Many churches have a separate worship time for children on Sunday mornings, sometimes known as children’s church. Other churches feel it’s important for the entire family to participate in worship together with the congregation.
I have led children’s worship and also have struggled with whether or not to have it during the Sunday morning service. Children’s worship is not bad, but there are many benefits to children being part of the corporate worship service.
First, a multigenerational service allows children to witness the biblical components of worship. They will see baptisms, they will see people participate in the Lord’s Supper, they will know who their preacher and other ministers are and they will see many other attributes of corporate worship they truly cannot see in children’s worship.
If children are participating in the service, they can ask questions about the sermon, the Lord’s Supper, baptism or anything else they notice.
Focus on serving
Second, children will feel part of the corporate church. And if they are believers, they truly are.
Third, children will see their parents worship and serve the Lord. On any given Sunday, a child might see Dad pass the offering plate or Mom sing a solo. While offerings and music can be part of a children’s worship time too, watching their parents practice these elements of faith sets a strong example.
There is no other time children will see their parents, who should be their primary spiritual guide, worship like this. If children never worship with their parents, how can they imitate them?
Alternately, a worship time for children allows many creative ways to open children’s eyes to a greater understanding of God’s word. Selfishly, I love children’s worship. I love thinking of fun games, songs and age-appropriate ideas for Bible study that help children learn God’s word and further build their foundation of faith.
Though each church has to do what best fits its situation, schedule and volunteer capacity, there are ways to incorporate a children’s worship time and include children in worship.
Alternate times
Perhaps you have children’s worship only for certain grades or only twice a month. Maybe children’s worship could be held at a different time, such as on Sunday or Wednesday night.
Moving children’s worship to another time or day allows them to still have worship geared toward their age level while also having them in Sunday corporate worship.
There are a lot of reasons why this option works, but one really sticks out to me: What if a child only went to children’s worship or only stayed in the preschool area from when they were born to when they were 10 or 11?
When that child does come to worship, he or she might not know what to do or how to act. He or she might not understand what is going on. Allowing children to sit in the service with their family benefits the children in the long run.
Find what fits
As you continue to pray and wrestle over what your church will do, be encouraged that there is no single right answer. Find what fits your church and your children’s ministry, and do your very best to disciple the children in your care in how to worship God (Col. 3:23).
2 Tips for including children in worship
How do you help parents teach their children to participate and worship during the church service? Here are some tips:
- Involve your ministers. Ask your pastor to use sermon illustrations children will understand or your worship leader to sing a song the children will know. Consider a children’s message during worship that helps connect them to the sermon.
- Provide resources to guide engagement. At our church we have something called “Kid’s Corner,” a basket of clipboards with the weekly newsletter, a sermon notes sheet and an activity sheet that tracks with the sermon. We also provide crayons and pencils. These resources help children stay connected during the sermon by giving them something to do with their hands while they listen.
Bonus time: use games and free play to build relationships
Sometimes children’s leaders find they have extra time at the end of Sunday School or children’s worship. Finding a way to make this bonus time fun and intentional can be challenging, but planning ahead will allow it to be productive.
Two ideas
- Have games ready. Utilize intentional games to get to know your students. Jesus was intentional in investing in the people around him while also teaching God’s word. You should follow in Jesus’ example when leading your students.
Choose games that don’t rely on the specific topic of the day’s lesson and can be played any time. Games also work well at the end of a lesson, since once children focus on a fun physical activity, it can be hard to refocus their attention.
Plus, when parents come into the room to pick up their child or children, they would much rather see them playing a game than sitting and talking or causing chaos.
- Plan a craft or table activity with a gospel focus. Many hobby stores have inexpensive crafts with a religious theme. These can be pulled out if time allows.
Gospel-centered activities involve a little bit more preparation. You can find easy bracelets or other activities that share the plan of salvation and allow an introduction to evangelism training for your students. Better yet, take time each week to teach a child-friendly evangelism tool. Help your students see how a simple tool is useful for talking to their friends about Jesus so they can be missionaries to their friends.
Resources
- “Quicksilver” by Steve Butler
- evangecube.com
- “Why They St(r)ay: Helping Parents and Church Leaders Make Investments That Keep Children and Teens Connected to the Church for a Lifetime” by Dr. Steve R. Parr and Dr. Tom Crites.
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