Their pudgy fingers probe through a box of crayons and then shuffle construction paper in preparation for the next great refrigerator masterpiece. Some of them squirm; others flip through their picture Bibles looking for their favorite story. The more precocious ones wonder out loud if “the pastor will ever stop talking.” They are the children Jesus referred to in Matthew 19:14. The ones He gathered up in His lap, encouraging them to “come to me.” They also occupy the pews and sometimes the floor in Alabama’s more than 3,200 Baptist churches on any given Sunday.
According to James Blakeney, preschool and children’s associate in the office of Sunday School at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), children’s worship has always been important to Southern Baptists, but an increasing number of churches have started programs specifically geared to the experience of young worshipers.
Madison Baptist Association Director of Missions (DOM) John Long agreed, noting there has been a marked increase in the number of children’s ministers in the association since he became DOM in 2001.
“It’s always been perceived as a need, but now we have more leaders who are trained in this area and we have the resources,” Long said.
According to a recent survey conducted by SBOM’s office of Sunday School, children’s worship is handled in one of four ways. The first and largest category includes churches that have no specific children’s worship program in place. Congregations that offer some kind of help to parents such as training or a children’s bulletin comprise the second category. The third group is made up of those churches that provide a separate worship service for children for part of the worship time. The final category includes a limited number of churches where children and adults are separated for the entire service.
Regardless of where a church falls, Blakeney said “the most effective way to teach children to worship is to show parents how to prepare their children for worship.”
First Baptist Church, Huntsville, has done just that for the last 15 years. The preschool ministry headed by Joy Moore has an extensive worship preparation program that includes both children and parents.
The church dedicates an entire month to helping 4 year olds make the transition from children’s church to corporate worship.
“We start off by telling the kids how important it is for them to go to church because Jesus set that example,” Moore said. “Then we go through the different parts of the service such as communion, the tithe, the message and worship so they will understand how they can worship God in each part.”
Once the children complete the month-long program, the church welcomes them to corporate worship on the first Sunday of Advent.
The children even get a nametag that reads, “I’m a worship helper.”
“This makes the kids feel special and reminds the adults to help them and be patient with them,” Moore added.
Preparation is only part of the equation, she said. Once all the Advent candles are stored away and the newness of being in “big church” wears off, the church still must keep children engaged.
That’s where the children’s sermon fits in. Often delivered by Moore, the five-minute message always coordinates with the pastor’s sermon.
Lisa Lowell, the preschool minister at Southside Baptist Church, Huntsville — located just a few blocks from First, Huntsville — favors children’s sermons because “they give kids ownership of some part of the service, which gives them a sense of belonging and something to look forward to each week.”
A smaller, yet growing, number of churches are opting to separate the adults from the children — sometimes through sixth grade — during corporate worship time.
Sheila Holland, a children’s church leader at First Baptist Church, Killen, said her church moved in that direction four years ago when she and several parents pushed for separate services.
“Before we started a children’s church program, I spent all my time making sure that my son Jordan wasn’t distracting anyone and keeping him entertained,” said Holland, who is also the church secretary. “I knew he wasn’t getting anything out of the service and neither was I.”
The program, which has grown to include 60 children, is basically a scaled-down service.
They worship, tithe, share communion and listen to a sermon.
“That way, they easily transition into adult service because they are already familiar with the different parts of the service,” Holland said.
Making that transition is one aspect of the separate service option that concerns Blakeney. “My personal preference is to see children in corporate worship where worship is modeled to them by their parents or another caring adult,” he said. “If a church is going to do a separate worship time, we encourage them to incorporate elements of corporate worship so that the children learn to worship.”
Calvary Baptist Church, Dothan, settled that issue by using a blended approach, said Charles Uptain, Calvary Baptist’s associate pastor for children and administration. For the past four years, children age 4 and up have attended the morning worship service with their parents, and on Sunday nights, the church has held a service for children from kindergarten through sixth grade.
“We want (children) to go with their parents and see their parents worship and learn from them,” Uptain said. At the same time, he noted, “we want to teach kids and pull down to their level once a week so they can worship the way kids worship.”
Emphasizing that it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children about worship, Uptain noted that those children who participate in the Sunday night service are more likely to participate in Sunday morning worship, clapping along with songs and doing motions to songs that they know from the Sunday night service. “It has helped them get a feel as to what we’re (in worship) for,” he said.
There is yet another trend in some Southern Baptist circles — the idea of family worship where children are intentionally included in corporate worship from the cradle on up.
Shari Crooks, a longtime member of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, favors family worship noting that “everyone seems to go their separate ways as soon as they step foot into the house of God.”
Crooks, who seldom used the nursery or children’s church for her four daughters — ranging in age from 2 to 20 — asked, “If we, as parents, are able to role model to our children, then why stop in the most important place you could ever be?
“Children need to see that church isn’t a privilege when you get big, it’s a way of life,” she added. “A way of life in which God teaches us what to do and not just when a certain age is reached.”
Family worship is a trend that Blakeney believes will continue to spread as families discover the benefits of worshiping together.
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