Fresh Ideas: Small Treasures
By Diana Davis
They’re sitting in your pews. They’re shorter than you, and they’re wiggly. We’re talking about the youngest members of your church family – the children. Looking for creative ways to involve children in your church’s worship service? Try some of these:
• Invite a children’s class to memorize a Scripture to recite in worship.
• Ask children to submit original art or poems about upcoming sermon topics, and use some in bulletins or audiovisuals.
• Provide a “pastor’s pal’s” notebook for sermon notes.
• A brief song by a children’s choir enhances worship. Ask parents to stand afterward so children can easily locate them.
• Children could serve alongside adults as greeters or ushers.
• Ask children to distribute handouts or help with visuals, such as holding large letters to spell a sermon’s key word.
• Plan for an older child to read Scripture or lead prayer occasionally.
• Our church presented a children’s Bible on the first Sunday a new age-group of children came for “big church.”
• Encourage adults to welcome children who come to worship alone. My husband was one of those children.
• Invite children to perform an impromptu song to illustrate a sermon, i.e. “A wise man built his house upon the rock.”
• Involve children in simple drama or visual worship, i.e. waving palm branches on Palm Sunday.
• If children are dismissed for children’s church after the music, make an announcement and allow them to leave from a visible exit together.
• Some churches create a children’s worship bulletin or folder for parents to give children during the sermon. It contains activities to reinforce the sermon, such as a fill-in-the-blank sermon outline or a “sermon word of the day” inviting them to count how many times a theme word is used.
• Print out a family devotional book to help whole families engage in worship throughout the week.
It starts with the parents! A “How to worship with your child” class can help parents model true worship and engage their child in worship. Create expectancy by talking about worship during the week. One couple takes their child to church for a few minutes on Saturday to walk past pews and pray for people who’ll worship there Sunday. Prepare well on Saturday to ease Sunday morning stress. When our children were young, I had a great motivation plan for getting to church on time. If they were all dressed and ready on time, we’d stop for donuts. If not, we’d eat a quick bowl of cereal. We rarely had cereal!
Parents must deliberately take care of their child’s bathroom and drink needs before worship. Arriving early, they can select a seat near the front for an unobstructed view (and kids will love watching instrumentalists.) During worship, parents may occasionally whisper to help children understand what’s going on. Children can hold the Bible and follow along as Scripture is read. They can stand or kneel at the appropriate time, joyfully sing to God, pray reverently, and give an offering. Teaching a child to worship God can be one of the most joyful privileges of parenthood.
One pastor demonstrates the value of children by asking them to pray for him. Jesus once said, “Let the little children come to Me” (Mk 10:14b.) Children are a treasure to God and to your church family. Will you value their participation and engage them in worship next Sunday?
© Diana Davis, wife of Indiana Baptists’ executive director and author of Fresh Ideas (B&H ’07) and Fresh Ideas for Women’s Ministry (B&H ’08) www.keeponshining.com.
