Real, Relevant, & Relational
As a Children’s Ministry, our goal is to remain Real, Relevant, & Relational. 
Authenticity is an essential element to a “real” children’s ministry. It means we don’t resort to gimmicks, and as adults, we share an authentic faith with children. Our children’s ministry connects kids with a living and authentic faith.
Being relevant is a perspective that has been lost to many. Yet the very incarnation of Jesus leaving Heaven as God to become human is an example of “becoming” relevant. Jesus became human to build a bridge for us. As a ministry, we strive to build bridges into the world of children.
When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, he answered with not one command, but two – and both dealt with relationships. Jesus reminds us that the most important things in life are loving Him and loving others. As a ministry, we strive to model a love that flows upward as well as outward.
At Odena, our goal is to create and maintain a focused Children’s Ministry, and to help with that process, we use the word “FOCUS.”
F: FAITH We respect the faith of a child. Children have a can-do faith. They possess and enthusiasm that inspires and encourages. Hopefully, children remind us of the way many of us used to be: carefree, innocent, and unconcerned about failure. So when it comes to faith, our ultimate goal is to aid in the growth of a child’s faith and connect kids to a faith community.
O: Organize Organization helps us to match needs and resources to create an efficient, exciting program that builds faith in children. Think about it, no one would take a family vacation just “winging it.” It would be a miserable experience! Even though careful planning doesn’t guarantee everything, we will find more success than just winging it.
C: CREATE Create what? Create vision. True vision is born when we recognize our purpose and wed it to God’s plan. Basically, we must envision what we can accomplish through a reliance on God’s power. Too many times we see obstacles and forget this could be God’s opportunity. What we see as a barrier might be God’s eventual blessing. What stands before us as a problem could be a possibility in disguise. The bottom line is when we look with temporary eyes, we always miss the eternal, and that’s exactly why vision is so crucial to effective ministry. It allows you to look ahead and purposely plan today for a specific outcome tomorrow.
U: UNDERSTAND First of all, we understand our purpose. We understand our need to build the faith of a child and connect them into our faith community. Second, we understand the needs of our children. Children think differently, their needs greatly differ from adults. They respond to situations differently. They get involved differently. They learn differently. They worship differently. As a result, we have to understand this, and organize our programs in such a way that they intersect children at a variety of different need levels, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.
S: SERVE It’s so simple to say, yet often gets overlooked. As a ministry, we serve God by serving children.
Our goal as a Children’s Ministry is to connect kids to a living faith. So we ask ourselves, how alive are we in our faith? And what about the faith you’re modeling for your children? Does your faith work Monday through Saturday?
Is your heart passionately pursuing the things of God? 
