‘We're not going to revitalize the church in a day’: Waco church focuses on children’s ministry growth; moving forward in revitalization

Four years ago, when Mike Raymond came on staff as pastor of Bosqueville Baptist Church in Waco, there was only one child participating in Promotion Sunday. This summer, a year after going through Pave, the Texas Baptists revitalization strategy, Raymond saw 10 children participate in Promotion Sunday. 

Prior to Raymond beginning Pave, the church moved to hire a children’s minister to start building momentum in their children’s ministry. Since, they have prayed for God to continue the work. 

“We have started things when we felt God wanted us to start them… At the time that we started [our] Sunday school class, there were no kids that age attending Sunday school. Now there are kids that age attending Sunday school, and we know eventually we'll have a teacher for [it],” explained Raymond. “[So], whenever God says we need to have a class or we need to go to children's camp, we're doing that and then we're allowing God to fill in the people who will come to that.” 

Raymond said the main goal of Promotion Sunday was to allow the congregation to see the children’s ministry grow. 

“We've put on Christmas programs, where kids are participating in singing and doing things. Occasionally, we have children read Scripture, [but Promotion Sunday] was a way of getting them in front of the church and allowing the church to see that their prayers are being heard [and] that there is activity that is occurring,” said Raymond. 

Raymond said, “one of the more important” things he learned in Pave was to allow revitalization to “move in God's timetable.” 

“There is a phrase that they teach us which talks about having patience and not giving up… ‘Don’t microwave the brisket.’ [The] idea [is] that we're not going to revitalize the church in a day. There's a process and we [need to] take our time,” said Raymond. 

Gaining momentum for growth in children’s ministry

Kathy Talbert, children’s minister at Bosqueville Baptist Church, shared other areas where the children’s ministry has experienced growth, including AWANA, a ministry that provides Bible-based evangelism and discipleship for children through sixth grade. 

She said gaining momentum with programs that were already established “seemed to be the best way to go.”

“The first year [of re-establishing our AWANA program, which we do on Wednesday nights], we had six or seven kids, and the next year we had 14. [Then], we started offering children's camp,” explained Talbert. 

Talbert said, “two years ago, after camp, one of the leaders and I talked to two [other] leaders, and sat down and prayed about ‘What are we going to do for these kids that were interested [in attending Sunday school and worship]?’”

The team decided to start offering rides for those interested. She said the team has focused on having “constant contact” with those kids’ families, which has resulted in attendance from some families.

“How do we continue to move forward?”

Raymond said utilizing Pave’s “Know Your Church” survey has helped church leadership “know ourselves and for the congregation to know us.” He said there has been “an explosion” of volunteers emerging from new members. 

“Our church was very volunteer-driven to begin with; there were a lot of people who wanted to share ministry. Right now we're seeing kind of an explosion in that area [among] some of the new members,” said Raymond. “I think it's the idea that anybody who becomes a part of the church is not a part of the church in the future; they're a part of the church today.” 

Talbert said the results from the survey have been helpful to know where they are and give a “springboard of what needs to be done” and where to go next. 

“I've just been in [revitalization] for a year. A lot of the stuff that we're going to be doing is still ahead of us. [Pave has allowed] me to provide some tools to the leadership and to the congregation [for further growth],” said Raymond. 

Raymond said now that the church has a healthy foundation, he is focusing on “How do we continue to move forward?” He said Pave is supportive as pastors follow God’s lead. 

“The biggest result of Pave is going to be… as we follow God, we're seeing him do some amazing things,” said Raymond. “[Pave encourages you], ‘As you follow God and as you take his ideas to heart, you will see things happening in the church because God blesses those who follow after him.” 

Raymond said being in his Pave cohort has allowed him to talk through challenges and “be encouraged to go forward.” 

Within his cohort, Raymond was grouped with other pastors and a mentor who encourages and walks with them through the Pave process. He said his mentor has encouraged him to consider the big picture as he leads his church forward. 

“It's easy for me to be caught up in what I need to accomplish by next Sunday, and Jason [Huddleston, our mentor] keeps coming back and reminding us, ‘Okay, but what are you going to be accomplishing next year? What are you going to be accomplishing over the next several months?’” said Raymond. “‘How are you going to continue to use the report that you got in the survey.. to build up to a place where you can do the things that you need to do next?’” 

Raymond encouraged pastors who may be considering Pave to "jump in.” 

“I don't know that I can say much more than ‘Jump in!’” said Raymond. “The worst thing that can happen is you can find people that will support you as you are trying to follow God and minister in his name. The best thing that can happen is that you will find things that you hadn't thought of before. You will find ways to reach people that you had not thought of before.” 

Visit txb.org/pave to learn more about Pave and how it can be a resource to your congregation.