Tell the Coming Generation
Restoration believes in the beauty and importance of intergenerational worship. Relationships formed across different life stages: between babbling babies, saintly seniors, and everyone in between. This is one of the richest aspects of our community. God has deemed these relationships to be a primary vehicle of faith formation in the young (Ps 78). And the whole church makes a promise at each child’s baptism to “do all in our power to support these ones in their life in Christ.”
Due to present circumstances, children are now joining us for the entire worship service. However rather than merely cope with these circumstances, I believe this season offers us real opportunities for growth in faith, growth in family worship, growth in children’s identity as full worshippers, and in our commitment to Jesus’ radical hospitality.
“When we ask our children to pay attention, we often end up doing a better job of it ourselves. It is not unusual for parents to express delight as their own sense of worship is enhanced. The liturgy becomes less routine and more relevant-- not because the words have changed, but because we listen again to the familiar and find that God is still speaking.”
- Robbie Castelman, Parenting in the Pew
Below are some simple, common sense ideas for parents and caregivers to help children on Sunday mornings. This list, although long, is not exhaustive (I’d love to hear your suggestions.) Neither is this prescriptive (don’t feel like you need to try everything at once). Also, we know that many of you are worshipping from home; there are nuggets in here that will encourage you, too!
We Don’t Look Down on Little Ones
Jesus said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” and that, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The first way to prepare for worship with children is to remember that God delights in them and is eager for us to bring them into his house!
Get a Head Start Saturday Night
Have children pick out their clothes, find their Worship Journals, writing/color utensils, Bibles, and a snack for young ones.
Consider having a special spot in the house where Sunday materials (Bible, Journal) get stashed so there isn’t a mad dash to look for them in the morning.
Simplify Sunday Morning
What could be your simple Sunday Morning breakfast? For years, ours have been the mini-quiches at Costco. They’re a total treat (store bought food) and couldn’t be easier to prepare.
Whatever you choose, make sure your children are well-fed. It’s hard to pay attention to anything when your stomach is rumbling.
Don’t stress about “Sunday Best.” At Restoration, your children are welcome to dress however makes them most comfortable.
Equip Them with the Word
Make sure they have an age-appropriate Bible. If they don’t, please let me know. We’d love to supply them with one.
Many Sundays when my children were smaller, they spent the whole morning browsing their Bibles. Even if they didn’t appear to be paying attention to the service, I was glad they were connecting to God’s story.
Help Them Find Their Place
If it works for your family, we’d love to have your children volunteer as greeters and readers. Just email Aaron, our Parish Admin, and he’ll happily get them on the schedule.
Consider sitting close to the altar so children can have an unobstructed view of what’s going on up front. With fewer people sitting in front of the, it will be harder for them to be distracted.
Point out the bold portions in the bulletin, where they can use their voices. Even non-readers can get the hang of our liturgical responses fairly quickly, and you may be surprised at how much of it gets recited in play throughout the week!
Encourage them to use their bodies in worship as they stand up and sit down at appropriate times.
Don’t Be Afraid of Noise
Ironically, in order to help our children engage with the service, we may need to speak more to them, not less.
Help them understand why we stand, sit, and kneel at various points of the service.
Ask questions throughout the morning to draw their attention to what they’re seeing: “Why do we have candles? How many candles do you see? What do you think the candles represent? What color is the fabric on the altar? Do you notice that color elsewhere in church? Why are things that color?”
You can also spark their imaginations by asking them to place themselves in the Scripture readings of the day.
After Church
If it’s ok with you and your kids, please submit any artwork they created to our Creativity page by emailing it to myself.
Reflect on what went well and what might need tweaking.
Take the bulletin home, find the music on YouTube or a streaming service, and play the songs throughout the week so children can more easily enter into the musical portion of worship.
Whew, that’s a lot! But whether you’re worshipping with us at home or in person, I hope you can say with the Psalmist, “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”
