For today's entry in the Friday Five interview series, we catch up with Larry Fowler.

Larry Fowler has been in children's ministry for over 30 years and is currently the executive director of global networking for Awana and KidzMatter. Larry is also the author of Rock Solid Children's Ministry.

Today we chat with Larry about a transformed heart ministry, the significant "one", and "How often do they come?"

Larry, you have been ministering to children a long time (30+ years); what is the essence of effective children's ministry?

Well—the word "effective" implies a measure, and children's ministries in churches are measured a lot of different ways. I look at it through the lens of Scripture: "If we were to minister to kids according to what the Bible says, what would it look like?" You see, I believe that Scripture needs to drive the core of how we minister to children.

From the Scriptural perspective, I believe that the essence is, "Children's ministry must impact the heart of a child." Bible ...