How to Have a Kids Lead Team

Maybe you’ve seen this. You have a fifth or sixth grader completely checked out. They may have been engaged a few years before, but it’s getting close to their time to move on, and they have senioritis all of sudden.

You thought it was only for 12th graders, but now you see it in 12-year-olds.

But what do you do?

Do you encourage them to engage? Talk to their parents? Let them move on to youth?

In my first ministry, this problem was rampant. I was the fourth kids pastor for those sixth graders, and they were over it. They didn’t care and a few of them did whatever the wanted causing major distractions. Putting a discipline plan in place helped a little, but it didn’t solve the problem.

That’s when I decided to begin a kids leadership team. We still had Sunday School, so for the ones who came, I’d teach a little about the Bible, and then train them how to run sound, lead worship, and do puppets. They helped me make videos to remind kids of the rules and to go to the bathroom. They loved it and were excited to come to church!

When I moved to my next church, I knew I wanted to bring this team with me, but the model didn’t work. We had small groups instead of Sunday School and two services instead of one. What I did before wasn’t going to work.

Around this time Brian Dollar put out his book, I Blew It. In one of the chapters, Brian talks about a similar problem with his older kids and the program he put in place. Intrigued, I reached out to him and asked to buy the curriculum.

Surprisingly, Brian said I could have it! The program I use today, has its roots in his curriculum, but I’ve changed several things and found that it works at multiple churches of different sizes.

In addition, both churches I started the program in have continued without me, and kids are still serving into their high school years and beyond.

If you leave me a comment, I’ll be happy to share the curriculum with you. Here is the outline.

1. Invite every older elementary kid

Not every kid will engage and not every kid will make it through the 12 week semester, but I always tried to open it to as many kids as possible. For the kids to join, they had to sign a contract stating they would read their Bible, do the homework, be a positive role model, and memorize scripture. I also charged them $25. The money didn’t cover the cost of the t-shirt of the Bible I gave them, but it make parents put skin in the game.

Parents will pay hundreds of dollars for their kids to be in sports and make sure they’re at every practice. I wanted to tap into that passion and recruit the parents to help me keep the kids accountable.

I did offer sponsorships, but few ever took me up on it.

2. Meet for 90 minutes every other week or 45 minutes every week

I tried a lot of different days and times to really make the meetings work, but I found that meeting every other week for 90 minutes was best so that kids could have classroom time and practical ministry time. (more on that in a minute). However, at my last church, the ministry rhythm didn’t work for that model, so we met every week for 45 minutes alternating classroom and ministry time.

The every other week worked well because I required kids to memorize a Bible verse.  I've found giving them two weeks to learn it had a much high success rate.  Even when we met every other week, I still have them two weeks to memorize it.  

The goal was for them to hide God's Word in their heart not make them cram a verse for a test.  

3. Spend one half in classroom studies

The classroom time is mostly a copy/paste from what Brian Dollar gave me. It covers how to pray, study the Bible, tell others about Jesus and more. In addition, there was homework every week like keeping a prayer journal and writing a hundred word essay on the importance of spreading the Gospel. I would give the kids a binder for them to keep the lessons and study later.

This teaching was more in depth and practical than what I taught on Sunday mornings and for many kids it was all new information. The ones who took it seriously really benefitted.

4. Spend the second half in practical ministry training

Classroom time can be a bore, so I made sure that the second half of instruction was as fun as possible.

I found kids falling over themselves to find out what all those buttons and knobs did in the sound booth. They loved to learn the songs before everyone else as I taught them to lead worship. They relished the improv training focused on teaching them stage presence and thinking on their feet.

I made the practical ministry training fun and didn’t have a set curriculum. It was more based on what they needed to know and what was happening at the church.

5. Challenge them and hold them to their commitments

I mentioned earlier that I gave them homework. In addition, they had a weekly report they filled out every day that marked when and what they read from the Bible, what time they spent in prayer, and who they served.

I didn’t grade their homework for grammar or spelling, but I did grade it for content. The homework was never a lot, but if they were going to complete the training, they needed to make sure it was done.

At the end of the semester, I would give them a test on everything they'd learned.  It was a major part of their "grade," and helped me determine if they were going to continue or had to repeat.  

In addition, I would stretch them in serving. Every week I would assign them jobs that I knew they could do, like running sound, greeting new guests, helping with the game, or leading worship.

Some really talented kids I would let them teach the lesson for the day.

Not every kid wanted to serve in those areas, and some were definitely better in certain areas than others. I wanted to expose them to many different experiences and help them discover their God-given gifts and potential.

I loved seeing their excitement as they arrived with their lead team shirt and finding their assignment for the week.  I found their attendance and engagement significantly increased.  

6. Invite them back for more

The first semester of my leadership team is only 12 weeks. It goes by fast, and many kids are sad to see it end. Also, because I would invite the oldest two grades into the program, some kids would have another year and a half before they moved up. I needed something to continue to challenge them and offer opportunities for them to serve.

So, I created an alumni group. These kids had less classroom time but still had to do the weekly report. Instead of memorizing one verse a week, I challenged them to memorize three.

I really leaned into practical ministry training for this group. By this time, I had identified what they were passionate about. I would treat them like an adult volunteer during service allowing them to take the lead where they were able.

The capstone project for the year would be a kids’ takeover and they would lead the entire kids service from start to finish.

It was almost like putting on a play with practices and parts and stress. But on the day their parents would come watch, beaming. They loved seeing their little 11- or 12-year-old on stage leading or teaching. It was a big win.

I would allow kids to stay in the alumni group through middle school as long as they maintained the spiritual practices. If they wanted to stay longer then they had to help lead the next group of kids.

Whatever you do for your older elementary kids, whether it’s my curriculum or something else, I hope you challenge your kids to more. Don’t let them just sit back and wait for their time to move on. Give them a reason to come, to engage, and tap into what God has made them to do.

If you’d like a copy of the curriculum I used, leave me a comment with your email. I’ll be happy to send it.