply to the situations of the church that we are serving, or if we don’t find their fit in the greater vision of our church.
And if we are never given permission to innovate, then how can we be encouraged to grow? If we cannot teach what we learn to our peers, to our co-builders, then how can we claim to teach them to children, who are younger, and harder to reach?
As teachers, we should lead children to God — this is highly understated, and completely oversimplified. But apart from that, and together with it, and tied up around it, we should be teaching teachers to teach.
