Church Ministries

This is a separate time for children where they have activities including games, crafts, singing, and learning. This aids in the raising of children in the Christian faith and allows for parents to focus on what is happening in the main church service. Some churches out of principle keep the children in the main service, and aim to make it engaging for children, as well as encourage the children to understand the importance of church gatherings.

Many churches aim to serve their local communities by meeting some need that they think they can help meet. Their efforts may be channelled through an official program or trust that the church has established, or they may be done informally. These efforts can involve counselling or education groups, assistance in material needs, mentoring, advocacy, and more.

Many churches run a “youth group” for teenagers. These provide a safe social environment for teens and facilitate their spiritual development and the formation of Christian faith. Usually these meet weekly on an evening and involve both social activities and some religious content. Often churches will have a “youth pastor” as part of the paid staff who takes responsibility for running youth-related activities and for the pastoral care of the young people who are part of or connected to the church.

Most churches have smaller group meetings during the week where around 6–12 adults will meet for further time together in a more personal gathering than is possible for a large group on a Sunday morning. These groups facilitate better relationships between people and growth in spirituality and understanding of the Christian faith.

Many churches financially support one or more “missionaries” who are usually serving in an overseas setting. Missionaries are Christians who have committed to bringing Christianity to a new people group or who support churches doing this in another country or place. Often the missionaries that a church supports will be pictured with details around the back of the church space.

Some churches run smaller meetings or classes which instruct newer Christians in the tenets Christian faith and practise. A long-standing method for this that is popular in some kinds of churches is a “catechism.” This word comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “to teach.” There are different catechisms that have been written for Christian traditions, and usually these take the form of an extended series of questions to which the learners learn the expected answer.