Nurturing the spiritual development of a precious gift from God – children
Captain Martin Herring is the National Children’s Secretary and has led the Children’s Ministry team since 2022. Having grown up in The Salvation Army, Martin has been an officer since 2012 and has a passion for improving the place and importance of children in faith communities. He spoke with Salvos Online journalist ANTHONY CASTLE about his role
What’s the key work your team does?
The development of children’s ministry throughout corps is our main priority. We place a strong focus on equipping leaders for effective children’s ministry. We encourage and promote the nurturing of children’s spiritual development, and we endeavour to foster growth in children’s ministry through research that broadens the support that we can offer corps.
There are three main groups of people that we focus on influencing:
• Local leaders and leadership at all levels of The Salvation Army.• Parents, supporting them to disciple their children, and there’ll be more on this coming in 2025.
• And, of course, the children engaged with a local corps and those yet to be.
Our overall goal and hope are the development of God-relational children, not just God-smart kids, and to see more families engaging with Jesus through The Salvation Army.
What are some of the challenges you face in Children’s ministry?
They range from equipping and raising up leaders, to resource updates and development, to upskilling leaders to better engage with neurodivergent children, to changing culture to support parents better, to the declining number of children and families. But it is so important to stay hopeful.
Our assessment research in 2022 revealed that 59 per cent of corps are engaged with children in some way, and approximately 40 per cent have dedicated children’s ministries. While that raises concerns, other denominations have expressed envy when I have mentioned those figures. The Salvation Army is a unique denomination with a range of opportunities to engage with children and young families. We need to keep exploring ways to connect with them in the local communities. If we can introduce children to Jesus, then the potential is high that it could turn into a lifelong faith.
Where do you suggest we begin when it comes to engaging children and young people in ministry?
Firstly, there’s three simple things that we can all do. Learn their names and converse with them regularly and connect with the parents. Take a knee or sit on a chair to talk with them at their level, being safe and talk with them in open areas. Listen to, and value, their life stories and experiences of God and explore their ideas for the church. Be curious about what we could learn from them. Along with this is intentionally including them regularly and meaningfully in as many aspects of corps experience, from worship experiences through to leadership meetings. And welcoming their voice and inclusion is important and beneficial for the whole community.
What does it mean to have a theology of children? What Biblical perspective can we bring to the presence of children in our communities?
Our team’s ‘why’ statement talks about children having a ‘belongingness’ to the kingdom of God. This is bringing together the inclusion and full acceptance of children by Jesus in Mark 10 and Matthew 18, and the compassion of God towards children evidenced in Deuteronomy 1:39. So, we can calmly nurture them in a positive relationship with Jesus through to the time that their awareness of right and wrong matures, and, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, they realise their need of forgiveness from Jesus that will lead them to a deeper, but not more genuine, relationship with him.
This year, IHQ released a statement on the theology of children and young people. It ties together six ways of seeing children more as God sees them. Children are made in the image of God and are gifts of God; they are developing and dependent, yet spiritual and capable. They are models of faith and partners in mission. It is really affirming to have support like this from IHQ. (Click here for more information.)
What’s the next step for the Children’s Ministry Team connecting with corps and faith communities?
Looking ahead to 2025, we will be developing a new Children’s Ministries web page that we refer to as the Kid’s Ministry Launch Pad. This page will be a comprehensive, easy-to-use access point to all The Salvation Army Australia children’s ministries resources, including existing resources on the Tool Kit and other related information. It will include a section for 0-5 years ministries, 6-12 years ministries, parents support, intergenerational ministries advice and resource links, and children’s ministry leaders development tools. It will also include access to research and deeper thinking about children and children’s ministries. Our aim is for it to be the go-to site for children’s ministries in The Salvation Army Australia that is easy to use and accessible for everyone.
For more information and resources, check out these websites:
• Children’s ministry resources, click here
• Children’s ministry website, click here
• Safeguarding children, click here
