The heat that helps ministry rise comes from people—because they provide the energy needed to make things happen. And as with any recipe, it's not simply a lot of heat that's needed—it's the right amount at the right time. Too much workload on too few people will result in burnout. And just like cooking in the kitchen at home, by the time my smoke detector wails the damage is done. On the other hand, too little work for too many people … will never happen, so don't worry about it!

Before you concern yourself too much with the thermostat, keep this in mind: ministries don't thrive simply because they have a lot of people—they succeed because the right people are in the right places. This idea comes straight from the Bible, most notably the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul describes how a variety of spiritual gifts are given to people at God's discretion, with the intent that they all will work together as a church body.

I believe many children's ministries find it easy to agree with the need for gift-based serving. Quite often the most practical challenge is to figure out how to start. When ministries ask me about this, I suggest they begin by recruiting a group called the "four sets of eyes."

Four Sets of Eyes

Any leader who tries to shoulder the entire load of their ministry is destined to collapse under the weight, especially in ministries with a new vision to be the best hour of every kid's week. So a good starting point is to establish a very small team of people, each of whom is a leader and owns the responsibility to watch over a different corner of the ministry.

We started with one team of four for the entire ministry. As we grew and became more complex, the need arose to either grow eyes on the back of our heads, develop x-ray vision to see in multiple rooms at once, or develop more groups of four. So we added one for the pre-school area and one for kids in late childhood. Eventually, these teams replicated so that each room within the ministry benefited from its own four sets of eyes.

Again, assembling a small leadership team with specific roles can serve as one step toward successfully building or changing a program—but there's much more to it. So how does an entire ministry recipe really come together? After years of doing my best to assemble the right ingredients, I've come to the steadfast conclusion that it all depends on who does the cooking. I can have the freshest vision and mission, just the right ministry values, and even turn up the heat of gifted volunteers—but only God can mix it all together well. Only he can make a ministry effective in reaching kids and turning them into fully devoted followers of Christ. So our job is to do our very best and then trust the results to the master chef. With that combination, the recipe turns out right every time.

(Adapted from Making Your Children's Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid's Week by Sue Miller, Zondervan Publishing, 2004.)

Sue Miller has served for fourteen years as the executive director of Promiseland, the children's ministry at Willow Creek Community Church. Sue consults and trains children's leaders around the world.

Copyright © 2005 Promiseland.

Read more from 'Operations'

Words Kids Need to Hear To Help Them Be Who God Made Them to Be by David Staal If you could choose just seven statements to share with children, what would they be? Each chapter in this compelling book focuses on a single statement elementary-age kids need to hear from parents, children's workers, and other close adults. These seven statements are simple to share, yet guaranteed to profoundly impact children. They are: I believe in you. You can count on me. I treasure you. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Because. No. I love you. will educate, equip, and motivate parents and children's ministry teams to carefully choose words that building up kids' hearts, to say them frequently, and to do so in creative ways. What children hear from trusted adults significantly influences their self-image, their current relationships, and future relationships—including that all-important relationship with God.