Helping Children Experience God: An Introduction to the Children and Worship Program

Children and Worship is an innovative way to introduce children to the practice of worship. It is a cooperative ministry of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC), and The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC).

Children in worship is a way to adapt the pattern of adult worship to a child's level. It makes use of a dedicated worship space to lead children through a liturgy of worship. The following video is a great introduction to the practice of Children and Worship.



In reflection, I have a couple of reactions to this.

Firstly, I think it's an excellent way to help children practice some of the disciplines of listening, praying, singing, wondering, etc. The 'slow down' approach of children in worship is a much needed corrective to our overly busy, activity focused programs. Once learned and practiced I believe it will genuinely help children to connect with the Lord, perhaps for the rest of their lives.

However,  I'm not sure about the emphasis on a 'sacred place' and a sacred liturgy. This way of seeing 'worship' along with idea of a 'sanctuary' is, to my mind, more akin to the Old Testament. The emphasis in the NT, and the one the children need to grasp, is on the presence of the Holy Spirit within us and the church as the body of Christ that meets and builds each other up.  I preferred the emphasis on a 'special time' in which we can slow down, reflect, pray and so on.

Added to this, it seems very adult led, and the children are for the most part passive recipients. I would like to leave room to encourage children to lead and bring things to the experience in an age-appropriate way. In this way they learn to be contributers, not just passengers.

Therefore, I would love to use this approach (or a similar one) from time to time. I probably wouldn't do it every week, but I can see the need and benefit of it for the spiritual nurture of children.  I would also make sure that children participate and are included in the 'adult' worship service.

Outreach Playgroup in action

For many years now Blacktown Christian Reformed Church have been running a free community playgroup. For a fair few of these only one lady from our church has been running the club and welcoming community members. In 2011 we changed the day that playgroup met in order to allow other mothers from church, who worked part time, to attend. We also put up a permanent sign advertising the free playgroup. This has seen a huge amount of growth in the group and most of this has been community members starting to attend!

The group is fairly casual starting with coffee/juice and free play time. The children enjoy some fruit and water while the parents or carers share morning tea (and the kids join in too of course!) each parent/ carer brings a piece of fruit and something to share for morning tea, BCRC supplies the drinks and everything else at no charge to our guests.

After this we join together for some singing– in 2011 we began using the J is for Jesus CD from emu music! The kids love the songs and memorise them and parents tell us that they sing them all the time at home! We then share a bible story and do a craft that coincides with the story and is designed for the children to have something to take home to use to share the story with other parents and siblings! We also occasionally break out the musical instruments for the kids to enjoy some music and dancing together! Parents and carers are encouraged to take some time to socialise however are responsible for their own children while at playgroup. We have become a real community with everyone looking out for one another!

Through the relationships built and the story time a few mothers began to ask about the gospel message and as a result have started to meet together for a daytime bible study group run by BCRC ladies with child minding made available! Of course this amount of growth wouldn't be able to happen without a growth in volunteers coming to help! We have had volunteers ranging from 17 to 70! Some uni students with a morning spare as well as grandmas (who’s grandchildren aren't close by), retirees and mothers of teenagers with a day off! These volunteers help with set up and pack up as well as chatting with the mums and serving in the kitchen! Their role is vital and we have found that in our community many mums/ dads don't have extended family in Australia so really enjoy having grandparent figures around for advice and fellowship!

Nearly every playgroup day in 2011 saw a new face visit! And even though not everyone comes every week everyone does come back more than once! Each week we range from 10 to 25 parents/ carers and even more kids! 2012 is set to be a year with even more growth and outreach opportunities for our playgroup! BCRC recently invested in a lot more outdoor toys as well as a super shed to store them in! so far this term we have had 6 new families join us and have seen one mum and her two daughters join us on Sunday’s for children’s church

Worship for Children

I recently read this article from the Cory Centre ( http://corycenter.org/childrens-ministry-ideas-find-great-worship-for-children/) 

I found it helpful. 

"Honest confession: I do not really like kids worship music.  I find most of it bland, cheesy, and generally annoying to listen to.  My experience has been that most children’s worship music does not appeal to children or parents either.  Many times over the past decade in ministry I have parents ask me, “Do you have any worship music that my kids will actually like and it won’t drive me crazy in the car?”

“Well, no.”

My encouragement to those of you who serve in children’s and family ministry is to attenuate your ears to good worship music.   Listen to everything.  Find out what children enjoy.  Ask to look at iPod playlists.  Subscribe to a music program like Spotify to discover new music.  Listen, listen, listen.

Here’s what to listen for:

Action. Does the music move you?  Is the rhythm and sound so catchy that it will get a 4^thgrade boy up out of his chair?  I do not think every worship song requires actions, but songs that promote it are helpful.

Suggestion – Jump Up (Track 1 from the album You Are: A Tru Story)

Instruments.   Children have defined musical tastes.  They like to hear a band.  Most children’s music does not sound anything like the kind of music from TV Shows children enjoy.

Suggestion – Live It Out (entire album from Amber Sky Records)

Singability. I know, “singability” is not a word, but it is an important worship concept.  When we choose worship songs, we need to choose songs that are easy to sing.  If they are not easy to sing, kids will tune out and not sing them.  What is the song’s pace?  How fast are the words sung?  Can kids keep up?

Suggestion: Happy Day Everyday (entire album by Yancy)

Content.  In my ministry context, one of our worship distinctives is choosing songs about God.  That may sound odd, but it’s true.  Many worship songs are about us and what we are going to do (I’m going to praise, dance, sing, etc…).  Those songs have a place in worship, but we need to introduce kids to songs about God, who He is and what He has done.

Suggestion: Awesome God by Sovereign Grace, Seeds Family Worship, KidsWorld’s Jump Up! Album from Christ Community Church "

In Wantirna we are now going to use some songs from Awesome God by Sovereign Grace. 

Let me know if you have discovered any good music for children to share. 

The impact of Children's ministry.

Group Ministry surveyed nearly 600 churches to research the impact of children's ministry in churches. They came up with six major findings.

1. Children's ministry is a major conduit for getting families involved in ministry "Families in our survey indicated that they're tuned in to the presence and role of the children's ministry. They also assess it as high value ministry with 76% stating that children's ministry played a key role in their church."

2. Families with kids in the children's ministry are some of the most active and committed members in a church.



3. A healthy children's ministry attracts families to your church. "… 66% said the children's ministry program was "very important" int heir overall consideration when they chose their current church."

4. An unhealthy or declining children's ministry program may result in families leaving a church. "These findings underscore how important children are to families - so important in fact, that parents will sacrifice other priorities to ensure that their children have positive, nurturing experiences in their faith community."

5. Parents say children's ministry makes a positive impact in their child's life. "By far the greatest benefit was this: It helps my kids develop a personal, growing faith."

6. Parents say children's ministry has changed their family's behaviour at home.

We may have already known these things intuitively. However, they have two implications.

Firstly, they're especially encouraging when we feel that our ministry is unappreciated, unnoticed or of minor value to the health and life of the church. Nothing could be further from the truth and it's time to bury these unhelpful thoughts.

Secondly, they're an argument for ensuring that in any church, children's ministry is adequately resourced and supported. Any investment that improves you church's children's ministry is 'time and money well spent.'

Finally, an argument for children's ministry 'because it helps my church grow' is not the primary reason why we minister to children well. We ultimately do so because God is concerned for children and we aim to see them know and serve Christ. Yet a church that minister's well to children reflects God's concern that "not one of these little ones be lost" and therefore, it's not surprising that by His grace, a healthy children's ministry is intimately intertwined with and conducive to the overall health of a church.

You can use the survey to see the impact of children's ministry in your own context. You can download it by going to Web Exclusives at www.childrensministry.com

Worship for the generations.

How can you help your congregation become more mindful of children in services and to have a more intergenerational approach to worship? I recently read about a man who began by choosing a group of eight to 12 people made up of the different generations of the congregation. Together they studied the purpose of worship ("not their current or preferred way of practicing.") He then gave them a "worship diary" in with they would record their feelings and reactions to the parts of the service. Next, their diaries were copied, without their names and distributed to other team members. They would then come together to discuss how worship could be practiced in the most meaningful way.
The power of this approach is the way it helps people understand and empathise with one another followed by the search for a common approach that embraces the generations.
The reason why many churches do not practice intergenerational worship is that they lack a forum in which to discuss and implement meaningful intergenerational worship practices.

Question: What is the forum in your church that facilities this kind of discussion and openness? How does your church shape the services to ensure that it reaches everyone who comes?

Children in Church

The holidays present a wonderful opportunity to engage children in the worship services.

Below is a list of roles and tasks that children could do in the services. You may start with just one or two and gradually expand the possibilities as both children and adults become more familiar and confident.

This may be a new challenge for you and your church. How do you get started?  Try these steps to make it a reality.

1.  Discuss the involvement of children with the church leadership. See what the possibilities and limitations would be.

2. Let parents know that children will be invited to participate.

3. Ask the children which roles or tasks they would like to try. Tell them exactly what they will be doing and how they will find out when they will be needed. Write their names next to the tasks.

4. Contact those who are responsible for the tasks and discuss with them the best way to include the children. For example, put the child on the roster or contact them during the week with the Bible reading.
Try not to make it just a job or task. See it as an opportunity to disciple a child in faith and service. Discuss how the adults could share with the child in a simple way their heart for the task, how it serves God and others, their reliance on the Holy Spirit, their attitude of love and to pray with the child throughout the task, to give feedback and encouragement.

5. Don't ask too much or put pressure on the child if for example, they shy away at the last moment. Make it a positive experience and help them gain confidence. Pray for them, give them feedback, encourage them and look for another opportunity to try something else.

The list! Let me know what you could add to it.

• Helping set up the church.
• Praying before the service. 
• Greeting at the door.
• Welcome, call to worship.
• Leading singing: 
(Actions with songs, leading children’s songs and/or other).
• Helping with sound.
• Congregational prayer (eg. praying a prewritten prayer) 
• Bible and other readings (eg. part of baptismal form.)
• Sharing about their faith  
(testimony, interview)
• Helping with children’s story/ministry.
• Taking offering
• Playing an instrument during the offering.
• Praying for the offering.
• Praying for other children after the service.
• Talking/playing with (new) children. 
• Helping to serve coffee/drinks and food.
• Packing up. 

... I'm sure there are more.....

To evaluate how well your church involves children and to get even more ideas, download this Children in worship questionnaire and share it with others.

Recruiting leaders

As this year draws to a close, it is time to begin recruiting for the next. Waiting till January or February next year is too late.

Here are a few things you can do now to help you find leaders for 2012.

1. Pray for leaders. Together with your team seek God for the leaders you need next year.
2. Confirm which of your current leaders will continue next year. Make sure you approach this in a positive way. For leaders you wish to keep, begin by affirming their value, gifts and contribution (hopefully this won’t come as a shock to them since you’ve been doing it all year.) Then discuss their commitment into next year.
3. Create a list of potential new leaders. Be clear on what you are looking for. Choose people (both old and young) in whom you see genuine potential for children’s ministry.
4. Create written job descriptions that clarify the role, responsibilities and commitment you are looking for.
5. Between now and the end of the year invite potential leaders to come to the ministry and involve them in some way.
6. Set aside time to personally talk to potential leaders about children’s ministry. Don't just ask them to do a job. Cast your vision, convey your enthusiasm and uncover their heart for children's ministry. 

Here are some questions that need specific answers.

1. How is your team mobilised to pray for new leaders?
2. When have you planned to speak to existing leaders personally?
3. What names are on your list of potential leaders?
4. Do you have a written job description?
5. On what days will potential leaders visit your ministry?
6. What will you say to potential leaders?