Sixteen years ago, Mark DeVries’s Sustainable Youth Ministry changed how I approached student ministry. It forced me to think in systems instead of survival mode; I might not have lasted at my current church if I hadn’t implemented many of those practices. I’ve been wanting to read Sustainable Children’s Ministry by DeVries and Annette Safstrom for a while now; I had high expectations and it didn’t disappoint.
This book is every bit as practical, insightful, and empowering as the youth ministry version. Safstrom leads the charge here, and her voice brings both empathy and experience. As one leader put it, “It’s not the children’s-ministry-specific work that we need help with … what our children’s ministry needs help with—and desperately—is things such as building volunteers, creating a parent ministry, [and] designing a great communication plan.” That line captures the heart of the book: moving beyond the tyranny of the urgent toward clarity and systems.
The authors remind us that “putting foundational systems in place will never be urgent, but without them, everything becomes urgent.” They challenge the myth that more energy and enthusiasm will fix what is really a systems problem: “Any time the majority of people behave a particular way the majority of the time, the people are not the problem. The problem is inherent in the system.”
From practical rules of thumb, like one adult for every five kids, to deeper lessons about vision, delegation, and volunteer care, this book is loaded with actionable wisdom. I appreciated the reminder, “In a sustainable ministry, your volunteers are your first flock.”
This book is definitely worth grabbing whether your directly involved in children’s ministry or if you simply want to understand its needs and demands better.
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