The Best Children's Program Ever is...

The Best Children's Program Ever is 

   Godly, Growing Parents.

In the book Sticky Church,  Larry Osbourne writes about some of the benefits of having over 40% of a church's people in a small group.  He refers to 40% to 60% as "critical mass."
One benefit of this is what it does for children and families.

What if the best gift we cold give our children and youth might not be the great programs we were offering but instead be something different - the simple but profound gift of a growing mom and dad.

I was always amazed at how much like their parents most of the kids in my youth group eventually became.  Once they hit adulthood, our influence waned and their parents' influence held sway. They parented like they were parented, did marriage like their parents and even did adult Christianity like it was modeled by most the adults around them. 

What would happen if the children in our church saw their parents regularly opening their Bible to prepare for a Bible study, going to someone's home to learn more, praying for other adults and serving the community? 

In talking with other churches that do small groups, one of the biggest challenges is families with children.  Here is a link about our Soul Care groups and children.