Helping Children Successfully Graduate to Youth Ministry

For many parents and their children, the start of a new school year can bring both excitement and angst. For those entering middle school, there are often other transitions which can add to a child’s anxiety – one of which is the transition out of kids ministry and into the youth group. And while some nervousness is normal, parents can often help ease the transition by being intentional in preparing their children for the move.

Kayla Pierce, sociologist and research affiliate at the University of Notre Dame, says there are two categories of readiness that parents can help develop in their children to better prepare them for the move: spiritual readiness and sociological readiness.

“Spiritual readiness sounds obvious but being intentional about a child’s biblical literacy and taking the formative years of a child’s time in kids’ church seriously is so important,” she says.

 Pierce explains that during a child’s elementary years, their brains benefit from extra neuroplasticity, which means kids have an enhanced capacity to retain information. However, she cautions that “outsourcing” a child’s spiritual formation and biblical literacy to church leaders can be inhibiting to a child’s spiritual health.

“Parents should ensure that they are familiarizing their kids with God’s Word and anchoring them in biblical literacy,” she says. If they have an intimate knowledge of God’s Word and are confident in that knowledge, the transition to a deeper spiritual environment will be less overwhelming.

Sociological readiness, the second category Pierce mentions, is vital to reducing anxiety brought about by this social change. “We are social beings,” she says. “Think about the Garden of Eden. God knew we needed a social environment in which to thrive. But sometimes parents aren’t intentional about making sure their kids find healthy social connections at church.”

Instead of just dropping kids off and telling them to make friends and have fun, she suggests parents be intentional about exposing their children to different youth leaders, sponsors, and spiritual mentors. This sociological breadth allows kids to find people with whom they naturally feel a connection.

Additionally, Pierce encourages parents to get to know youth leaders for themselves. “In times of transition, when the social stakes feel higher, kids take their cues from their parents,” she says. “Once parents get to know the leaders and feel more comfortable with them, their child’s anxiety will likely be reduced.”

Kelly Presson, director of National Children’s Ministries for the Assemblies of God, suggests that some kids ministries may have the opportunity to do “the best of both worlds” for outgoing sixth graders. This delayed transition, he says, would allow those children going into youth to stay in the children’s ministry as student leaders for a set period of time.

“Some kids need a safe place to stay until they feel ready,” he says. “If there is a mini-leadership program where they can still serve in the children’s church or if they can stay until they reach the seventh grade, they can slowly build relationships and connections to older youth.”

This slow or delayed transition can look a lot of different ways, says Presson. Kids may be able to attend youth group on Wednesday and serve in the kids ministry on Sundays. Or, as is often done with incoming kindergarteners, older children may be able to attend the youth service for the worship time and then return to the children’s service for the teaching time.

“There are a lot of different ways to make it work for each child,” he says.

Presson also says that if youth pastors and youth leaders are able to find time to spend with the older kids in the children’s ministry, the impact can be huge. By investing even a small amount of time with incoming youth students, they will be able to learn the goals and expectations of the youth ministry, as well as familiarize themselves with the new climate.

But ultimately, kids just have to experience youth to really know what kinds of questions they have, Presson says. “You can tell kids about youth group all day long but until they experience it for themselves, they won’t be able to ask the questions they need answered.”

Overall, collaboration is key. This time of transition must be met with celebration from parents and both the children’s ministry and the youth ministry. Kids must be championed from both ends, says Pierce, and parents that begin helping their child prepare for the change ahead of time will often see a greater level of success from their children during the transition.