Preteen ministry is not an exaggeration.
According to google’s definition of the word, exaggeration is describing something as greater than it actually is. The church is often aware of the need for appropriate environments and resources for Kids and Students, but the awkwardly in between demographic is often left as an understatement. It is time for preteen ministry to be exaggerated.
The need is staring the church in the face: nine-, ten-, eleven-, and twelve-year-olds exist at a unique point in their life and the life of our church. They are not simply the future of the church; they are the present of the church. These emerging adolescents are not the elementary students behind them, nor are they the junior high students ahead of them. They exist in a unique and often uncharted world between. They need more than spiritual coloring books but authentic handles, inviting them to be a part of a larger intergenerational community. They are beginning to see the dots of the world in new and wonderful and confusing ways, and often connecting them in ways we would never imagine. From my experience, we need them as much as they need us.
Rather than living as a constant understatement, shuffled into a room with a demographic nothing like them (first graders or eighth graders), the church must recognize the need for this unique age at this unique time and place in the church’s history.
