Judy Bryson is not only the president of Pioneer Clubs; as a child, she also benefited from this church-sponsored midweek program for kids. Back when the ministry was known as Pioneer Girls, Judy began attending while in early elementary school and never stopped—only changing roles from a club member to a volunteer leader and eventually to the ministry’s key leader. Building Church Leaders recently talked with Judy at her office in the Chicago suburbs. The conversation covered a lot of territory, including her early involvement with the ministry, the joys of reaching and discipling children, and why she’s so passionate about what she does.
Tell me about your first encounter with Pioneer Clubs.
I grew up in what I later learned was an unchurched family. However, as kids my siblings and I were all sent to church; it was very typical in those days for non-Christian parents to make sure their children got some kind of spiritual nurturing at a local congregation. I was about 8 or 9 years old, and the church I was attending began what was then called Pioneer Girls. (We were a girls’ program from 1939 until the mid-’70s.) So, I attended Pioneer Girls, and it was just the perfect place for me.
Why was it the perfect place for you?
The activities, the Bible teaching, the fun, the small groups, and, of course, Camp Cherith—the ministry’s summer camping program; I loved it all. When my family moved to a new community, my mother called around to find a church that had Pioneer Girls; she figured if a church had Pioneer Girls, it must be a pretty good church, and she’d send her kids there. I stayed involved throughout junior high and senior high. And then when I went off to college, I started volunteering as a club leader at a local church.
Let’s shift our direction a bit to talk about the relationship of children’s ministry to the local church. How does a ministry like yours fit in with a church’s overall vision?
Research indicates that only one in five church members views children’s ministry as an important value of the church. It’s simply not seen as a priority for most people who go to church. It’s not why they come to church. This doesn’t mean they don’t care about kids or they don’t value children, but it does impact how church leaders approach such areas as budgets and church facilities. Now, I certainly think there are many churches that have an excellent children’s ministry, but these churches are often doing it on a very limited budget and with limited facilities.
The key leadership simply doesn’t make children ministry a top priority.
The people driving the decisions don’t often see the full picture. And here is an important glimpse into the bigger picture: Eighty percent of us who have made a profession of faith did so before we reached the age of 14. That ought to tell us something.
Yes, like maybe those so-called “formative years” really are formative.
There’s a wonderful story about D. L. Moody. He was out on a crusade and came home late at night. As he got into bed, his wife asked, “How’d the crusade go?” And he said, “It was pretty good, we had two and a half converts. And she smiled and she said, “How old was the child?” He answered, “Oh no, my dear, two children and one adult.” He felt the adult’s life was half over, but the children would have a whole life to live for Christ.
Let’s focus specifically on Pioneer Clubs. What is the most important thing your ministry has to offer the local church?
I think Pioneer Clubs has a unique fit. We’re able to assist the church in reaching kids who are not connected to a church, and we’re able to help the church disciple those children who have been raised in the church. Our club program covers both areas: helping kids know Christ and then helping them to see how the Bible applies in practical ways. We strive to teach and model a holistic view that God cares about everything we do.
Elaborate on how that works in Pioneer Clubs.
As far as evangelism goes, every child in a club will know how to come to faith. I can’t guarantee they’ll do it. You know, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. But I know that our resources will help a leader communicate the gospel effectively and honestly; children will know how to come to Christ.
In terms of developing a holistic view, we want them to see that faith has to permeate all of life. Whether I’m building a birdhouse, baking cookies, or reading the Bible, God cares about what I do. That’s the underlying philosophy of Pioneer Clubs. Our slogan is “Christ in every aspect of life.”
Kids learn that they can’t just be a good little boy or girl in Sunday school. We want kids to understanding that God requires Christians to live a radically different lifestyle. Now, that’s not exactly how we would state that for a third grader, but that’s the essence of it. We want them to know that a lot of things they see around them are not what God thinks is good for them. They’ll understand that as Christians there are certain things they do because they love God.
All of this happens in a nurturing, small group environment. We encourage leaders to have no more than a dozen in a group—and two volunteer leaders to a group. It’s a setting where kids and leaders can learn to appreciate one another.
What about parents? They often leave children at church or club and expect them to get nurtured in their faith there. Does this create any dissonance for you?
While I don’t disagree that Christians parents are responsible for nurturing their children’s faith, Pioneer Clubs is really focused on outreach to kids from unchurched homes. In fact, about 50 percent of the kids that come to a Pioneer Clubs program are not from that sponsoring church. I’d say the vast majority of those who don’t regularly attend the sponsoring church are unchurched. While non-Christian parents might not feel comfortable sending their kids to, say, Sunday school on Sunday morning, they often do not have a problem sending their children to a club meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday night. I don’t think it seems as threatening.
Let’s get back to my original question, though: Do you have concerns about the Christian family expecting the church to raise their kids spiritually?
Yes, I do. In fact, when researcher George Barna’s Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions came out, we evaluated our ministry in light of the book’s findings and recommendations. The one weakness we pinpointed in our ministry was the lack of a clear connection between club and home. So we made some changes. One change was the development of a “Parent Page” that let parents know what their child would be learning and what memory verses we’d be working on. Every time a club begins a new unit, a “Parent Page” is available for that club leader to send home. We make it a point to make this page accessible to unchurched parents, too. The important thing is, we want parents to have spiritual conversations with their kids. We feel this resource can help make that happen.
We also encourage churches to hold special club events that are open to parents. Along with other activities, these events can be used to connect with parents and thank them for allowing us to partner with them. Parents appreciate that a lot. It helps build a connection, and it also communicates that we are partners with them—and not solely responsible for nurturing their child’s faith.
What’s a key challenge you’re facing right now as you seek to minister to children?
I don’t mean to keep bringing this up, but I am very concerned with how much we really value children’s ministry. And it’s not like anyone would come out and say, “I don’t value children’s ministry.” I mean, if you are a patriotic American, you value mom and apple pie. If you are a church, you value children. But if you look around and see where the money is going, where most of the volunteers are, how the facilities are used, what the church’s schedule looks like, I think you’d see how much a church does or doesn’t value ministry to children.
Do you sometimes feel like a prophet crying in the wilderness and no one is listening?
I don’t think I’d put it like that. I don’t think people are opposed to the importance of children. I think many of us—and many churches—are doing a good job. I really do. But we could do so much more. When it comes to a child’s faith development, we can never do enough. We really can’t. We can’t give them enough role models. If you look at the long-term studies of Search Institute, you realize just how important it is—for both the church and the community—for children to have significant interactions with adults.
I think one of the beautiful things about Pioneer Clubs is that you build a natural relationship with a child. You’re engaged in an activity they enjoy, and you’re engaged in the biblical content. And when you take time to really listen to kids in a small group setting, you learn so much about children and their needs and their dreams and their hopes.
Anything else you would like to say before we bring this to a close?
I would simply like to encourage pastors and children’s pastors to do what they can to expose members of their congregation to children’s ministry. Create opportunities to sub, to simply help out in even a small way. Maybe they could encourage adults to give special classes for kids that draw from their skills or expertise. Working with kids is so fun and rewarding. Just imagine an opportunity to impact a child’s life. It doesn’t get any better than that.
