Steps to welcome children to your congregation this week.

Children truly love being part of faith communities. They enjoy songs, teachers, worship, learning, and having their spirits nurtured. Make no mistake: children are spiritual beings who hunger for things of the Spirit—even when the grownups around them may not recognize that hunger in themselves.

Can our churches tap into this natural yearning? Of course! Philippians 4:13 assures us that, through Christ, we can do what He calls us to do.

So where do we start?

At the core of each of us is a sacred space—our spiritual self. It is the part of us that reaches beyond the things we can see and touch. The part of us is eternal. It is there whether we acknowledge it or not. It is there when we convince ourselves that we are too busy, too intelligent, too educated, or simply too distracted to pay attention to it.

That spiritual self is real. In many ways, it is the truest part of who we are.

Children seem to have an especially keen awareness of this spiritual space. They have little difficulty accepting that there is more to life than the world they can see. Across cultures and communities, children naturally ask the big questions: Who made me? Why am I here? Where is God? What happens when we die? Does God love me?

Children are naturally open to faith—until adults talk them out of it, shame them out of it, bore them, or ignore that part of them, choosing instead to create professional athletes, dancers, or cheerleaders. Too busy with sports to develop the spiritual side? Rethink this.

Jesus had some very strong words for those who cause little ones to stumble. Read Matthew 18:6.

So, if children are naturally open to spiritual things, why do so many churches report a dramatic loss of children in their midst?

In my work, I talk with church people who ask plaintively, “Where are the children?”

There is an almost hopeless quality to the question, and I ache each time I hear it. It sounds like bereavement. Like deprivation. Because what is a faith community without children? Children bring life, questions, movement, laughter, curiosity, noise, and a wonderful reminder that the Church has a future.

But be filled with hope, sweet brothers and sisters!

We do not have to keep asking, “Where are the children?”

There are children all around us. Literally everywhere.

They are in your neighborhood. They are in the neighborhood down the road. They are at the ballfield, the playground, the apartment complex, and the houses around the corner. They are even in neighborhoods that may look a little, well…sketchy.

There are loved, eager children there, too. Children with hungry spirits who need adults willing to know them, love them, and introduce them to Jesus.

The basic idea is remarkably simple: Go meet them. Build relationships with them and their families. Invite them to church.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Well, you might also have to find ways to help families with transportation, build trust with parents, recruit volunteers, complete background checks, organize programs, and buy approximately 4,000 juice boxes.

But you can do it.

Problem solved.

You’re welcome.

I sense you may want a few more details.

So here are some practical first steps. They will require time, energy, prayer, planning, coordination, and probably more juice boxes than you think. But none of these things is impossible.

1. Do you really want children in your congregation?

Hear me out. This is a fair question, and churches need to answer it honestly.

There is a difference between wanting the idea of children and actually wanting children.

Children are loud. They wiggle. They ask questions at inconvenient moments. They leave fingerprints on glass doors and crumbs under pews. They need space, supplies, volunteers, patience, and money.

So ask yourselves: What are we willing to change in order to welcome children and their families?

Welcoming children begins with deciding that you want the noise, the fingerprints, the carpet stains, the questions, the laughter, and the running feet that come with them.

Don't just say, “We want children.”

Prepare to welcome the children who actually come.

2. It’s not just Sunday School, be prepared to welcome them in to the primary worship service with the rest of the congregation

Before inviting children into your church, prepare for them. Invite them to worship with their parents or a friend.

Recruit enthusiastic adults who have been properly screened and trained. Choose engaging lessons, active games, cheerful songs, and welcoming activities. Create spaces that tell children, before anyone says a word, “We knew you were coming, and we are glad you are here.”

Sticking the children in a converted broom closet is to be avoided.

Buy some paint. Hang colorful posters. Clean the toys. Add bright rugs. Make the room cheerful and inviting.

Remember: it wasn't raining when Noah started building the ark.

And please—choose good-quality curriculum. It is not all created equal.

Read it before you buy it. Read it again before you teach it. Look carefully at what it teaches about God, Jesus, Scripture, and the Christian life. Ask whether it is engaging and understandable for children who may have little or no previous exposure to the gospel.

Don't assume the children walking through your doors already know the stories.

Teach them. Then, welcome them to worship beside you in the main worship space. Children’s church is not the best place for children to develop faith.

3. Go. Just go.

I have a personal testimony about this that I won't fully share here.

At one point in my ministry, I simply began getting into my car once or twice a week and driving to one of the least-resourced neighborhoods in our area. I parked along a rutted dirt road, got out of my car, and began getting to know the children and families I met there.

An amazing work of God followed.

Here is the bottom line: we must go to the children.

Don't wait for them to find you.

They may never walk through your church doors on their own. You cannot control that. But you can control whether you obey Jesus' command to go and make disciples.

Our neighborhoods, ballfields, parks, apartment complexes, and community centers are filled with children. Many would love to have a safe, joyful place where adults know their names, care about their lives, and help them discover who God is.

They need you.

You want them.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

4. Be aware of cultural differences.

All four of our children married people from different parts of the United States. We gained two Californians, one Midwesterner, and one from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Even though all four had grown up in church, not one of them—NOT ONE—had ever heard of Vacation Bible School.

For this lifelong Southerner, this was astonishing.

So if you're inviting families to “VBS,” don't assume they know what you're talking about.

“Come to VBS! We're serving dinner every night!”

Wonderful.

What's VBS?

Instead, explain it: “We're having a special week for children at our church. We'll eat dinner, play games, sing songs, make things, and learn about Jesus. We'd love for your children to come.”

Don't advertise church programs only in church language.

Tell people what you're actually inviting their children to experience.

5. Remember: there may be even more cultural differences than you realize.

You may even want to rethink how you use the phrase “Sunday School” when inviting children who have no church background.

Imagine hearing that phrase with absolutely no context.

Sunday is simply another day of the week.

And school is…well, school.

Not exactly your strongest marketing pitch.

Instead, tell children what they'll actually do:

“We learn about God and Jesus at our church. We play games, tell stories, watch videos, make stuff, play on the playground, eat snacks, tell jokes, and pray. Then we go to church where everyone sings together, and the pastor gives a talk. Then we go home. It's fun!”

Make no assumptions about what children or their parents already know.

I have met many children who have little or no context for church. If they have never been inside one, your church building is simply another building they pass on the road. Words like worship, Sunday School, VBS, sanctuary, and discipleship may mean absolutely nothing to them.

We have to learn to see our churches through their eyes.

And then, lovingly, offer them a new lens.

Children are vital to the Church beyond my poor ability to express it.

Children are life.

They are not simply the “future of the Church.” They are part of the Church right now.

And someone must tell them about Jesus.

Someone must teach them that God created them, knows them, loves them, and calls them by name. Someone must open the Bible with them, pray with them, sing with them, answer their questions, laugh with them, and show them what it looks like to follow Christ.

Why shouldn't that someone be you?

Churches can make the changes necessary to welcome, inspire, disciple, and engage the children in their communities. It will require effort. It may require doing some things differently. It will certainly require getting outside the walls of our churches.

But the children are there.

So perhaps it's time to stop asking, “Where are the children?”

We know where they are.

Let's go meet them.