Fifth Grade Isn't the Finish Line. It's the Beginning of Leadership.

Kristen Patton sits down with Brad Smith to talk about one of the biggest opportunities every church has: walking with parents through a fifth grader's transitional year to help build faith that actually lasts. Kristen and Brad dig into why fifth graders start checking out of typical kids ministry activities, and why that isn't a sign they're losing interest in church. It's a sign they're ready for more responsibility than a sticker chart can offer. They talk through what it looks like to invite kids into real ministry rather than just teaching and entertaining them, what a church risks losing if it misses this window, and how investing in a fifth grader's faith shapes their entire family. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why fifth grade is one of the most pivotal years in a kid's life, with real physical, mental, and emotional change, and why it's easy for a ministry to let that year slip past unnoticed - Why fifth graders start checking out of typical kids ministry activities, and why that disengagement is usually a sign they're craving more responsibility, not less interest in church - Why fifth graders don't need more crafts, stickers, and goldfish. They need real opportunities to lead, like teaching a devotional or a Bible study to younger kids - How Jesus modeled inviting ordinary, unfinished people into real ministry, sending out his disciples before they had it all figured out - What it means for a church to help a fifth grader meaningfully belong instead of just attend, and how that shift changes a kid's whole relationship with the church - What's actually at stake if a church misses this window: bored kids, disciplinary issues that trickle down to younger kids, and the loss of a future leader, missionary, or minister - Why the real risk isn't losing a fifth grader. Their parents still bring them to church. The real risk is losing the moment a child realizes the church needs them - How investing in a fifth grader's faith can ripple out to their entire family, illustrated by a recent baptism story from Brad's church - The endgame of teaching fifth graders to lead: not a better fifth grade year, but a stronger church full of disciples who go on to reproduce themselves in others Meet the Guests Kristen Patton is a Children's Minister at The Church at Station Hill, where she disciples kids and partners with their parents to help build a faith that lasts well beyond kids ministry. Brad Smith is a Children's Minister at Brentwood Baptist, where he equips kids to take on real leadership and service opportunities long before they age out of his ministry.