I am so excited to introduce you to my dear friend LaBreeska today! We went to college together in Kentucky and even lived in North Carolina together for awhile. She is sharing with us something that is near and dear to my heart, children’s ministry.

Have you ever dreaded volunteering for Children’s Church? Do your kids complain of Children’s Church being boring? Have you ever wished you could see your kid encounter Jesus in a supernatural way, like Samuel (1 Samuel 3)?

Here are two fundamental truths that we believe:

We believe that kids can lead their own ministry. Kids won’t be bored if they are included in leadership. One of our challenges is to equip and release children to recognize and walk in their purpose and destiny not only for the future but also for the present. Children are not just the church of the future. Children are a vital part of the church today. In our children’s church class, you will see elementary age kids leading worship, preaching sermons, and ministering to each other through prayer. We don’t do ministry to kids, we release the kids to practice ministry with their peers.

We believe that parents are the spiritual authority in their kids’ lives. Kids can’t do ministry alone and we do not believe that the church exists to get kids all “squared away” for their spiritual journey. We realize that the kids will imitate their parents more than the church. Therefore, we seek to encourage the parents that they have been supernaturally equipped with everything they need for their role instead of usurping their authority or undermining their influential role. The parents in our church are heavily involved in the direction and leadership of the Children’s Ministry.

We want to provide resources for the parents and the church. My husband created a website www.kidsministryteam.com where we blog weekly about our lives as parents, educators, and Children’s Pastors. We recently completed a free 60-page eBook entitled “Kids Leading Kids” that can be downloaded from our website. This short book details our history in equipping kids to lead their own ministry. It includes “How To” chapters about creating a kids band and kids ministry team, as well as a chapter on encouragement to parents to fulfill their spiritual mandate as the reproducers of an amazing product called kid disciples.

LaBreeska Ingles is a stay at home mom with two kids and one on the way. She and her husband (Brian) are volunteer children’s pastors at Vineyard Campbellsville Church in Kentucky. They create resources and train children’s volunteers for fun.