Why Children Love To Worship and How Global Methodists Can Support This Truth

Children love to go to a church where they are loved. They love being near the adults, learning about Jesus, and participating in worship. How can we grasp this truth and make sure that children feel welcome and accepted in our congregations? Read for a bit of encouragement.

On a personal level, this topic is important to me. Before I was born, my family had stopped attending church for reasons I still don't completely understand. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, my elementary school classmates came from a diverse range of faiths and cultural backgrounds. I felt envious of those who, with their parents, visited places like churches, synagogues, masses, or temples weekly. I wanted to experience that. My classmates enjoyed it, and I knew I would too. But we never went.

Children flourish in environments where many adults love and nurture them. An extended biological family and a community that feels like family enhance the safety of the world for children. There is an additional layer of security that allows a child to take healthy risks and explore their talents in a safe and encouraging setting. Churches have, across the centuries, been in a position to provide the ideal environment for children in their congregations.

But here is the issue: Global Methodists are encountering similar challenges to those of all other mainline denominations. Most adults, specifically those with young families, for several reasons, no longer see church attendance as important enough to join a congregation. Families in previous generations placed more emphasis on expressing faith in a community setting, but that is not as important to parents with 21st-century children.

Many parents feel that if they can instill values such as kindness and honesty in their children, this will be enough. It is enough if their children are "good people". Families are over-scheduled and busier now than ever before, and weekly worship feels like just one more thing to do on a very long list of things to do. We no longer live in the 1950s.

It may surprise you to learn that I have spoken to some young parents who actually believe that they are protecting their children by keeping them out of church. They are afraid that their children will be exposed to people who hate those who are different, or that they might encounter older people who are intolerant of children who might be loud or wiggly. They also have heard of or witnessed ugly church fights over silly things such as carpet color, furniture, or the style of music in worship. These negatives have driven many people from the church. We need to own that we have not always displayed the love of Jesus well.

Here is the truth: Children take pleasure in being part of a nurturing community that offers guidance and inclusion in a faith tradition that has been passed down through generations. This environment provides a sense of belonging, security, familial closeness, and community. It also allows for interactions with older generations and offers friendships, a peer group, and a safe space to engage with older children. When considering only the worldly aspects of belonging and committing to a faith community, the advantages for children are significant. It establishes a rhythm for the family week and helps balance out negative influences.

What can Global Methodists do to bring energy and joy back to ministry for young children? Let's look at a few specifics:

1. Talk about the need for children and families. If you miss having children in your congregation, say something. Speak up in your small groups or ask the pastor to preach about the importance of reaching out to young families. Start something new in your congregation. Set aside all the obstacles that pop into your mind. Your age, finances, and gathering volunteers, and decide to engage the children of your area.

2. Think about what children need. What we are willing to give children is not always what they need. Children need engaging lessons, active learning experiences, and a teacher who teaches through relationship. Children need to learn about Jesus, but they also need to hear what Jesus means to the adults around them. They need to know that the grownups are living what they are teaching. Children will happily follow an adult who is following Jesus. How does Jesus change how you live? Share that.

3. Say no to coloring sheets and cartoons: Coloring sheets, while they may seem like an easy way to occupy a few children for thirty minutes, are boring and do not teach children. Similarly, animated retellings of sacred events send a signal to children that these events are just stories, rather than our heritage of faith and our history. Children respond to your voice and your telling of the gospel message. Share the gospel from your heart. Tell it interestingly. Children need you to be engaged with them.

4. Reach out to children who don't look like yours. Children come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and cultures. Reach out to the children who live near your church, even if they don't look like your own children or grandchildren. Fearlessly lean in to all the children—those whose parents are incarcerated, divorced, impoverished, addicted, or isolated. They are the ones that Jesus wants us to reach.

   
   

Can Global Methodists become a denomination known for their passionate, compassionate outreach to neighborhood children? Can we be the place where adults know their children will be safe, loved, and taught the true Gospel? Yes, we can. Be part of the move to reclaim the generations for Christ. Join or start a vibrant ministry for children.