I believe every leader, parent, teacher, and volunteer—indeed, every member of your church—should be able to answer the question, “Why does next generation ministry exist in your church?”
When we talk about next generation ministry, I mean all the ministries that involve children, youth, parents, and families. Why does nursery ministry exist? Why do we have children’s ministry or youth ministry? Why do we host Vacation Bible School? I’m placing all of these under the category of next generation ministry.
This may sound bold. I realize this is not likely a question the average person in the average church is thinking about. Some might argue that it is not a question we need to ask at all. It might feel like asking, “Why does the church gather on Sunday?” or “Why do we preach on Sunday morning?” These things are assumed to be part of church life. In the same way, next generation ministry has always been part of church life—so why even ask the question?
I suspect most people could give a thoughtful and respectable answer to the question of why next-generation ministry exists, but I would be surprised if they gave the answer I’m about to share.
I would argue that next generation ministry exists in the church to transfer truth from one generation to the next.
I believe this is the corporate, biblical responsibility of everyone in the church—every Christian. It is the responsibility of every parent and grandparent, and to some degree, every follower of Jesus Christ.
The Context
There are three passages where I believe this responsibility is clearly taught.
The first is the text from which Truth78 gets its name—Psalm 78. It is a fitting place to begin.
Here we see multiple references to this transfer of truth. The truths known from our fathers must be passed on. The glorious deeds of the Lord, His might, and His wonders are to be made known to the next generation. The testimony in Jacob and the law in Israel were commanded to be taught from parents to children, and then to future generations. When I speak of transferring truth, I mean the truths encompassed in these realities—the testimony, the law, and the wondrous works of the Lord.
The second passage is one many are familiar with, especially parents or those involved in children’s or youth ministry: Deuteronomy 6:6–9. Moses says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Again, “these words”—the truth—are to be on our hearts and diligently taught to our children. What I love about Deuteronomy 6 is the emphasis on constancy. This transfer is not occasional; it is to shape everyday life. We are to remind our children continually, integrating truth into the rhythms of daily living.
The third passage I will mention—though there are others we could consider—is Acts 20:26–27. In this scene, Paul is gathered with the Ephesian elders on the shores of Miletus. He is preparing to depart for Jerusalem and eventually for Rome. He knows he will likely never see these men again—men into whom he has poured years of his life and energy.
He says, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Paul understood his responsibility to take the truth entrusted to him and faithfully declare it—to transfer it to the church and to its leaders. Surely that responsibility would include the children among them. He viewed this calling with such seriousness that he could say he would have been guilty had he failed to teach them fully. But he was innocent because he had faithfully transferred the truth.
The Mindset
This, I believe, must shape our mindset in both the church and the home. As parents, teachers, and church members, we share responsibility for the children entrusted to us—not only those in our own families, but all those growing up within our church community. There should be a corporate sense of responsibility for the faithful transfer of truth to the next generation.
We also emphasize the concept of teaching the whole counsel of God. In the book Zealous: 7 Commitments for the Comprehensive Discipleship of the Next Generation, Commitment Three highlights the importance of teaching both the breadth and the depth of God’s truth.
So my earnest prayer is that everyone in your church, every pastor, every teacher, and every parent, would share this common biblical understanding of next generation ministry and why it exists. I long for the day when I could walk into any evangelical church, ask anyone why children’s ministry exists, and hear the response: “For the faithful transfer of truth from one generation to the next.”
Until that day, however, I think the average person in the average church will hold a variety of ideas about why children’s ministry exists. Some common reasons we hear include:
- The desire to provide meaningful activities for both children and adults. Churches want adults to be meaningfully engaged, and they want the same for children.
- Some pastors may say they value children’s ministry because it allows them to preach without the distraction of children in the service.
- Many will say that children’s ministry is essential for attracting and serving young families. If a church wants to grow—especially by reaching younger families—it needs to provide ministry for their children.
- Others will emphasize that children’s ministry exists to teach the Bible to children, which is certainly a good and worthy reason.
To one degree or another, all of these are valid considerations. However, I have argued that the transfer of truth is the primary reason next generation ministry exists.
The Ultimate Purpose
At the same time, I want to be careful to say that it is not the ultimate purpose. The ultimate purpose of children’s ministry—and of all next generation ministry, not to mention everything else that we do—is the glory of God.
Psalm 78, our key passage, points us in this direction. Verse 7 speaks of the next generation setting their hope in God. We could make a strong case that when children set their hope fully in God by faith, they glorify God—turning away from self-sufficiency and embracing his all-sufficiency through Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul echoes this ultimate purpose at the end of Ephesians 3, declaring that glory belongs to God in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. We should respond by affirming our calling to declare God’s glory to every generation.
Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 10, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” And in Isaiah 43 we see the ultimate reason for our very existence. God says, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Here we find our ultimate purpose as human beings: we were created in the image of God for His glory. It is this zeal for God’s glory that drives everything we do in children’s ministry, family ministry, and next generation ministry. There is much more that could be said about this. In fact, Commitment Seven in Zealous is to “Inspire Worship of God, for the Glory of God.”So, to summarize: the primary reason we engage in next generation ministry is to transfer truth from one generation to the next—ultimately for the glory of God.
