I've been analysing some of the responses to the 'Connecting the Christian Faith with Children' survey, ready for a steering group meeting next week. I'll post here some of the trends and significant issues that have come up.
Bear in mind that any figures relate only to those churches that have responded to my questionnaire!
Only 9% of churches have any specific mission statement / purpose statement for their children's work! And the responses from the minister and children's workers in the same church often contradicted one another with regard to the purpose of the children's work.
When it came to the section of the form giving a list of options (Is the purpose of your children's work to: Teach children the Bible? Develop their faith? Instruct them in the faith and traditions of the church? Help them to see their daily lives in the light of the Gospel? Incorporate them into the worship life of the church? Arm them against the dangers of secular culture? Nurture their sense of spirituality? Nurture their personal and social development? Convert them to Christianity? Or something else?) many forms just had all of the options ticked.
Where both the minister and the children's worker had filled in a copy of the form, they had generally ticked a different set of things!
A significant number of churches didn't select 'arm them against the dangers of secular culture', or 'nurture their spirituality' as purpose statements. I wonder why?
A number also disliked the phrase 'convert them to Christianity' - some saying that this is God's work not ours, and others objecting on the grounds that it is too strong a phrase, preferring 'introduce them to Jesus'. Quite a number also added the item 'having fun' to the list.
It seems that we are totally confused about what the children's work / Sunday School / Junior Church is actually for. Very few of our churches have any clear idea of what is the purpose of their work with children. This all really concerns me.
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