I was leading a workshop at a large children’s ministry conference. This particular breakout session was about how children’s leaders could advocate for themselves when they weren’t feeling a lot of support from church leadership. One of my points challenged children’s leaders to be theologians. Don’t just be event planners, I advised. Don’t just be providers of childcare. Be philosophical and theological leaders in your church, challenging your staff and lay leaders to go deeper. Base everything you do in a strong theology, ecclesiology, and philosophy of children’s ministry.

One hand went up.

“I’ve been the children’s director at my church for more than twenty years. This is the first time anyone has ever said anything like this to me. My lead pastor is a really smart and trained theologian. I wouldn’t even know where to start!”

This turned into a really good discussion, but it also opened my eyes to a larger issue: our children’s leaders aren’t being trained as theologians!

I would argue that those giving leadership to our youngest worshipers should be some of our strongest theologians. A groundwork of bad theology leads to years of undoing and re-teaching as kids grow.

Well, as coordinator of the Ignite Conference, I could do something about it.

This year, as we learn what it means to create, discover, explore, and connect together, theology is a major theme throughout Ignite.

This year, as we learn what it means to create, discover, explore, and connect together, theology is a major theme throughout Ignite. We have strong theology coming from the platform, and specifically theological tracks that children’s leaders (pastors, directors, volunteers, etc.) can take with some of the sharpest theological minds around!

There will be plenty of philosophical and practical workshops available as well. We want to resource leaders no matter where they are in their ministry journey. These theology breakouts will be great for our students, but our most seasoned children’s pastors will learn in brand-new ways from the dynamite theologians leading us.

I heard, loud and clear, the need for this kind of training in the world of children’s ministry. Let’s do something about it. Let’s work to become theologians. Come to Ignite for training, rest, renewal, and strong theology. I’ll see you there!

Learn more about the Ignite Conference and register for the Early-Bird discount here!