Most mistakes in ministry are not catastrophic. However, when a new leader makes some mistakes it can shake their confidence. By knowing the most common mistakes a new leader makes, you can help watch and coach them through it.

1. Not understanding the importance of their role. New leaders often mistake children’s ministry for occupying children. Nothing could be further from the truth. Be sure when recruiting and training new leaders to speak to the value of their investment in the life of a child. They are not filling a spot, they are using what God has given them to shape the next generation.
2. Thinking they should teach the curriculum. Don’t miss this—curriculum is important. But you don’t teach curriculum; you teach children from curriculum. That’s an important nuance. Curriculum is a tool that teachers use to keep them on track. However, it must be shaped to fit the classroom environment. Be sure new teachers know what is most important to communicate and what parts are optional or could change.
3. Forgetting their story of faith. Every leader needs to remember how and when to tell their own journey of faith to reinforce how God works in the lives of people today.
4. Believing the Bible is a collection of stories. Although most churches teach the Bible as individual stories about heroes of the faith, it must be fully understood as God’s story and how He desires a relationship with His creation. While we can learn from the behaviors of different Bible characters, children should not learn to just to copy admirable behaviors. Rather they should understand that God works in lives every single day and they should begin to believe that God is at work in their life too.

What mistakes do you see new leaders make? More importantly, how do you overcome those mistakes before they get a ministry off course?