Kelley Hartnett says those folks who don’t attend church aren’t interested in attending any church.

So I’m just going to come right out and say it: It’s more than likely the people in your community who aren’t “attending church” have no interest in attending yours.

None whatsoever.

It doesn’t matter how kickin’ your band is. It doesn’t matter how fantabulous your children’s ministry is, how spiffy your super-friendly guest services team looks in their new polo shirts or how relevant the teaching is—even if it’s delivered by an incredibly hip dude with a Mumford-esque beard, black-framed glasses and Toms. It doesn’t even matter how consistently you adhere to your brand standards. (I know! Gasp!)

It’s not you, though.

The truth is those folks who don’t attend church aren’t interested in attending any church.

But it’s not them either.

It’s us—the Church.

This isn’t news to you though, right? I mean, maybe it’s news that your community’s disinterest in church extends even to your church. If that’s the case, I love you guys and I’m sorry for just sort of dumping that on you. But I also encourage you to set aside your, “Yeah but we…” and your “Except we’re the best at…” and realize this: For more than 60% of people—and that number is growing—the Sunday morning worship gathering is no longer the primary on-ramp to a life of faith. (Is that number a universal stat? No. But if you follow the link and read the details, it’s an accepted reality among the experts.)

Simply put: People don’t see church attendance making any difference in the lives of most—or any—Christians they know, so they aren’t inclined to participate. So if we keep running the same plays—developing meaningful worship gatherings and equipping our folks to invite their friends to said gatherings—we’re done for. More importantly, our message is done for.

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Danny Watterson asks “what’s the fastest way to wreck your church?”

I can think of a ton of ways to do it: bad message content, miserable music, little to no connection opportunities, or a scandal.

But one of the primary characteristics we see in churches that are not thriving is a stagnant or failing children’s ministry. If the kids dislike going to church, parents will simply not put up with the kicking and screaming.

On the other hand, one of the fastest ways to ensure families become a part of your church is to develop a world-class Children’s Ministry.

At Vanderbloemen Search Group, we’re being called now more than ever to help churches find their next Children’s Pastor. Our clients come to us because they are struggling to find the right fit with the right qualifications to lead their Children’s Ministry.

The reason why is simple: there is a shortage of high-caliber, top-tier pastors that are called to influence children and families.

In my experience, I see three primary reasons why there is a shortage of Children’s Pastors. If we as church leaders pay attention to these reasons and are intentional about changing them, I know we’ll see a change in the mentality of Children’s Ministry and see more quality candidates pursuing Children’s Ministry long-term.

1. Confused Compensation for Children’s Pastors

I know what you might be thinking…. It’s not about the money. But is it? A quick way to gauge the priority of where your children’s ministry falls on the pecking order is to compare your pastors’ salaries. It’s not a guaranteed indicator but it’s a pretty good gauge of what you value the most at your church. Do your Worship Leaders, Student Pastor, Missions Pastor, and/or Small Groups Pastor all make more than your Children’s Pastor? Some would argue that compensation is based upon tenure and experience or even qualification or education, and perhaps your Children’s Pastor has less training or qualifications than your other pastors. In which case I would pose the question, “Then why have you settled on a less-experienced or less-qualified person for that important role?” The reality is, you get what you pay for.

Think about the life stage of your ideal Children’s Pastor candidate. Are they married? Do they have kids? Do they have a background in ministry? If those are the case, then are you paying enough to financially support the person you’ve just pictured as your perfect Children’s Pastor candidate?

If you need help in figuring out how much you should pay your Children’s Pastor based on your church size, budget, and organizational chart, contact us about our customized compensation analyses we can conduct for your church staff.

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James Merritt spent years as senior pastor of an Atlanta-area megachurch that featured a mighty choir.

Then he changed his tune.

At 50, he left First Baptist Church Snellville to plant a new church—200 people in a rented space at a high school 12 miles away—focused on reaching a young generation.

There was and is no choir. And that puts Merritt’s current congregation, Cross Pointe Church, right on trend.

The newly released National Congregations Study finds church choirs are on the downbeat in white Protestant churches across the theological spectrum.

Choirs stand strong in black Protestant congregations, where 90 percent of regular attendees say there’s a choir at the main service. The same is true for three in four (76 percent) Catholic worshippers.

But among white conservative evangelicals, only 40 percent of worshippers say they hear a choir at services, down from 63 percent 14 years ago.

For those who attend liberal or moderate Protestant congregations, there’s a similar slide to 50 percent in 2012, down from 78 percent in 1998.

Sales for the music for choral anthems, slipped so deeply four years ago that the United Methodist Church’s publishing arm, Abingdon Press, stopped buying new anthem music, said Mary Catherine Dean, associate publisher.

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A vicious circle is playing out across the religious landscape, to hear church musicians tell of it.

Fewer young people are studying the organ, which has led some churches to remove the instrument for lack of practitioners. And without the physical presence of an organ to spark interest, even fewer young people are considering the possibility of learning to play it.

As Patrick Gorman, president of the Madison Association of Church Musicians, put it: “The art of organ playing is dying.”

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Time to hire a single’s pastor? Most churches don’t have ministries for the now-largest demographic.

Never before have there been more single adults in the United States than married ones, indicating that the times are changing.

Tipping the scales at 50.2 percent, 124.6 million singles now form the majority of adults (16 and older) in America, whereas 38 years ago in 1976, they were a minority at 37.4 percent, according to research released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Back in 1960, 72 percent of American adults were married, compared to 51 percent in 2011 and 49.8 percent today, reports the Pew Research Center

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