Once you have made the choice to do ministry as a team, you need to make sure you choose the right kind of people to be your Kidmin team members. It’s not about just “getting a warm body to sit in this classroom with these kids.” You want your team to be remarkable. You want a bunch of F.A.T. C.A.T.S.!

F – Faithful

When you assemble your ministry team, look for those who are faithful. Faithful people show up when they say they will, they serve with excellence, and they are reliable in every situation. Remind your team that all of us want to one day enter heaven and hear these words:

‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.’” – Matthew 25:19

A – Available

As I mentioned, you don’t just want to find any warm body to serve in Children’s Ministry. Being available is not about “not having anything else to do.” “Available” is an attitude that says, “I am willing to serve in whatever capacity will advance the Kingdom of God.” When assembling your team, recruit people who are available to serve wherever needed because they have a passion to reach kids, not people with the “I don’t do windows” mentality.

T – Teachable

I’ve been in Children’s Ministry for nearly twenty years, and I STILL have so much to learn. A teachable spirit is something a person must possess if they are going to be effective in ministry. The more you learn, the more you find out just how much there is you still don’t know. A ministry team will only grow to the point that its leader is willing to grow. No matter how much we may know, there is so much more to learn if we want our ministry to flourish.

C – Committed

In society today, commitment is a value that seems to be waning in importance. Whether it is commitment to a career, a marriage, or church, finding an everyday American that is wholeheartedly committed to something is difficult. Being committed means a person will “stick with it” no matter how difficult the conditions become.

A – Accountable

Accountability is something we often want from others, but rarely want to give to others. In a ministry team, accountability is a key factor for things to run smoothly. When you are building your ministry team, don’t look for those who refuse to submit themselves to authority. Look for those who are willing to be accountable to you as their leader.

T – Transparent

Too often we try to hide our real self and put on a front for others. We don’t want to admit our faults, our weaknesses, or our failures. On a ministry team, this works against the goal of “working together.” When you can’t share your feelings, fears, or failures with someone, there’s no real trust there. Without trust, every team will falter. Oftentimes, we project a false version of ourselves for others to see. Rather than be genuine and authentic we are pretentious and fake. Rather than be transparent, we find ourselves putting up walls between ourselves and our fellow team members.

Transparency is a quality that each member of your ministry team should possess. Really, transparency is about integrity and is powerful in bonding relationships on a team. It builds trust and breaks down walls. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Let our lives lovingly express the truth in all things–speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly.” That’s being transparent.

S – Serving

Dwight L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.” One of the greatest traits of anyone in ministry is having a heart for serving others. What is ministry all about? It’s about serving others. As we ministry to children, there are many times when we are going to be required to do things that are out of our comfort zone (crazy characters, pies-in-the-face, and lock-ins just to name a few). We must seek to display a heart of service that says, “Whatever I have to do to reach these kids, I will do it!”

Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be the first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else (Mark 9:35).”

 

There are so many children to reach and so little time to reach them. We need to partner with those who are faithful, available, teachable, committed, accountable, transparent, and serving in order to accomplish this Great Commission. It’s time to get some F.A.T. C.A.T.S. on your Kid’s Ministry team!