2 Formats for Taking Your Children’s Ministry Online

When you think of online church, you might think of the events during 2020. During the pandemic, churches around the world needed a way to reach their congregations when they couldn’t be with them in person. Churches found ways to connect with their people creatively, and many realized just how important it is to be a church with a digital footprint.

But there are other benefits to taking your church online, too, like …

• When families are out of town, move away, or can’t make it to church.
• When parents want to know what their kids are learning or doing during service.
• To make church more accessible for families with disabilities that keep them from attending in person.

That’s what church ministry is all about, right? Connecting with people wherever they are to connect them with Jesus. So, if you’re looking to take your ministry online, here’s a formula to help get you started.

CHOOSE YOUR INVOLVEMENT

As much as you might want to, you can’t do everything. You only have so much time in your week to prepare for Sunday service, and you probably already have a mountain of tasks to conquer this week. To be strategic with how you bring your services online, you’ll need to choose just how involved you want to be. We’ve found there are three levels of involvement…

• LEVEL 1, SUPER EASY. This is for the weeks you don’t have much time (or energy).
• LEVEL 2, A LITTLE MORE EFFORT. For when you have a little more time.
• LEVEL 3, LOTS OF EFFORT. For the weeks you have lots of creativity and time on your hands.

Now, you don’t have to choose one level of involvement and stick with it forever. There are lots of things that can pop up throughout your week. If you decide to go all in on Level 3 planning, it’s okay to dip into Level 2 or even Level 1 when you need it. The reverse is true as well. If you want to make this really easy for yourself, that’s great! But maybe consider leveling up your online service around Easter, Christmas, and other times throughout the year.

The point is to find the teaching format that works best for you and your families. And if you’re using Grow Kids Curriculum, we provide our teaching material in different formats that work great for each of these levels.

CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT

Now that you know how much time you have and how much energy you want to spend on this project, it’s time to choose your format—Teaching Videos or an Online Service. The teaching videos are the bulk of your teaching time. It’s your sermon, lesson, or main talking points. The Online Service is your teaching time and a few other things like worship, a Bible story, and discussion questions. So, considering your time and energy, choose at least one of these formats to take your ministry online. (You can also choose both!)

TEACHING VIDEOS

Here’s what it could look like for you to take your teaching videos online…

• LEVEL 1. Find or record a teaching video for your elementary and preschool kids. Then, post it online through YouTube, Vimeo, or another platform.
• LEVEL 2. Record a short intro and outro for your teaching video. In the outro, include an age-appropriate discussion question to help families engage further. You can also include a coloring page and a separate memory verse video.
• LEVEL 3. Record an intro and outro for your teaching video, including the complete Bible teaching. In your outro, include two to three age-appropriate discussion questions to help families engage together. You can also include a coloring page, a separate memory verse video, a small group discussion guide, and any other resources you’d like to share.

ONLINE SERVICE

If you’re ready to publish an entire online service, here’s what that could look like…

• LEVEL 1. Pre-record and share a shortened version of your typical weekly service that includes at least one worship song, the Big Idea, the Bible Story, and one discussion question that families can discuss at home.
• LEVEL 2. Pre-record and share a shortened version of your typical weekly service that includes at least one worship song, the Big Idea, the Bible Story, and one discussion question that families can discuss at home.
  • Then, edit your lesson guides to be parent-friendly and send them to families to do at home. Include the Big Idea, the Bible Story, an Activity, at least one question to discuss, Prayer, and the Memory Verse.
• LEVEL 3. Pre-record and share a shortened version of your typical weekly service that includes at least one worship song, the Big Idea, the Bible Story, and one discussion question that families can discuss at home.
  • Then, edit your lesson guides to be parent-friendly and send them to families to do at home. Include the Big Idea, the Bible Story, an Activity, at least one question to discuss, Prayer, and the Memory Verse.
  • Choose at least one module or element from your lesson and post about it on social media during the week. You could post a one-minute Object Lesson, challenge families to a contest based on one of the week’s activities, or share a devotional based on one of the passages of Scripture from that week.

And remember, you don’t need to go all out each and every week. You might not have time to be fully invested in creating an entire online service each week, but you might have the ability to invest in posting and creating your teaching videos every week. You could even create a schedule with a full service on the first week of the month and teaching videos posted throughout the rest of the month. The point of taking your ministry online isn’t to fill up your week with hours of video editing but to create a bridge for kids and families who want to connect with Jesus and your ministry in new ways.

Plus, if you’re a Grow Kids user, we’ve included all of the Teaching Videos, Coloring Pages, Memory Verse videos, Lesson Guides, and Small Group Guides you need to take your ministry online. We’ve made it easy for you to post the teaching videos as they are or to add your own intros, outros, and any other elements of your online service.

And if you’re not a Grow Kids user but you want to take your ministry online, then try Grow for free. When you sign up, you’ll get a sample month of curriculum that includes everything you need to take your ministry online. Not only will you get the Teaching Videos and Lesson Guides, but you’ll also get décor ideas to go along with our theme, parent and volunteer emails, parent and volunteer devotionals, graphics, hacks for preteens and kids with disabilities, and more.

Let us help you take your ministry online, try Grow for free.