From 1st January 2007 I will be spending three days a month on a research project for the Yokshire Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Great Britain: Connecting the Christian Faith with Children. (Many thanks to the people of Trinity Church, Rawdon, who are willing to second me to the YBA for that time.)
The whole subject fascinates me. I'm not sure we often do a very good job at connecting with the children in our churches. I'm looking forward to some sustained thinking about how we can improve. But here are some initial thoughts ...
The whole culture of our churches - even the layout of seats/pews and lectern/pulpit - suggests that the primary activity of worship is listening and learning. The fact that we send our children out to Sunday School 'classes' with others their age reinforces that. But is learning really what worship is all about? Perhaps we should be doing other things in church? If so, what? Perhaps the children's parents could be encouraged to do the 'teaching about God' stuff?
What about visitors to our churches? In what other walk of life would it be considered 'welcoming' to separate the children from the parents and send them off with a total stranger for the duration of the service (even if the 'stranger' has been CRB-checked)?
In a society where families increasingly see very little of each other during the week, does the church not have a responsibility to be providing oportunities for families to worship together.
Let me know what you think. I'll keep blogging my thoughts as I get them (although I don't officially start thinking until 2007)!
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1 comment:
I've blogged quite a bit on these issues. if you look through my 'church' archive, you'll find a number of posts about children and church
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