By Brent Lacy | Part 1 of 3 in our series on Children’s Ministry

Walk into any church supply store or browse online resources for children’s ministry and you will find hundreds of curriculum options. Large churches with dedicated staff can absorb the trial-and-error process of testing different programs. Small churches cannot. When you have a tight budget, a handful of volunteers, and growing families evaluating whether your church is the right fit, your curriculum choice carries weight far beyond what happens on Sunday morning.

The research backs this up. According to Barna Group, 58 percent of highly engaged Christian parents choose a church with their kids in mind. Among churched parents of children ages 5 to 14, 62 percent say the children’s ministry was very important in their selection of a church. Your curriculum is not just a teaching tool. It is, for many families, the first tangible evidence that your church takes their children seriously.

Why Curriculum Choice Hits Different in a Small Church

In a church of 300 or more, the children’s director can absorb a mediocre curriculum. There are enough kids to fill combined-age classes, enough volunteers to compensate for confusing lesson plans, and enough budget to switch programs next year if this one does not work. In a church of 50 or 80, none of that is true.

Small churches typically face a specific set of constraints: combined age groups (kindergarten through fifth grade in one room), volunteers who are not professional teachers, limited photocopying budgets, and a need for lessons that work with as few as four or five children in attendance. A curriculum designed for a church with a dedicated children’s building, age-graded classrooms, and a full-time director may collapse entirely in your context.

Ministry Architects, which tracks children’s ministry data across hundreds of churches, reports that average children’s attendance runs at about 15 percent of the total worship congregation. But that number varies wildly, from as low as 7 percent to as high as 35 percent. Your church may have eight children or forty. The curriculum you choose has to work at whatever number you actually are, not the number you hope to reach someday.

Start With Your Non-Negotiables

Before you compare publishers or review samples, get clear on what your church actually needs. This is not a step to skip. The flashiest curriculum on the market is worthless if it conflicts with your church’s theology or crashes against your operational reality.

1. Theological Alignment

Your children’s curriculum teaches doctrine. Every curriculum has a theological framework, whether it advertises one or not. Before evaluating anything else, confirm that the curriculum aligns with your church’s statement of faith. Does it teach believer’s baptism or infant baptism? Does it reflect your church’s view of Scripture? Does it assume a particular denominational tradition that may or may not match your congregation?

This is especially important for non-denominational and independent churches. Some curricula assume a particular church polity or sacramental practice that will confuse children in your context. Ask for the publisher’s doctrinal statement before you order samples.

2. Volunteer-Friendliness

Ministry Architects data shows that the average children’s ministry operates at a ratio of one volunteer for every five children. In small churches, that ratio often stretches further. Your volunteers may be first-time teachers, bi-vocational members who have limited prep time, or older adults who are comfortable with elementary-age children but unfamiliar with interactive digital media.

Look for curricula that provide:

• Clear, step-by-step lesson plans that do not assume teaching experience
• Minimal prep time (ideally under 30 minutes per week)
• All-in-one kits with supplies included, rather than requiring teachers to gather materials from multiple sources
• Scripted talking points rather than just an outline, especially for new volunteers

3. Flexibility for Combined Ages

Small churches almost always run combined-age classes. A kindergarten-through-fifth-grade group is common. Some curricula handle this gracefully by providing a single lesson with differentiated activities for younger and older children. Others are rigidly age-graded and fall apart when you have a six-year-old and a ten-year-old in the same room.

Ask publishers directly: "How does this curriculum work in a combined-age classroom?" If they cannot give you a clear answer, move on.

The Budget Question: What Should You Actually Spend?

Ministry Architects reports that the average church spends approximately $1,100 per child per year on children’s ministry when including staff salaries and benefits, program supplies, and curriculum. For a small church with 20 children, that translates to roughly $22,000 annually. But in a small church, the staff salary line often goes to a part-time or bi-vocational director, or is folded into a senior pastor’s responsibilities.

Your curriculum line item is likely the most flexible part of the budget. Here is a practical framework for what to expect:

For most churches under 100 in worship attendance, the economy or mid-range tier is the right fit. The premium tier often assumes infrastructure you do not have.

Evaluating Publishers: A Short List for Small Churches

Rather than reviewing every option on the market, here are several publishers that consistently serve small churches well, along with their strengths.

Group Publishing (Wonder!)

Group has been serving small churches for decades. Their Wonder! curriculum is designed specifically for combined-age settings and requires minimal volunteer prep. The digital option keeps costs low. Strength: simplicity and reliability. Weakness: may feel repetitive over multiple years if the same children stay in the group.

Lifeway (Biblical Foundations)

Lifeway’s children’s curriculum line offers solid theology and age-graded options. For small churches, their preteen and elementary combined groups work reasonably well. Strength: theological depth. Weakness: some programs assume more adult leadership than a small church can provide.

Deep Bible Investigation

This curriculum takes children through books of the Bible in depth. It works well for churches that want serious biblical content and have volunteers comfortable with discussion-based teaching. Strength: biblical literacy. Weakness: less structured, which can challenge newer volunteers.

Orange (The Orange Strategy)

Orange positions itself as a family-equipping model, merging church and home. The curriculum is visually polished and engaging. Strength: strong family connection components. Weakness: the full Orange implementation requires significant organizational commitment that may overwhelm a small church staff.

A Simple Evaluation Process

Once you have narrowed your options to two or three candidates, follow this process before committing:

1. Order or download sample lessons from each publisher. Most offer free samples.
2. Give the sample to your most reluctant volunteer and ask them to prepare and teach it to your group for one Sunday.
3. Observe the class. Was the volunteer confident? Were the children engaged? Did the lesson finish in the time available?
4. Ask the children what they remember the following week. If they cannot recall the main point, the curriculum failed regardless of how good it looked on paper.
5. Talk to the volunteer. Would they teach it again? Their answer tells you everything.

This process takes two to three weeks and costs you nothing beyond the sample materials. It will save you from spending hundreds of dollars on a program that does not work in your specific context.

How Often Should You Switch?

Small churches tend to fall into one of two traps: they either change curriculum every year chasing something better, or they stick with a program for a decade long past its usefulness. Both are mistakes.

A reasonable cycle is three to four years. This gives your volunteers time to master the material, allows you to evaluate whether it is actually working, and prevents the burnout that comes from constant change. At the end of each cycle, revisit the evaluation process above. If the current curriculum is still working, renew it. If not, switch deliberately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I mix and match curriculum from different publishers?

Yes, but do it carefully. Some churches use one publisher for Sunday school and a different one for midweek programs. Others supplement a core curriculum with seasonal units from another source. The key is to ensure theological consistency and avoid overwhelming volunteers with multiple formats. If your volunteers have to learn two different lesson structures, something will get dropped.

What if I cannot afford any published curriculum?

If the budget is truly zero, focus on one book of the Bible and teach it well. A church that walks children through the Gospel of Mark with a good study guide and engaged volunteers will accomplish more than a church using an expensive curriculum that nobody has read. That said, the investment in a solid curriculum typically pays for itself in volunteer retention and family satisfaction.

How do I handle children with different learning needs in a combined class?

Look for curricula that include multiple activity options within each lesson. The best programs provide a visual activity, a hands-on activity, and a discussion component within the same session. This natural differentiation allows children of different ages and learning styles to engage with the same content at their own level. If your curriculum does not offer this, you will need to build it yourself.

Should I involve parents in curriculum selection?

Yes. Parents are the primary educators of their children, and they have strong opinions about what their kids are learning. Form a small evaluation team of two or three parents, your children’s ministry leader, and yourself. Let them review samples alongside you. This builds buy-in and surfaces concerns you might miss on your own.

How do I know if my current curriculum is actually working?

The most reliable indicator is not test scores or memory verses. It is whether children want to come back. If attendance is stable or growing, if children can retell the main story or concept from the previous week, and if parents are reporting that their kids talk about what they learned at home, your curriculum is working. If any of those indicators are declining, it is time to evaluate.

Sources

1. Children’s Ministry Is Crucial, But Its Impact Is Hard to Measure — Barna Group, research produced in partnership with Awana.
2. Children’s Ministry Norms and Statistics — Ministry Architects, data from hundreds of churches across all sizes and traditions.
3. 58% of Highly Engaged Christian Parents Choose a Church with Their Kids in Mind — Barna Group, Faith Family research.