It’s easy to forget that a child is a spiritual being who is well able to connect with God for themselves. Therefore, the primary function of any children’s ministry must be to create opportunities for children to connect with God.
When last we spoke [part one] we were discussing what we should be doing in response to the survery of children who attend our churches that we carried out as part of the planning for Capital Vision 2020. When we asked children what was good and bad about church two words came up again and again; in the positive column ‘biscuits’ won the day but the most used negative word was ‘boring’. In fact, boring was used more than any other word in the whole survey!
An easy response to this is to think that children need to be protected from the dullness of church and whisked away into their own groups to be entertained and educated in age appropriate ways. However I’m not convinced that’s the answer so in this half of the piece we look at what the opposite to this boredom in church might be.
The opposite of boredom is meaning
One of the troubling aspects of the survey was how few children seemed able to reflect that going to church made any discernable difference to their lives, other than a greater sense of morality. This is troubling as a huge antidote to church seeming boring is the sense that it is helping them live happier more meaningful lives.
Good children’s ministry is almost always full of stories as they can then become a ‘tool box’ of resources for children to understand their lives and God’s involvement in them. However, it’s about more than just stories. The deep meaning of the celebration of the Eucharist will nurture a child’s faith if we allow them to watch and engage with it. We need to rediscover our confidence in our liturgy to nurture faith and then allow children to experience it.
The opposite to boring is community
Everything we know about how a child’s faith develops tells us how important it is for them to belong in ‘multi-generational’ faith community. All the simple things like knowing the children’s names and them being welcomed as a person separate from their parents is really important.
I feel there’s something to be learnt from the way people in Southern European eat together. The children are loved and included, manners are not strictly enforced but they are always at the table in the heart of the family. You would never see a ball pond at a restaurant in Italy! It’s so important that children have a few adults in the church to whom they are known and significant, as they grow older they may be the difference between staying and going.
The opposite to boring is God
We must change the long standing presumption that still exists in our churches; that adults come to meet with God while the children are here to learn about Him.
It’s easy to forget that a child is a spiritual being who is well able to connect with God for themselves. Therefore, the primary function of any children’s ministry must be to create opportunities for children to connect with God. These opportunities may be through art, music, silence, thinking focusing on visual stimuli, talking or serving others but they need to be there. You’ll notice that I’m not saying you need to do it for them or even make the introductions just to create and hold space for the children to find God in.