STARTING A PUPPET MINISTRY
Just getting started with puppets? Start here!Avoid common mistakes and misconceptions. Starting a puppet ministry is a lot easier than you may think. Get your puppet ministry off to a smooth fun start. We have all the free resources that you need so dig in!
Where do I begin?Start in prayer. God has placed a desire in your heart to start a puppet ministry. He knows you can do it. He will prepare you and equip you. You are in the right place. It can seem overwhelming when you first start out, but puppets are lots of fun, and you will be surprised on how easy and simple it really is. So just take a deep breath and let us join together in prayer and ask God to make this puppet ministry all HE
wants it to be!
Dear Jesus, we pray for supernatural wisdom, vision, and power regarding this ministry. We lift every aspect of it up to you and ask that you show us your will regarding every detail. Help us to put you first in all areas of our life and ministry so that everything that we do will glorify your name. We pray that your hand will be upon this ministry and our lives. We ask that you will bless us in our spirit, mind, health, and finances beyond imagination. We pray when people see us that they will see a testament of your love, power, mercy, faithfulness, and grace. In Jesus precious name we pray, amen!
What kinds of puppets are best to use?Consider the size of your audience. Will you be ministering to 5 or 5000? Will you be behind a stage, out in front, or storytelling to a small group? Let us introduce you to some of our different puppet styles to help you choose what is best for you.
Full Body Puppets: Full body puppets are puppets that have the entire body including legs and feet. Ours can be used behind the stage and in front of the stage. The legs on our puppets are almost weightless and they do not get in the way of behind the stage use. One plus of the full body style is that you can take one with you anywhere. Toss a couple puppets in a duffle bag, and keep them with you. You never know when you will have an unplanned opportunity to minister to a child. Even if you are only using your puppets behind the stage now, full body puppets will give you future options as your ministry grows.
Choose From:
28″ Full Body Professional Puppets
25″ Full Body Professional Puppets The difference in size from the 28″ is in the length of the legs so they will appear just as large behind the stage.
Full/Half Body These puppets have a full body with removable legs. It gives you options. If you never used a half-body puppet, these are great puppets to start with because the body length is nice and long. If the body is too short on your half body puppets, you can lift the puppet up too high behind the stage and reveal that the lower half of the puppet is missing. You will never have this problem with our puppets.
Choose From:
Dual Entry Full/Half Body Puppets Enter in through the bottom of the torso for behind the stage use, or through the back for vent-style use.
Single Entry Removable Legs Puppets Great for maximum visibility needs for large audiences.
Hand Puppets - Hand puppets can be operated with just one hand. They are great for pretend play and storytelling with books. They are perfect for Sunday school teachers sitting at the table with the children. Since they are smaller in size, we do not recommend them for large audiences or behind the stage use unless the group is small and up close.
How many people do I need to start?You and God. You can make it with just you and God if you have to, but help is always nice. God’s grace is sufficient for you, His power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. (Philippians 4:19) If you are in the position where it is just you, don’t despair. Instead, start using the children to help you. Teach them discipleship through their own ministry. The benefits of this are endless.
Recorded Skits VS Written Skits- Recorded skits can sound really exciting with all the sound effects and music recorded for you. They can be useful for new puppeteers to get used to moving the puppet’s mouth and learning timing. Recorded skits can also help you out when you do not have a lot of time to prepare before hand. Recorded skits can be very helpful, but they can also have their drawbacks. Recorded skits are by no means better than written skits. Both have their place in puppet ministry. You cannot adjust a recorded script. You can not add anything to it, or take anything away from it. If you are using children and teens for your puppeteers then they will never be able to fully learn, use, and develop their talents and skills while using recorded skits. Written skits allow them to develop ministry skills such as, voice talents, singing, writing, preaching, public speaking, and so much more. So take the time and pray about it because the decision may be more important than it may seem.
How many puppets do we really need?If you are starting with a team, it would be nice to have at least one puppet for each puppeteer. However, it is not always financially feasible, necessary, or wise to buy everything at once. Give your ministry time to develop, pray for a clear vision, and as it all starts to come together and grow, you will be able to purchase more if you need to. Be patient and be good stewards of the money God has entrusted you with. Keep in mind that although you may have many puppeteers, that only a certain number of them can be used at a time. This depends on your stage, ministry, and the scripts you are using.
If you only have one puppeteer, one single puppet can be affective until you get more help. You can use the same puppet in each service for the Bible verse, or at the start of the service for a fun way to welcome the children, and lay down the rules. The children will look forward to seeing their new friend every service.
What exactly do we need to get started?Of course you are going to need puppets. In most cases, you will also need a stage. You can either Build your own puppet stage or buy one. We have one that is great for travel and easy to set up. You will also need puppet skits. You can write your own or you can buy written or recorded skits. If your audience is over 30 on average, we recommend microphones for each of your puppeteers. It can be done without microphones, but mics really help to grab the attention of large groups and make sure the message is heard by everyone. Any group smaller than 30 should not need microphones. Encourage your puppeteers to speak up and project their voices.
Using Children & Teens in Ministryis a great way to get young people involved while providing you with the extra help that you may need. It also creates accountability and helps to build personal relationships while you spend time with your young leaders. Children and teens alike can serve as door greeters, praise and worship leaders, puppeteers, drama teams, and more.
Don’t try to do everything at once. Pray and choose one area of leadership at a time to open up for your young people. Once your leaders are established and able to work more independently in one area, move on to another area of leadership that you can open up to another group of children.
Interview prospective leaders and set clear goals. You will find that most all of your children will want to be involved in leadership in some way, and hopefully you can get all of your teens excited about leadership too. It should be your goal to see every young person involved in leadership. However, leaders need to be taught to lead by example. Leaders are held to a higher standard. You can not just thrust anyone into leadership.
Have a few things that you require of each leader before they can start in leadership. These should be spiritual goals that will help them with their personal relationship with God. Some of the goals can be as follows:
Bringing their Bible to church
Obeying rules and following directions in each service
Remembering Bible Verses
Completing daily devotions
Completing a discipleship course (works well as a summer program)
Let the children know that you will soon be interviewing leaders and exactly what will be expected of them. Provide them with what they need to meet their goals. You want them to succeed. After 3-6 weeks you can start taking interviews. If the positions for particular jobs are limited, pray and give the positions to the children that you feel best fit in that area of service. Allow leaders to rotate through different areas of service. This will give them the opportunity to experience different areas of service and discover their gifts and talents. Don’t force them into unwanted areas of service, only encourage them to try other things. Allow them to make their own leadership choice while guiding them and directing them. If they are forced into an area where they absolutely have no desire to serve in they could become resentful, and the program will not be serve it’s purpose which is to inspire a love for discipleship and ministry. Encourage them and guide them in love while allowing the decision to be theirs. Once serving in a particular area, they should have to remain in that position for a set period of time (4-10 weeks), before trying their hand at another area of service.
Remind them that not one area is more important than the other & hire within. Each ministry is just as important as the next. It takes each part of the body for it to be able to operate. However, some areas of ministry require more experience and commitment than others. You will find that you will have a large majority that will want to serve in puppetry or praise and worship. This is great, but first they must serve faithfully in “entry level” positions while completing the responsibilities and spiritual goals laid out for them.
Remember that these are just suggestions. Take what you can use, and change it to best fit the needs of the young people that you are working with. Identify their spiritual needs and do what it takes to meet them. And don’t forget to have lots of fun while you are doing it!
Now you’re ready to begin!!
