What’s Next for Kids and Family Discipleship? Introducing God’s Kids

For nearly fifty years, RightNow Media has been focused on one thing: helping the church make disciples.

We’ve served that mission in different ways over the years—through providing adult Bible studies, resources for students, and more recently through RightNow Pastors+.  

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Our mission of working with the global church to inspire people to love others before self and Christ above all hasn’t changed, but it is expanding.  
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How We Got Here

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COVID redefined how many churches do ministry. For us at RightNow Media, the pandemic forced us to ask hard questions. We found ourselves at a crossroads: do we go wide, adding more services and technology to what we already offer? Or do we go deep, pressing further into the church with the disciple-making resources we’ve spent decades building?

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We chose depth. That conviction led us to launch RightNow Pastors+, a resource built specifically for the leaders who shepherd congregations. But it also pushed us to look at another part of the church we hadn’t yet fully served: kids and families.

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‍The 4 to 14 Window

There’s a window in a child’s life that researchers consistently point to as one of the most spiritually significant seasons. Researchers call it the “4 to 14 window” because many people begin following Jesus during those years.  

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And yet, for many churches, serving this age group well is one of the hardest things to do. Kids’ ministry volunteers are stretched thin. Parents feel unequipped. Smaller church congregations don’t have dedicated children’s ministry staff or the budget to build one.

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Children’s ministry matters, but it’s often under-supported.

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‍The Impact of Kids’ Ministry ‍

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Barna’s recent research on children’s ministry makes the stakes even clearer. Nearly two-thirds of children’s ministry leaders (64%) strongly agree that churches cannot grow without an effective children’s ministry. Yet, despite that conviction, the majority of children’s ministry leaders (56%) feel this ministry is often forgotten in their church.

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If you’ve ever wondered whether the hours you pour into children on Sunday mornings are actually making a difference, you’re not alone. But the truth is, the work you’re doing matters more than you may ever know. You may not see the fruit today, or even this year. But you are planting seeds, and you can trust God to provide the growth.

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When Barna researchers asked children’s ministry leaders what most determines outcomes in the discipleship of a child, one theme rose above the rest: parental involvement and family engagement.

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The opportunity is clear. If we want to be serious about making disciples, we can’t afford to overlook kids’ ministry.

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‍Introducing God’s Kids

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This August, we’re launching God’s Kids: RightNow Media’s first curriculum designed specifically for preschool and elementary-aged children. It’s a full-scale, weekly curriculum built to meet the needs of the children and families in your church.

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We designed God’s Kids to serve four groups in particular.‍

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• Volunteers: We know that no one who serves in kids' ministry feels like an expert. God's Kids takes the pressure off volunteers and frees them up to do what they do best: connect with kids and minister to their specific needs. Having expert-taught video content, animated Bible stories, and detailed lesson guides means anyone can walk into the classroom ready to lead.
• Churches (especially smaller ones): We've worked hard to make implementing God's Kids as simple as possible. A volunteer can log in, open the week's lesson, and hit play, all without a tech team or file management system. We want to remove every barrier to a great kids' ministry experience.
• Parents: We want to equip parents to have meaningful spiritual conversations with their kids at home. God's Kids includes a free parent app that gives moms and dads simple, weekly prompts to continue faith conversations throughout the week.
• Kids: Our team crafted the curriculum to be engaging and biblically sound. Age-appropriate lessons for both preschool and elementary groups will help kids know God, grow in faith, and carry what they learn beyond Sunday mornings.

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‍Why We Do This

At its core, discipleship is growing in our love of God and our love of others. Disciple-making is helping others do the same. That’s been RightNow Media’s purpose and passion for five decades. God’s Kids is the next expression of our mission.

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It’s hard to be a kid today. The loneliness, confusion, and skepticism that we face as adults is reaching our kids too. Kids are looking for something stable. When the church teaches about Jesus early and clearly, kids gain a firm faith foundation that can endure life’s storms.

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‍Next Steps for Kids’ Ministry Leaders

If you lead a children’s ministry, here are a few practical places to start, regardless of whether you plan to use God’s Kids:  
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• Assess your current ministry. Take a fresh look at your ministry by imagining you are a kids' ministry leader visiting from another church. What gaps do you see? What are the ministry's strengths? To what extent are parents engaged beyond Sunday morning?
• Be intentional with your volunteers. Think about one or two volunteer leaders you can invest in. Schedule time with them not just when there's a need, but as an ongoing part of developing your team.
• Keep parents involved. Start a simple conversation with families about how faith  conversations are (or aren’t) happening at home during the week. Look for ways to equip parents to reinforce what kids learned on Sundays.  
• Anchor yourself in the mission. Regularly remind yourself why kids’ ministry matters. Write down your “why” for serving kids and keep it somewhere you can see.

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Learn More
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God’s Kids is now available for pre-sale, with the full launch coming in August 2026. If you’re ready to take the next step in serving the kids and families in your church, we’d love to connect. Visit RightNowKids.com to learn more and schedule a demo.

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Healthy discipleship starts early. When kids understand God’s story, God’s character, and God’s family, it shapes the direction of their entire lives. And when churches and families partner together, that foundation only grows stronger.

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Kids’ ministry leaders and parents, the work you’re doing matters. It’s making a difference, even when you can’t see it.

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