4 Ways Kids Ministry & Youth Ministry Can Work Together

A lot of work goes into creating & sustaining a thriving family ministry. One of those key pieces is the working relationship between the Kids Ministry and Youth/Student Ministry staff. It is crucial to prioritize both ministries, value the entire family, and desire to see kids discipled from birth to high school. 

It is safe to say that there are some pretty significant differences between student ministry & kids ministry. The programming, teachings, and ministry strategies are just a few. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible youth ministry leaders and to be honest, sometimes the way they did things just did not make sense (there is a reason I stick to kids ministry). Even though I could never understand their jokes, games, or outrageous amounts of energy, their impact was and still is incredible. 

One of the best things you can do for the longevity of the kids ministry is to build a friendship with the youth ministry staff. 

Not only does it create a great staff culture, it makes your job so much more fun! Your ministries should celebrate, collaborate, and champion one another. Partnering with the youth ministry staff sometimes takes work so here are 4 ways you can partner with your youth pastor.

Build a friendship

This may seem obvious and I hope that your staff has a great culture that creates spaces to naturally build friendships, but sometimes that isn’t the case. Now, you don’t have to be best friends, but having friendship as a foundation will help tremendously when your ministries need to work together. Find times throughout the work week to have conversations that do not revolve around work, learn about their family, or share a meal. There are so many ways you can build a friendship and it is so worth it!

Respect their ministry

You may not always understand the strategies or motives they have for doing certain things, but you have to trust that God placed them as the leaders of that ministry for a reason. They probably don’t understand everything about kids ministry, so mutual respect will go a long way. For the times you do not understand, ask questions and learn. You both have the end goal of reaching kids with the gospel in mind even if the path to get there looks different.

Champion them publicly

It is important that the kids and families in your ministry know that you know what is going on in students, and that you are excited about it. God is doing great things through the leaders and volunteers of that ministry so you should talk about it! Talk about it with parents or upcoming middle schoolers, share stories, and celebrate the good things both publicly and privately. If there happens to be something you don’t agree with, go to your friend and co-worker with it and not the parents and kids in your church. My favorite way to do this is when welcoming a new family, especially if they have kids in both ministries. You should be their biggest cheerleader in meetings throughout the week and in front of families on Sunday mornings.

Collaborate when you can

There’s a good chance that many of your families are a part of both kids ministry and student ministry. Instead of asking parents to attend two different events for major seasons like Easter, Christmas, and fall kick-off consider creating one big event! You can’t always combine events, but when you can it is helpful to share the workload and show your church that you care for the entire family as one unit. When you can’t collaborate events, don’t be afraid to share ideas and help one another grow and serve the kids and families of your church.

It is common to hear from church leaders that their ministries feel “silo’d” and that there is very little collaboration across teams. I believe that a church staff should be a team and work collectively toward caring for and shepherding the people of their church. You have an incredible opportunity to join forces with the youth ministry staff and work together to encourage and equip your families. Don’t miss the chance to gain a new friend, a new perspective, and a new partner in ministry.