he mission of Children's Ministries is to reach out to children and draw them into a loving, serving relationship with Jesus Christ and with their church; and to train, resource, and support those who minister to children.

oals of Children's Ministries: In response to Christ's mandate to feed His lambs, the goal of the North American Division Children's Ministries Department is to empower and resource those at every level who engage in ministry to children, so as to develop:

1. Relational ministries, in which volunteers understand children and help them form a friendship with Jesus that is based on the gospel elements of grace, worship, community, and service. 
2. Inclusive ministries, so that both the volunteers who minister and the children to whom they minister will be valued and involved, regardless of race, skin color, language, gender, age, or socioeconomic circumstances. 
3. Informed ministries, so that trained personnel, understanding the mission and methods and having the resources for effective ministry, mobilize for children's outreach and nurture. 
4. Professional ministries networks that empower those who minister to children to encourage, inform, train, and empower each other for effective ministry to children. 
5. Cooperative ministries that join with family, youth, Pathfinder, and personal ministries, as well as with stewardship, Sabbath School, ADRA, and pastoral ministries to effectively fulfill the mission of the church. 

Specific Initiatives to Reach the Goals of our Mission

1. Make grace the basic message and model for Children's Ministries by: 
• Develop and promote a new Sabbath School curriculum based on the four gospel elements. 
• Train those who work in Children's Ministries to understand and maintain the focus on grace as they use the new curriculum. 
2. Reflect diversity and inclusiveness in all aspects of Children's Ministries by: 
• Involving people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds in every aspect of Children's Ministries and at every stage of the development of new programs and resources. 
• Portraying inclusiveness in pictures and design, and by modeling an acceptance of cultural diversity in stories from every day life from a variety of families and cultures, refusing to show Biblical characters as northern Europeans. 
• Make youth reaching children for Christ "cool" in this division. 
• Adopt a training program for teens who want to reach children for Christ. 
• Develop materials for adults working for children so that they won't discourage teens from help in Children's Ministries 
3. Enable and motivate volunteers who work for children to be better informed in their ministries by: 
• Offering certified or accredited training that is valued by volunteers and is tied to certification programs of other NAD departments, the GC, and earns continuing education CEU's. 
• Developing materials that explain and implement certification 
• Developing a Children's Ministries how-to book that provides information and creative ideas for doing Children's Ministries. 
• Developing seminars and self-study courses with examinations that fulfill requirements for Children's Ministries certification courses. 
4. Encourage ministries support networks by: 
• Nurturing a self-servicing network of certified Children's Ministries professionals that will generate energy, expertise, and ideas for the mutual benefit of members. 
• Establish the Adventist Children's Ministries Association (ACMA) on a firm footing, building the membership to 2000 in two years. 
• Tie the ACMA to the certification program for mutual benefit, by offering ACMA discounts for certification materials. 
• Offering networking opportunities in the ACMA Newsletter. 
5. Develop cooperating ministries by working with family and youth ministries to: 
• Develop a new paradigm for nurturing the faith development of children in their families. 
• Develop materials for families on leading children to a commitment to Jesus. 
• Publish and market to families a set of children's Bible (baptismal) lessons. 
• Hold training events for youth and families involved in Children's Ministries.