During the breakout session at the most recent Resurgence Conference at Mars Hills Church in Seattle, John Piper begged the pastors in the crowd to shut down “children’s church” in their home churches and keep kids in the pews with their parents. I think Piper’s on to something. How can we expect children to make church a priority in their lives if we continue to shoo them out the sanctuary doors when the service begins? What do you think?
5 comments:
Steve - well, I have to respond to this! When we came to Westkirk 5.5 years ago, there was no Kids Own Worship or Kids of the Kingdom. Everyone did sit in church together for the duration. Result? Stressed out parents trying to keep their little ones from being fidgity and bored, frustrated kids who did not look forward to coming to church. In talking with a handful of adults we found that "being made" to stay in church proved to be detrimental to their view of church as they matured. Our decision to start church 'just for kids' was actually a result of our wanting to teach the Bible to the next generation, but to create an environment they would enjoy and look forward to coming to, rather than the opposite. We time it so that the children are present for some of the beginning elements of corporate worship with their families, and then dismiss them a bit before the sermon so they can go hear a "sermon" that is appropriate for their cognitive development. I feel pretty strongly about what I see to be the positive elements and outcomes of this! What we have seen in the 5.5 years is that when the kids get a bit older, they become "bored" with the "little kids church" and DESIRE to come to "Big Church" to hear Pastor Michael's sermon! Mission accomplished, baby!
Good point Sasha! I guess I see both sides - I think there is a need for Children's Church, for the reasons you indicated, but I also see where Piper is coming from because I think there is a real danger, if kids never attend the worship service or hear the word of God preached, that they will not learn to appreciate church or understand the role of the church in their spiritual development. I know several people who think that Christianity is a private endeavor and therefore church membership is optional (I'm not saying that Children's Church is THE reason for this opinion, but it could contribute to the attitude). Have you been able to determine at what age most kids become "bored" with "Children's Church" and desire to go to church with their parents? I wonder if there is a typical age when churches should begin letting parents know that their children are ready to join the church family during the regular worship service? Or maybe it's better to just let the child come to that realization naturally and let them tell us when they're ready. It's an interesting question and I don't know what the best answer, if there is such a thing, but I think the goal ought to be to facilitate Luke 18:15-17 as best we can.
It seems to be between grades 5-7 in my experience. We could certainly educate parents to watch for signs of feeling "too old" for Children's Church....I think there is something of value to letting the kids come to the realization on their own....to begin to DESIRE to listen to the "grown-up's" sermon!
I agree with you. It's more natural, and probably more beneficial to a child's spiritual development, to let them tell us when they're ready to attend the regular worship service with their family. Although if children are using Children's church as an excuse to get out of attending the church, either by staying in Children's Church longer than they need to or by volunteering to help teach the little ones, then I think that's a different story. At some point the maturity and intentions of the child should be considered; but I'm with you, I think Children's Church, when done correctly, can be beneficial to a child's development.
It's interesting that the same arguments are used in discussions about the effectiveness of youth ministry. People say that youth are disconnected from the congregation and that they aren't growing up to appreciate the Church. I think it should be noted that 2/3 of all teenagers in this country attend church in some way every week (mostly by way of youth ministries), 1/3 read their Bibles regularly, and over 3/4 of them pray daily. I'm not sure adults are doing that well. And my answer to the "disconnect" argument is simply this to think of youth ministry like a small group ... how many adults know more than the names of at least 10 people in their church family who aren't in their small group? We should strive to do better and there are things that probably need to be changed, but I don't think we should crap Children's Church or youth ministry.
I am CONFIDENT most adults aren't doing that well....GO TEENS!
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