Men’s attitudes towards children’s ministry at Karen community church

Abstract

This study reports an attempt to ascertain the general attitudes of men in the Karen Community Church (KCC) towards children’s ministry. In order to find out the opinions of these men about the children’s Christian education ministries, a substantive review of relevant literature was carried out. This dealt with the formation of attitudes towards a perceived object or person. From the review, affective, cognitive and behavioral attitude dimensions were found to be significant in ranking the opinions of the men towards children’s ministry. Data were collected using questionnaire. The questionnaire, which was personally delivered, consisted of open and closed-ended questions. The data gathered from the respondents and their interpretations provided answers to the research questions. Based on the findings, possible conclusions and recommendations were made to the leadership at KCC and for further attitude studies. The results revealed that children’s ministry is ranked second to outreach ministry over other ministries in KCC. This suggests a favorable attitude. The survey reveals that the majority of the men did not choose children’s ministry; hence, this indicates an unfavorable attitude towards the ministry. The number of people who ranked children’s ministry second among the Christian education ministries at KCC was small to infer generalized description of the finding. This survey revealed that the importance the church attached to its ministries; the respondents’ knowing and understanding of the vision and goals of these ministries were factors related to men’s attitudes towards children’s ministry in KCC. Men who ranked children’s ministry highest, perceived experiences, and knowledge of ministry acquired from attending seminars and workshops as important reasons behind their attitudes towards the ministry, but these were mere outcomes of the perception of the importance the church attached to its ministries. Despite this favorable attitude towards children’s ministry, fewer numbers of the men are currently involved in the ministry. In view of this finding, the researcher challenges the KCC leadership to start an urgent paradigm shift by introducing a strategic plan to train and encourage male members and volunteers to be directly involved with children’s ministry. Demographic profile of the respondents showed that they are learned people and able to teach content of Christian education ministry to children.