Many months ago, God spoke specifically to my heart about the need to emphasize ministry to children. I immediately took steps to implement changes to our children’s ministry to make it more effective. I have always thought children’s ministry was important, but I began to realize that its primacy is orders of magnitude more essential than the church has traditionally realized.
Here is a passage from my soon to be released book entitled Pentecost If...: “For the most part, what a person believes by age 13 is what they will die believing. The church has essentially a ten-year window to influence people with the gospel—from the ages of 4 to 14. Ninety million of the 300 million people in America are between those ages right now. Eighty percent of those 90 million children never go to church. Four of five church leaders in America today grew up in church. Unless something changes in a dramatic fashion, we won’t have any church leaders left a generation from now.” Pentecost If…p. 109
As I thought about the urgency of this need, I remembered hearing from a well-known evangelical leader about the subject of children’s ministry in the context of church growth. Here is what he said, in very simple terms: “Churches that emphasize children grow. Churches that don’t emphasize children don’t grow.”
I also remember hearing of a scenario about an altar call many years ago. An adult and a child responded to the invitation to make Christ their Savior. Someone asked the pastor how many were saved at his church that day. “One and a half,” the pastor said,
“You mean the adult is the one and the child is the half?”
“No, I mean the adult is the half and the child is the one. The adult has already spent half his life in the world. The child has an entire life of service in God’s Kingdom ahead of him.”
There has been a great deal of discussion lately about the most recent generational cohort, known as Generation Alpha. There is no clear consensus on the parameters that define this cohort’s ages yet, but it is comprised of children who are born between the years of 2010 and 2024, give or take a year or two on each end. These children are the ones the church needs to acknowledge, to understand, and to reach.
Children are not just accessories to their parents. They are not inconvenient necessities. They are not troublesome little issues that need to be mollified with meaningless activities or pacified until “big church” is over by sitting them in front of yet another video screen.
Children are designed by God to learn, to develop, and to imitate the behaviors and attitudes they see modeled for them by the adults that mean most to them. The most meaningful people in their lives are or at least should be their parents. However, children can be influenced in powerful ways by others, including teachers, coaches, and other adults who are examples to them. What better opportunity for this influence to include teaching and training about Bible principles from Sunday School, Junior Church, or whatever designation you may give to your children’s ministry? Much of the church world has taken a hard pass on fulfilling this responsibility for a generation or more. That needs to change immediately and dramatically in order for our culture to step back from the abyss near which it treads so carelessly. When you look at children, it can be tempting to see nothing more than wiggling, giggling kids scrolling on their phones or jockeying for an open seat next to a friend. I believe God sees so much more.
For their sake, and for the sake of the future of the Church, we need to get to know Generation Alpha and how to help their parents raise them to be believers who neither apologize for their faith or compromise when practicing it.
Here’s what surveys and studies say about Generation Alpha:
These last data points signal huge open doors to develop disciples for life, if we see the potential and plan accordingly. Here is another descriptor of Generation Alpha: 3 out of 4 say they would attend church if invited by a friend
I need to add that they are not going to be invited by their friend if the friend who attends your children’s church services thinks they are lame, boring, or insincere. How is it that we have taken the most thrilling story ever known among the human family (the story of redemption) and turned it into something that is mundane, uninteresting, and uninspiring?
ACTION POINT ONE— Prioritize Generation Alpha
How can you make ministry to Generation Alpha a priority?
Here is an action point we can take together: Make sure your children’s ministry has “Bring a Friend Day” (or whatever you want to call it) every month with games, fun, snacks, prizes, and, of course, Bible study. When we present an exciting and attractive event like this, Christian kids will feel great about inviting their friends — and most of their friends will say yes to the invitation!
I was heartened by the statistic that revealed 76% of Generation Alpha feel spirituality is important. But that spiritual openness can go in many directions, as our next survey reveals:
The devil is lurking, and he is ready to devour. We want to be the ones who provide the spiritual answers Generation Alpha is seeking, and that means we have to counter the current, popular, New Age ideas that they may be exposed to online and among friends.
And this, I believe, hits hardest in the pocketbook. You may have heard me say that most churches spend about 90 percent on adults and only about 3 percent on kids. Only 13 percent of churches list children’s ministries in their top five priorities It’s no wonder we have lost a generation! The kids can “feel” how important we think they are — especially when we put them in rooms that are dark and dirty, with equipment that is broken, with adults who obviously don’t want to be there. Kids will recognize when we don’t make ministry to them a priority.
If we want to reach Gen Alpha, we must start emphasizing children’s ministry. This is crucial for the sake of the children themselves, and for the future of Christianity. As I have mentioned earlier, many Christian studies have shown that children who make a decision for Christ by the age of 13 are more likely to continue following Him all of their lives.
This window of opportunity to create and disciple lifelong believers is open only for a few years, and too many churches are not effectively using this precious time.
These are launch points for you to step up your church’s game when it comes to Generation Alpha. If you have other successful programs already in play, please reply and let me know about them. In general, think of ways your congregation can lavish love on your children’s ministry.
Those kids just might be the ones leading it a few short years from now.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer
Here is a passage from my soon to be released book entitled Pentecost If...: “For the most part, what a person believes by age 13 is what they will die believing. The church has essentially a ten-year window to influence people with the gospel—from the ages of 4 to 14. Ninety million of the 300 million people in America are between those ages right now. Eighty percent of those 90 million children never go to church. Four of five church leaders in America today grew up in church. Unless something changes in a dramatic fashion, we won’t have any church leaders left a generation from now.” Pentecost If…p. 109
As I thought about the urgency of this need, I remembered hearing from a well-known evangelical leader about the subject of children’s ministry in the context of church growth. Here is what he said, in very simple terms: “Churches that emphasize children grow. Churches that don’t emphasize children don’t grow.”
I also remember hearing of a scenario about an altar call many years ago. An adult and a child responded to the invitation to make Christ their Savior. Someone asked the pastor how many were saved at his church that day. “One and a half,” the pastor said,
“You mean the adult is the one and the child is the half?”
“No, I mean the adult is the half and the child is the one. The adult has already spent half his life in the world. The child has an entire life of service in God’s Kingdom ahead of him.”
There has been a great deal of discussion lately about the most recent generational cohort, known as Generation Alpha. There is no clear consensus on the parameters that define this cohort’s ages yet, but it is comprised of children who are born between the years of 2010 and 2024, give or take a year or two on each end. These children are the ones the church needs to acknowledge, to understand, and to reach.
Children are not just accessories to their parents. They are not inconvenient necessities. They are not troublesome little issues that need to be mollified with meaningless activities or pacified until “big church” is over by sitting them in front of yet another video screen.
Children are designed by God to learn, to develop, and to imitate the behaviors and attitudes they see modeled for them by the adults that mean most to them. The most meaningful people in their lives are or at least should be their parents. However, children can be influenced in powerful ways by others, including teachers, coaches, and other adults who are examples to them. What better opportunity for this influence to include teaching and training about Bible principles from Sunday School, Junior Church, or whatever designation you may give to your children’s ministry? Much of the church world has taken a hard pass on fulfilling this responsibility for a generation or more. That needs to change immediately and dramatically in order for our culture to step back from the abyss near which it treads so carelessly. When you look at children, it can be tempting to see nothing more than wiggling, giggling kids scrolling on their phones or jockeying for an open seat next to a friend. I believe God sees so much more.
For their sake, and for the sake of the future of the Church, we need to get to know Generation Alpha and how to help their parents raise them to be believers who neither apologize for their faith or compromise when practicing it.
Here’s what surveys and studies say about Generation Alpha:
- They’re diverse
- They’re always online (an average of four hours screen time per day, in addition to any schoolwork they do on line)
- Despite this online habit, they still feel connected to their families: 95% report a positive experience with their families, even when only half live with their biological parents
- Christian kids who read or listen to Scripture are less likely to feel lonely than those who don’t (42% vs. 53%)
- And 76% say spirituality is important to them
These last data points signal huge open doors to develop disciples for life, if we see the potential and plan accordingly. Here is another descriptor of Generation Alpha: 3 out of 4 say they would attend church if invited by a friend
I need to add that they are not going to be invited by their friend if the friend who attends your children’s church services thinks they are lame, boring, or insincere. How is it that we have taken the most thrilling story ever known among the human family (the story of redemption) and turned it into something that is mundane, uninteresting, and uninspiring?
ACTION POINT ONE— Prioritize Generation Alpha
How can you make ministry to Generation Alpha a priority?
- Create digital spaces that appeal to tech-savvy kids: a Generation Alpha section of your website, a strong social media presence, online and interactive Bible studies, mid-week Zoom calls to check in with each other (depending on the size of your church).
- Make Sunday school and youth services exciting and fun, and at the same time, encourage community with these actions: praying for one another, sharing their struggles, and just getting to know and build trust with each other. Generation Alpha is geared for online interaction, but they need face-to-face friends and prayer partners, too.
- Create visually appealing graphics or animations to go along with in-person teaching.
- Make a pathway to leadership for any children who are ready to step up and build leadership training into the regular teaching and lessons. Generation Alpha will grow up to become tomorrow’s church leaders, and now is the time to establish them on that path. (I remember hearing one well-known children’s minister say that by the time children who had been involved in his children’s ministry were ready for the youth group, they should also be ready for leadership responsibilities among their peers. It is a noble, and I believe an achievable goal.)
Here is an action point we can take together: Make sure your children’s ministry has “Bring a Friend Day” (or whatever you want to call it) every month with games, fun, snacks, prizes, and, of course, Bible study. When we present an exciting and attractive event like this, Christian kids will feel great about inviting their friends — and most of their friends will say yes to the invitation!
- Nearly all 13-year-olds are using social media and even say they are “addicted” to it. Sixty-eight percent of respondents under age 13 had a TikTok account. Their Parents May Not Know It, But Most 11- And 12-Year-Olds Are On TikTok (2.3.25)
- And the more time kids spend online, the less they feel they can be honest with their parents. (Low use = 76% feel honest with their folks vs. High use = 65% feel honest with their folks).
- Only 1 in 3 Christian preteens pick up their Bible weekly.
I was heartened by the statistic that revealed 76% of Generation Alpha feel spirituality is important. But that spiritual openness can go in many directions, as our next survey reveals:
- 1 in 5 Christian kids regularly engage in astrology, crystal healing and manifesting, especially among girls. (The numbers jump to 1 in 3 for non-Christians!)
The devil is lurking, and he is ready to devour. We want to be the ones who provide the spiritual answers Generation Alpha is seeking, and that means we have to counter the current, popular, New Age ideas that they may be exposed to online and among friends.
And this, I believe, hits hardest in the pocketbook. You may have heard me say that most churches spend about 90 percent on adults and only about 3 percent on kids. Only 13 percent of churches list children’s ministries in their top five priorities It’s no wonder we have lost a generation! The kids can “feel” how important we think they are — especially when we put them in rooms that are dark and dirty, with equipment that is broken, with adults who obviously don’t want to be there. Kids will recognize when we don’t make ministry to them a priority.
If we want to reach Gen Alpha, we must start emphasizing children’s ministry. This is crucial for the sake of the children themselves, and for the future of Christianity. As I have mentioned earlier, many Christian studies have shown that children who make a decision for Christ by the age of 13 are more likely to continue following Him all of their lives.
This window of opportunity to create and disciple lifelong believers is open only for a few years, and too many churches are not effectively using this precious time.
These are launch points for you to step up your church’s game when it comes to Generation Alpha. If you have other successful programs already in play, please reply and let me know about them. In general, think of ways your congregation can lavish love on your children’s ministry.
Those kids just might be the ones leading it a few short years from now.
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer