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Sustainable Children's Ministry: From Last-Minute Scrambling to Long-Term Solutions
Are you a children's ministry leader on the edge of burnout? Do you find yourself working harder and harder to tame the chaos? Mark DeVries and Annette Safstrom know how you feel. Flash and fizz can be effective at attracting young families, but without sustainable systems beneath the unforgettable moments, the impact is almost always short-lived. In this practical resource, you’ll learn how to recruit volunteers, partner with parents, navigate politics, and care for your own soul instead of frantically scrambling to do it all yourself. Sustainable Children’s Ministry will help you build a ministry foundation that will still be standing long after you are gone.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2018
101 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Mark DeVries
39 books12 followersMark DeVries (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary) is the founder of Ministry Architects, a consulting team that helps churches and ministry organizations build sustainable ministries for children, youth, young adults, and entire congregations. He served for twenty-eight years as associate pastor for youth and their families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He has trained youth workers on five continents and has taught courses or been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and seminaries. DeVries is the author of Sustainable Youth Ministry and Family-Based Youth Ministry, coauthor of The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life/The Most Important Year in a Man's Life, and he has been a contributing writer for Josh McDowell's Youth Ministry Handbook, Starting Right, and Reaching a Generation for Christ. In addition, his articles and reviews have been published in a variety of journals and magazines. He and his wife, Susan, have four grown children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 9, 2019
This book made my minds wheels turning about my own serving, leadership and ministry. It provided few very helpful ideas despite of cultural an economical differences.
January 23, 2025
Foundational. "[The success of children's ministers] depends largely on whether they can make the leap from being a leader to being a leader of leaders." (196)
Take some balcony time, create a Leadership Team, stop the reactionary juggling, throw some monkeys off your back, and step into God's calling for your role. Would highly recommend for any next generation pastor.
Take some balcony time, create a Leadership Team, stop the reactionary juggling, throw some monkeys off your back, and step into God's calling for your role. Would highly recommend for any next generation pastor.
June 27, 2018
I first became aware of Mark DeVries and the work of his organization Ministry Architects and his books on Youth Ministry like Sustainable Youth Ministry (IVP 2005), Family-Based Youth Ministry (IVP 2004), and Build A Volunteer Team (IVP 2015). I've long been convinced that the best practical theology being done anywhere, begins in the youth ministry world and Brandon Mckoy, Andrew Root, Kara Powell, Pamela Erwin, have transformed my thoughts, not only on youth ministry but on ministry and mission in general. Devries work is less theological than some of these other folks, but he's eminently practical, promoting systems and structures (e.g. a functional database organization, delegation, and systemic plan for volunteer recruitment and management).
I've often thought that most of what he says about youth ministry is broadly applicable to other ministries. When I read Building Your Volunteer Ministry: A 30 Day Change Project for Youth Ministry, I was pasoring a small church. The most natural application I saw for Devries (and Nate Stratman's) wisdom was in our children's ministry. Sustainable Children's Ministry: From Last-minute Scrambling to Long-Term Solutions. Is essentially the wisdom of Sustainable Youth Ministry adjusted and applied to the realm of children's ministry. While Mark DeVries is still the headliner, his co-star author, Annette Safstrom, is the children's ministry consultant for Ministry Architects and the narrative voice throughout the book. She took Devries ideas, adjusted them, and shows how they work in a children's ministry context.
The book has 14 chapters. In Chapters 1 and 2, Safstrom tells of her shift to a more systemic approach to children's ministry. When she first entered the children's ministry world, she put in lots of hours and lots of ideas but no systems in place. She got burned out by the ministry. Her second foray as a children's minister had more structure, and when she handed off her children's director job, she left the church in a good stead.
Chapters 3 through 7 describe the systems approach to children's ministry. While many children's and youth ministries focus on the fun event, like VBS and fun activities, an overemphasis on 'the icing' without attention to the whole cake, leaves children's ministries with nothing but a sticky blob (31-32). Saftstrom and Devries argue that in order for ministry to thrive, Children's ministers need to be as attentive to maintaining the dancefloor as they are in doing the dance (33). Chapter 4 describes the staffing, resources, and investment needed for Children's ministry to thrive. Safstrom and Devries have observed several factors common to healthy children's ministries: $1000 annual investment in children's ministry per child attending, 1 full-time staff person per seventy-five children in the children's ministry (or the equivalent staff hours), 1 adult volunteer for every 5 children, and a children's ministry which makes up about 15% of the worshipping congregation. Safstrom notes:
This is a key insight. Children's ministry is like any other ministry. You get out what you have invested. Not more.
In chapter 5 and 6, Safstrom and Devries point at the particular 'machines' which serve children's ministry—databases, calendars, volunteer recruiting and equipping plans, communication, attendance tracking, visitor and MIA follow-up, safety and security plans, check-in systems, facilities, and equipment maintenance. Chapter 7 describes creating visioning and mission statements, goals and plans.
Chapters 8 and 9 tackle the practical challenges of delegating tasks, managing a volunteer team and developing a volunteer rotation plan. Chapter's 10 and 11 help Children's ministers navigate (and see their role) in the realm of wider church politics, and how to partner with parents and families. Chapters 12 through 14 focus on self-management for children's ministers (e.g. self-care, support structures and mentoring, maintaining spiritual health, and ways to stay emotionally healthy).
There are also several appendices with helpful plans, checklists and sample statements for putting Devries and Safstrom's systemic approach to action.
This is a really practical book which will serve Children's ministers well. Like the Sustainable Youth Ministry counterpart, the principles are broadly applicable, though it is nice to see the attention given to the particular context of children's ministry. I recommend this book, especially for children's ministers that are feeling overwhelmed by their ministry and are looking for ways to make this more sustainable. I give this 4½ stars. ★★★★½
Notice of material connection: I received a copy of this book from InterVarsity Press in exchange for my honest review.
I've often thought that most of what he says about youth ministry is broadly applicable to other ministries. When I read Building Your Volunteer Ministry: A 30 Day Change Project for Youth Ministry, I was pasoring a small church. The most natural application I saw for Devries (and Nate Stratman's) wisdom was in our children's ministry. Sustainable Children's Ministry: From Last-minute Scrambling to Long-Term Solutions. Is essentially the wisdom of Sustainable Youth Ministry adjusted and applied to the realm of children's ministry. While Mark DeVries is still the headliner, his co-star author, Annette Safstrom, is the children's ministry consultant for Ministry Architects and the narrative voice throughout the book. She took Devries ideas, adjusted them, and shows how they work in a children's ministry context.
The book has 14 chapters. In Chapters 1 and 2, Safstrom tells of her shift to a more systemic approach to children's ministry. When she first entered the children's ministry world, she put in lots of hours and lots of ideas but no systems in place. She got burned out by the ministry. Her second foray as a children's minister had more structure, and when she handed off her children's director job, she left the church in a good stead.
Chapters 3 through 7 describe the systems approach to children's ministry. While many children's and youth ministries focus on the fun event, like VBS and fun activities, an overemphasis on 'the icing' without attention to the whole cake, leaves children's ministries with nothing but a sticky blob (31-32). Saftstrom and Devries argue that in order for ministry to thrive, Children's ministers need to be as attentive to maintaining the dancefloor as they are in doing the dance (33). Chapter 4 describes the staffing, resources, and investment needed for Children's ministry to thrive. Safstrom and Devries have observed several factors common to healthy children's ministries: $1000 annual investment in children's ministry per child attending, 1 full-time staff person per seventy-five children in the children's ministry (or the equivalent staff hours), 1 adult volunteer for every 5 children, and a children's ministry which makes up about 15% of the worshipping congregation. Safstrom notes:
I'm not saying you should spend more money on your children's minsitry. I'm saying you should match your expectations to your investment. If you've only got the fund to faithfully engage ten children, then your church's leadership needs to be crystal clear that they have decided to have ten children involved (and be happy about it). One surefire way to suck the energy out of a children's ministry is to invest at one level and expect results that are twice (or ten times) as much as the investment would merit (46).
This is a key insight. Children's ministry is like any other ministry. You get out what you have invested. Not more.
In chapter 5 and 6, Safstrom and Devries point at the particular 'machines' which serve children's ministry—databases, calendars, volunteer recruiting and equipping plans, communication, attendance tracking, visitor and MIA follow-up, safety and security plans, check-in systems, facilities, and equipment maintenance. Chapter 7 describes creating visioning and mission statements, goals and plans.
Chapters 8 and 9 tackle the practical challenges of delegating tasks, managing a volunteer team and developing a volunteer rotation plan. Chapter's 10 and 11 help Children's ministers navigate (and see their role) in the realm of wider church politics, and how to partner with parents and families. Chapters 12 through 14 focus on self-management for children's ministers (e.g. self-care, support structures and mentoring, maintaining spiritual health, and ways to stay emotionally healthy).
There are also several appendices with helpful plans, checklists and sample statements for putting Devries and Safstrom's systemic approach to action.
This is a really practical book which will serve Children's ministers well. Like the Sustainable Youth Ministry counterpart, the principles are broadly applicable, though it is nice to see the attention given to the particular context of children's ministry. I recommend this book, especially for children's ministers that are feeling overwhelmed by their ministry and are looking for ways to make this more sustainable. I give this 4½ stars. ★★★★½
Notice of material connection: I received a copy of this book from InterVarsity Press in exchange for my honest review.
October 4, 2018
When I finally decided to leave my old job – a job I loved and was very comfortable in – my new boss and I wrestled with my new title, eventually landing on Minister of Youth and Family. This role – one that was far more expansive than I’d had in the past – excited me. It also gave me pause.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, you need 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class in any field.
I have that in youth ministry.
In contrast, I have less than 500 in family ministry, most of which date back to nearly 20 years ago when I ran a Kids Club for a summer missions organization.
Upon realizing this, I questioned whether I was crazy to make this transition now.
I decided I wasn’t. But I also recognized my knowledge gap. So I began immersing myself in books about children and family ministry. Because I read Sustainable Youth Ministry years ago and found it incredibly helpful, I quickly picked up Sustainable Children’s Ministry: From Last-Minute Scrambling to Long-Term Solutions by Mark DeVries and Annette Safstrom.
Sustainable Children’s Ministry is a crash course in effective children’s ministry. It’s highly practical and focuses extensively on the systems needed to implement – as its title suggests – a sustainable children’s ministry.
As a veteran in ministry but a newbie in children’s ministry, I found Sustainable Children’s Ministry to be a goldmine, a valuable reminder of how important systems are to effective ministry. According to Annette and Mark, “Putting foundational systems in place will never be urgent, but without them, everything becomes urgent." With that in mind, Sustainable Children’s Ministry walks children’s ministry leaders through the process of implementing systems, starting with “being crystal clear about what we want.”
For those new to children’s ministry (or their particular church setting), Sustainable Children’s Ministry’s work on numbers will be particularly helpful. Annette and Mark suggest that “a good rule of thumb is that for every $1000 a church invests annually in children’s ministry, it can expect to see one child participating on an average week.” According to them, “the number of children who participate weekly in some type of program at the church tends to settle around 15 percent of the total number of people who worship on an average week.”
The information in Sustainable Children’s Ministry on recruiting and training leaders is also particularly good. As a ministry veteran, I know the importance of recruiting and training leaders. Yet, having started my role in August, I also feel overwhelmed at recruiting all those I need to partner with. Sustainable Children’s Ministry outlines a volunteer recruitment plan that requires a weekly investment of my time, but makes it feel entirely do-able to staff programs with competent, gifted, and passionate leaders.
Although I’m still drastically short of the 10,000 hours needed to be an expert in Children’s Ministry, Sustainable Children’s Ministry left me feeling as though I can last long enough to obtain that status. Sustainable Children’s Ministry is a resource I will return to often during my first few years in my new role as Minister of Youth and Family as I implement the systems needed to do effective ministry. It left me feeling encouraged and motivated and reminded me of what’s most important in ministry. It’s also a resource I’ll gladly pass on to other leaders – both those who are a part of my team as well as those I interact with from other churches.
********************************************************
Disclosure: I received a free copy of Sustainable Children's Ministry from InterVarsity Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.
According to Malcolm Gladwell, you need 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class in any field.
I have that in youth ministry.
In contrast, I have less than 500 in family ministry, most of which date back to nearly 20 years ago when I ran a Kids Club for a summer missions organization.
Upon realizing this, I questioned whether I was crazy to make this transition now.
I decided I wasn’t. But I also recognized my knowledge gap. So I began immersing myself in books about children and family ministry. Because I read Sustainable Youth Ministry years ago and found it incredibly helpful, I quickly picked up Sustainable Children’s Ministry: From Last-Minute Scrambling to Long-Term Solutions by Mark DeVries and Annette Safstrom.
Sustainable Children’s Ministry is a crash course in effective children’s ministry. It’s highly practical and focuses extensively on the systems needed to implement – as its title suggests – a sustainable children’s ministry.
As a veteran in ministry but a newbie in children’s ministry, I found Sustainable Children’s Ministry to be a goldmine, a valuable reminder of how important systems are to effective ministry. According to Annette and Mark, “Putting foundational systems in place will never be urgent, but without them, everything becomes urgent." With that in mind, Sustainable Children’s Ministry walks children’s ministry leaders through the process of implementing systems, starting with “being crystal clear about what we want.”
For those new to children’s ministry (or their particular church setting), Sustainable Children’s Ministry’s work on numbers will be particularly helpful. Annette and Mark suggest that “a good rule of thumb is that for every $1000 a church invests annually in children’s ministry, it can expect to see one child participating on an average week.” According to them, “the number of children who participate weekly in some type of program at the church tends to settle around 15 percent of the total number of people who worship on an average week.”
The information in Sustainable Children’s Ministry on recruiting and training leaders is also particularly good. As a ministry veteran, I know the importance of recruiting and training leaders. Yet, having started my role in August, I also feel overwhelmed at recruiting all those I need to partner with. Sustainable Children’s Ministry outlines a volunteer recruitment plan that requires a weekly investment of my time, but makes it feel entirely do-able to staff programs with competent, gifted, and passionate leaders.
Although I’m still drastically short of the 10,000 hours needed to be an expert in Children’s Ministry, Sustainable Children’s Ministry left me feeling as though I can last long enough to obtain that status. Sustainable Children’s Ministry is a resource I will return to often during my first few years in my new role as Minister of Youth and Family as I implement the systems needed to do effective ministry. It left me feeling encouraged and motivated and reminded me of what’s most important in ministry. It’s also a resource I’ll gladly pass on to other leaders – both those who are a part of my team as well as those I interact with from other churches.
********************************************************
Disclosure: I received a free copy of Sustainable Children's Ministry from InterVarsity Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.
November 26, 2019
Sustainable Childrens Ministry
I picked this book up hoping it was going to provide numerous types of systems and processes that I could experiment with to be used in my cm.
It provided a couple but the ones it provided were the basics ones that I feel we should all know right out of the gate anyway.
I gave this book a 3 out of 5 because the systems it does mention are good basic ones, just not any furthering ones I was hoping for. I didn't want to mark this book down because of my expectations when it did provide ones that can keep your ship a float. Just wouldn't recommend if you have been in ministry for a long time and looking for systems class 201 or 301. This is definately class 101. But you do need to start here.
I picked this book up hoping it was going to provide numerous types of systems and processes that I could experiment with to be used in my cm.
It provided a couple but the ones it provided were the basics ones that I feel we should all know right out of the gate anyway.
I gave this book a 3 out of 5 because the systems it does mention are good basic ones, just not any furthering ones I was hoping for. I didn't want to mark this book down because of my expectations when it did provide ones that can keep your ship a float. Just wouldn't recommend if you have been in ministry for a long time and looking for systems class 201 or 301. This is definately class 101. But you do need to start here.
February 25, 2023
This is the second time I read this book. I read it when it first came out in 2018. I did so with an understanding and respect for Ministry Architects (as a children's director, I had been trying to apply and rework some of the Youth Ministry Architect works. But as the book addresses, there are some different needs in Children's Ministries.) Grateful for this book.
Now rereading this 5 years later, post-pandemic *it still holds true*, especially as we rebuild our ministry teams and vision/goals. I HIGHLY recommend this book to all Children's Ministry Leaders. I have bought serval copies for ministry friends. Using this as my guide, benchmark, companion, and cheerleader this year.
Now rereading this 5 years later, post-pandemic *it still holds true*, especially as we rebuild our ministry teams and vision/goals. I HIGHLY recommend this book to all Children's Ministry Leaders. I have bought serval copies for ministry friends. Using this as my guide, benchmark, companion, and cheerleader this year.
March 7, 2018
An absolute gem for anyone in children’s ministry AND everyone in ministry at all. Ministry Architects does incredible work with people to make their ministries more functional and less reliant on one superstar minister. I’d say this work for children’s ministry also has a lot of applicable skills to ministry as a whole. I read he youth ministry one when I was starting youth ministry, and this one now that I’m starting in a new position. Love. It. Gave me so many clear ideas for what to do next and how to get things under control.
August 9, 2021
Although I took a very long time to read this book, taking a chapter a week (or a month, or whenever my reading rhythm wasn’t interrupted by something else!). It is provides a very clearly structured
approach to building a (you guessed it!) sustainable kids ministry. It was easy to read, inspiring and very helpful, even when I found it to be strongly based in the American church model. Glad to have read it and recommend it for kids min leaders, even if you simply take the principles and adjust the practises to suit your context. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
approach to building a (you guessed it!) sustainable kids ministry. It was easy to read, inspiring and very helpful, even when I found it to be strongly based in the American church model. Glad to have read it and recommend it for kids min leaders, even if you simply take the principles and adjust the practises to suit your context. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 18, 2022
I absolutely love this book! As a children's ministry worker and leader, I can definitely say that this book is so helpful and life-giving. I wish I could've read it 15 years ago. The solutions offered are so practical but simple. If your church's children's ministry is struggling in any way, this will help you so much! I will absolutely be referring back to this often and recommending it to anyone in children's ministry, and any other pastors and church leaders.
August 1, 2024
This resource is for everyone who is serving in a children's ministry! Great practical advice on everything from recruiting volunteers to setting personal and professional boundaries to creating a weekly schedule. As a children's ministry professor - this is my go-to resource for all of my students and for anyone who asks for advice on how to get started in kidmin. Thank you for writing the resource we all needed!
June 17, 2019
I recently agreed to take on the role of part-time children’s ministry director at the church I’m a part of. The first thing I did? Find some books on children’s ministry!
This one was highly rated and I will definitely use it as a source in the coming months. It seems very helpful and got me thinking about lots of ideas and ways to improve and enhance what we do.
This one was highly rated and I will definitely use it as a source in the coming months. It seems very helpful and got me thinking about lots of ideas and ways to improve and enhance what we do.
April 23, 2020
There was some real gems in the book. I will definitely be picking up again. Not everything was relevant to my context and some of the ideas were very obvious, but the treasure hidden amongst this was more than worth digging a little bit for.
Also, for a book that is primarily about structure and administration, it was easy to read.
Also, for a book that is primarily about structure and administration, it was easy to read.
August 28, 2021
There are so many amazing ideas on how to create systems in your children’s ministry and to not be the one who is continually juggling all of the things ever week. The book goes through how to not burn out as a leader and truly make it a ministry for the people not just all about what you can accomplish
February 3, 2022
Loved this book. It’s extremely practical. While not every idea or chapter was applicable to my context the things that were applicable have been very helpful. This book is a wonderful tool, one that I will probably go back once a year or every couple of years for a check up on processes and systems.
May 30, 2018
If you are in children’s ministry...READ THIS BOOK. I just finished it but will likely spend the next few months going back through it chapter by chapter in order to restructure different aspects of the ministry at my church! Loved it!
April 2, 2021
Lots of focus on nuts and bolts, which is very important practically. There is useful information here.
Too little focus on delving deep spiritually. Really focused on creating and sustaining conventional programming rather than thinking outside of the box.
Too little focus on delving deep spiritually. Really focused on creating and sustaining conventional programming rather than thinking outside of the box.
May 8, 2021
Highly recommend the first 11 chapters as it gives extremely practical advice for those starting out in kids ministry like myself. The Appendix’s at the end are worth the price of the book alone. Like most books though, it gets repetitive towards the end.
Read
March 22, 2024I read this for work and I learned a lot of valuable information from it. There are things that I am hoping to implement going forward that I believe will greatly benefit my program and the future of my program.
January 24, 2025
Annette Safstrom describes the essential systems undergirding successful children's ministries. It's a helpful book, but she envisions full time children's ministry workers, which many churches aren't able to afford. I'd love to see her address smaller churches as well.
August 5, 2025
This book was so extremely helpful! The delegation chapter and the one with the running the marathon analogy really spoke to me! My church has done well with systems so the details about maintenance with those were some great details. Grateful I read this!
February 28, 2019
If all you read is Chapter 9- "Beyond Rotation- Building Your Dream Team"...then you've gotten more then your money's worth for this book.
February 25, 2020
This should be a "must read" for every rookie through veteran in children's ministry!
May 4, 2020
Super-useful and clear. Highly recommended.
September 18, 2020
Very helpful. Read this when I started as the Kids Director.
October 15, 2020
Ok; good for children's ministry leaders, considering there isn't a ton out there for this topic.
May 4, 2021
Read for work - priceless advice and great resources!
January 22, 2023
5/5 stars. this should be required reading for every kids min person!
March 1, 2023
Interesting ideas and strategies. Even though not all are applicable to me, it was some food for thought.
January 15, 2024
Overall, the advice is well-thought-out and well written. Found the examples to be a bit much which made it harder to read for me.
April 6, 2024
Read over the last few months and have LOTS to digest! Extremely helpful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews