Every church has one ministry that shapes its future more than any other. Ironically, it’s often the one that gets the least attention from pastors. Peter’s instruction to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet. 5:2) includes the children in our pews. Yet many churches treat children’s ministry as glorified childcare rather than a discipleship lab. Wise pastoral leadership means stewarding a church’s most valuable resource: its people. Imagine an experienced, highly skilled Bible teacher joined your church and asked for a place to serve. It’d be tempting to drop that person into an adult Sunday school class or small group—and that could be a good fit. But what if your children’s ministry is an even better fit? Here’s why it might be. 1. Children’s ministry is a gospel opportunity. Think about how much effort churches put into evangelism programs, training church members to introduce the lost to Jesus. This is right, but we should also remember that most people trust Jesus when they’re between the ages of 4 and 14. Consider how many kids in this 4–14 window come to your church each week. Yes, you should train parents to help win these kids to Christ at home, but you should also position some of your best teachers in your classrooms. These kids need to hear the gospel over and over from loving, gifted leaders who can explain it to them on their level. Our kids should never stop hearing the gospel. Just like us, they need to hear of its beauty and the power again and again so they not only come to believe it, trusting in Jesus for salvation, but also to embody it in how they live. Research shows the best way for this to happen is for the church and home to echo one another. A 2020 Barna study found that 53 percent of “habitual churchgoers” and 77 percent of “resilient disciples” indicated that a key to their continued faith was having close personal friends who were adults in the church. That godly, caring children’s ministry leader can make a huge difference now and well into the future. If the 4–14 window is a strategic mission field, what better way to penetrate it than to raise up a committed and engaged missionary force? Evangelism is one beggar telling another where to find bread. A child who has trusted in Jesus knows enough to help another do the same. Placing gifted teachers into your children’s ministry who can train kids to do just that may be one of the greatest evangelism efforts you can make. 2. Children’s ministry is a discipleship opportunity. If a child trusts Jesus, he’s a part of the regenerate church. There’s no “junior Holy Spirit” nor “junior-varsity church.” There’s “one body” (Eph. 4:4–6). And, as Paul stated plainly, pastors have a responsibility to “watch out for [themselves] and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made [them] overseers” (Acts 20:28, NET, emphasis mine). God’s desire is for the entire church—adults, teens, and kids—to be discipled and released on mission. That should be our desire too. If the 4–14 window is a strategic mission field, what better way to penetrate it than to raise up a committed and engaged missionary force? Beyond our sense of responsibility for young image-bearers made new in Christ, we should be motivated by love and a desire for their growth. Ask any financial adviser when it’s best to invest in retirement, and he’ll tell you: early! The sooner you begin, the more time you allow for compound interest to work its magic and multiply your investment. The same is true of discipleship. One of the best ways we can love and serve the next generation of Christians is to disciple them early and deeply. Laying a strong gospel foundation in a child’s mind and heart will pay dividends for decades to come. It’ll position the child to avoid many pitfalls and hardships and maximize her effectiveness for kingdom work. 3. Investing in children’s ministry is a church-health strategy. In Major League Baseball, the difference between a championship team and a dynasty is its farm system. Invest in the MLB squad and you can win now; invest in the farm system and you can win in perpetuity. The same is true in the church. God’s desire is for the entire church—adults, teens, and kids—to be discipled and released on mission. If you want a church to be healthy and vibrant for decades, invest heavily in the next generation. Believing kids are an important part of the church today, but they’re also a critical part of the church tomorrow. A gifted teacher can surely make a mark in other areas of ministry, but in children’s ministry, perhaps more than any other ministry, that teacher’s influence ripples well beyond his lifetime. Children’s ministry isn’t merely keeping children occupied while their parents are discipled. It’s the front lines of discipleship, evangelism, and church health. Those front lines are a great place for strong teachers to serve. A mark of a strong theologian is being able to take complex doctrines and boil them down into the simplest terms without compromising truth. That’s exactly what’s needed in children’s ministry. Kids can grasp doctrine, and we can help them do so if we place gifted teachers in our children’s ministries.