To create a sense of belonging at your church for your children, you can help them find their purpose and build friendships. Simply said—we can help our kids find a job and a friend! Today we are going to focus on finding a job. I will write later on how we can cultivate friendships for our kids at church. Many experts will say that the secret to helping kids “stick” to their church and their faith after high school is the act of serving in the local church as youth. The likelihood of “sticking” increases even more if the youth are serving with their families in the local church.
The small step that we are going to look at today is helping your child find a job at your church….supporting their service and serving alongside.
The first step in encouraging your children to find a spot to serve is to model it in your own life. Our kids will do what they see us do before they do what they hear us say to do. (Say that ten times fast—I double dog dare you)
The next step is finding the right spot. When we are serving in a role that fits us, our spiritual gifting, our passion, our personality, and our abilities we will be so much happier, more fulfilled, more successful, and will be able to serve with longevity. The opposite is also true. If we are serving in a role that is just not the right fit this will lead to unhappiness, frustration, exhaustion, discouragement, and ultimately quitting. Some tools that will help your family determine passion and spiritual gifting can be found at www.risenking.org under the resource tab. A conversation with your family and pastor about how God has made you will help to determine what type of jobs would be a good fit.
The final step is finding out what opportunities are available at your church that will fit how God has made you. You can find these opportunities by talking with the leaders at your church or watching for opportunities as they are communicated. If you are at Risen King, we have opportunities for young people and families to serve in many areas: Worship, Greeting and Ushering, Serving Communion, Hospitality, Special Events, or KIDS ministry are some great places to start.
Please take a moment to share a comment. What ways have you and your children served in the church? What was that experience like? How are you going to take this step on the Family Discipleship Path? Do you have any other ideas for creating a sense of belonging through finding a job?
Family Discipleship Path 
I have a job of serving at the church on a weekly basis that I love and that suits my giftings to a T. I love what I do and my daughter, 7 years old, often is there by my side as I serve. After I read this post I went home and asked her if she would like to become my official assistant in this job so that it would now be the two of ours and part of her responsibility as well. I can not tell you how excited she was, she practicallly came unglued, out of her skin happy! It was fabulous. I am so excited for her to feel ownership of what we accomplish every week. And mainly to begin at her young age the beauty of serving something bigger than yourself. It is a beautiful thing! Thank you!
Great Job, Erin!! Thanks for sharing! Proud of you and your little one.