Copyright: © 1990-1999 Trinity Lutheran Church. We invite people to use any or all of the material in this document to best advantage in the local community. Sister congregations and communities are welcome to cut, paste, clone and copy, with acknowledgment and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site [http://www.worship.ca/] as the source. Additional copies of God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship may be downloaded from the Web [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids1.html].
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Peace be with you.
Welcome to God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship!
God's Children: Welcoming Children to Worship originated as a stewardship project in the congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. It was and is intended to encourage Trinity's families to contemplate the place and ministry of children in our midst. They, like us, are stewards of God's many gracious gifts. We want to emphasize our partnership with them in worship, learning and service. Welcoming Children provides a large collection of suggestions to enhance the worship life of both children and adults. It is our hope and prayer that this document will serve the church well. Moreover, it is our hope that this Web edition will assist other communities in their ministry as interested people "listen in" on our experience.
The text which appears here reflects the ongoing revision of an original parish pamphlet of similar title, published and republished several times over the years. References to the context and ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church have been deliberately retained in this Web edition so as to preserve the local flavour of the document. Users are free to adapt as is helpful. We welcome any ideas and suggestions which might enhance the usefulness of this document.
Debbie Lou Ludolph (St. Mark Lutheran Church, Waterloo, Ontario) has created a very helpful companion document entitled God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids2.html]. Born at a workshop at the ELCIC's 1998 national worship conference, Debbie Lou's material touches on teaching the liturgy of Holy Communion to children.
The publication of Welcoming Children reflects a significant debt owed to the early work of the British Columbia Ministry With Children Working Unit, United Church of Canada, in their Children and Worship series. As well, over the years, ELCIC pastors Christine Selbstaedt, Marty Tuer and Judi Harris have each had a hand in one or more editions of Welcoming Children. Thanks, friends!
--André Lavergne +
Jesus and the Children
A good place to begin our exploration of the place and ministry of children in our community is with the Holy Scriptures. In particular, the Gospels afford us a wonderful glimpse of the place of, and reverence for, children in Jesus' world. Let's take a look...
When Jesus was at home he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put him among them; and taking the child in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." -- Mark 9:33-37; compare this with Matthew 18:1-5 and Luke 9:46-48.
In this brief passage, we hear the Gospel telling us several important things about Jesus, children, and our regard for both Jesus and children:
We learn a great deal about Jesus and children from this text. A little further in Mark's Gospel, there is a second encounter between Jesus, his followers and children:
People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. -- Mark 10:13-16; compare this with Matthew 19:13-15 and Luke 18:15-17.
Again, we hear the Gospel telling us several important things about Jesus and children; we also hear the Gospel challenging us to address several questions:
The notion that we might receive as much from our children (blessing, teaching, example etc.), as we offer them, often seems strange to us. Yet, that is a witness of the Gospels.
The Stewardship of God's Children
A final Gospel story is instructive. It's the story of the feeding of the multitudes. Read it for yourself in John 6:1-15. Go on, now... Go get your Bible!
Now, compare the text with that of the three other Gospels (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17). This is the only parable that is recorded in all four Gospels. It must have been important to our forebears! Now, notice that John includes an important detail neglected by the others... Have you got it?
John mentions that the offering of five barley loaves and two fish --that was poor peoples' fare, back then-- was the gift of a child--a young boy! In other words, children serve, in their own way, as they are given opportunity. They, like us, are stewards of God's marvelous gifts. The feeding of the multitudes was made possible through a child's offering of his gifts --an act of gracious ministry and wonderful stewardship--and by the community's willingness to receive them!
So... what opportunity for service do we allow our children? How do we honour
their gifts? Where do they learn to make the most of what God has entrusted to
their care? Do we --parents, godparents, teachers, worship leaders, pastors--
provide our children with as fine a witness as we are able as concerns our faith and
all of the good gifts that God has entrusted to our care? Trinity Church offers her
people a community in which to address these questions.
Baptism: Adult Promises
The story is told that, one morning, during the celebration of Holy Baptism, the children were gathered around the font. The pastor, discussing the significance of Baptism, asked how we become members of the Church. One bright voice announced "You just walk through the door."
That little bit of dialogue, as originally quoted in print somewhere, has stuck with me for many years. No doubt, the answer was not quite the one the pastor was expecting. But the child had it right!
In Holy Baptism, children are made members of Christ's church. At the time, adults (parents, sponsors and members of the congregation at large) promise to nurture our children in their faith. Of course, we promise to "place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and to provide for their instruction in the Christian faith..." (LBW, page 121) That's in large part what Trinity's Sunday School, Affirmation! Ministry (Confirmation Ministry, Grades 3 through 8) and TAFY --Trinity Adult Friend of Youth-- Programme (a mentoring endeavour for youth in grades 6 to 9) are all about. But that isn't the whole story! Even before we make any promises about matters of learning, we are asked to "faithfully bring our children to the services of God's house." Christian nurture includes worship: We must faithfully bring our children to the services of God's house. The question then becomes "how?" How do we bring our children... faithfully? How do we make it easier for them, for us, for all to be nurtured in God's house?
Where Are Our Children?
In recent years, some major changes have been occurring in the church's ministry with children.
Increasingly, the church observed that there were few young people in worship. Moreover, the church grew aware of the separateness of Sunday School and worship. In many quarters, worship had become what adults did during Sunday School, while Sunday School had become what children did during worship. Thus it was, that when church school days were finished (grade 8, or so), youth ended their relationship with the church. Worship, for them, was an alien world, uncharted and unfamiliar: it's not easy to feel "at home" in a room full of strangers who are supposed to be your "brothers and sisters;" it's not easy to sing a hymn when your voice is changing and you've never sung the hymn before; it's not easy to "belong," if for a dozen years people have been pounding it into your head that you don't!
Worship, Learning & Serving
Some years ago, John Westerhoff, a leading Christian educator, suggested that we had lost our youth because of this gulf between worship and Sunday School. Westerhoff called on teachers and worship leaders to work more closely together to include children in the worship life of the congregation and to understand that children have gifts to give in worship. Having adults and children worshipping together is necessary, he suggested, if the "Body of Christ" is to be whole.
One of the clear conclusions we have reached at Trinity Church is that no programme -- especially Sunday School-- ought to be scheduled opposite worship. The entire community ought to be unencumbered in its ability to worship on Sunday morning. It might be observed, as well, that we do a disservice to Sunday School staff who, in turn, set a terrible example for our children, if we exclude them from worship by virtue of scheduling Sunday School opposite the Sunday celebration.
At Trinity church we are making an effort to be an inclusive community and a healthy body --a family of God's people who worship, learn and serve together. Through Trinity's Cradle Roll, the gift of books to baptismal families and sponsors, Sunday Church School, Affirmation! Ministry, our TAFY program and choral music program, we offer support to parents and sponsors in fulfilling their baptismal promises. We seek to insure that children are welcome and are seen to be welcome!-- at Trinity Church!
Cradle Roll
When a baby is born into the Trinity family, a card of welcome and congratulations is sent. Over the next three years, monthly mailings bring helpful information about the child's growth, along with suggestions and ideas for parents to guide the faith development of their son or daughter. The program is called the "Cradle Roll," and is sponsored by our Evangelical Lutheran Women (ELW).
Baptismal Families' and Sponsors' Books
At the time of baptism, we commend to families and sponsors one or other copies of Your Child's Baptism: New Life, Dan Erlander's Let the Children Come: A Baptismal Manual for Parents and Sponsors, Elaine Ramshaw's The Godparent Book: Ideas and Activities for Godparents and their Godchildren and Nancy Marrocco's Homemade Christians. (See the list of resources at the end of God's Children for other interesting items.) The idea is that sponsorship begins with baptism, even as parental responsibility begins before birth. They don't end there!
Sunday School
Sunday School classes are offered each Sunday morning, beginning in September and ending at the Feast of Pentecost, from 10:15 to 11 am for children ages 3 and up. Our curriculum is entitled The Whole People of God [http://www.joinhands.com/]. Each class session is built around the Scripture passages used in worship that particular day. On the first Sunday in November, adjacent All Saints Day, and on the Feast of the Transfiguration, the children become the "preachers" for the day --telling, in word and song, the story of Jesus and sharing what it means to them to belong to the body of Christ. A couple of service projects each year encourage children to be concerned about the needs of others. The Whole People of God At Home Pak, included in Trinity Dove (our parish newsletter), serves as a resource for families to help integrate the worship, learning and serving dimensions of Christian faith and life.
Affirmation! Ministry
Affirmation! Ministry begins at the grade three level. Currently we use the local school board's "professional development days," augmented as necessary, as opportunities for ministry with grades 3 through 6. In addition to these and other class sessions for older kids, this programme has a large experiential component of community meals, retreats and camping. As we eat, live, and work together we learn very quickly, the implications and dynamics of being God's family, the Body of Christ.
Affirmation! Ministry emphasizes active participation in the worship life of the congregation. It is at worship that the whole Body gathers. It is at worship that we join in giving thanks for God's many good gifts, eternal love, and unending forgiveness. It is at worship that the body is nourished and strengthened, through Word and Sacrament, in order to be healthy and fit for God's work in the week ahead. Special times offer special opportunities. During Holy Week, as we eat, talk and worship together, we focus on that which is central to our Christian faith: the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. On Palm Sunday and Pentecost, the grades 7 and 8 youth provide the sermon, or an additional homily, for our festive worship!
Affirmation! Ministry provides many opportunities for our young people to serve. Children and youth are encouraged to volunteer as acolytes and in the church nursery. They are invited to enhance congregational worship by singing with the Affirmation! Singers, to visit hospitals and nursing homes, to assist the pastors with home communions, to help out at the Mennonite Relief store, to collect food for the Foodbank at the community Santa Claus parade, and to serve at Trinity's Easter breakfast.
TAFY Programme
Recently, Trinity has initiated a TAFY (Trinity Adult Friend of Youth) programme wherein youth from grades 6 through 9 are teamed with a mentor ("TAFY") to explore important questions and issues of the Christian faith. We use William Willimon's Making Disciples material. However, we have adapted the program from an all-too-brief 3 or 4 month quick study to a 3-year journey which includes training and support for the TAFYs.
Choral Music Program
Over the years, Trinity Church has evolved three principle choirs, two of which serve to
give expression to the gifts of children and youth. The Affirmation! Singers involves children
"who can read chapter books" (ie. beginning at around grade 3) while the Gloria Singers
involves youth with changed voices. The choirs afford children and youth the opportunity to
exercise a careful stewardship of their gift of music for the benefit of the entire community
--especially at worship!
Jesus Loves You
Dennis Benson, in Children as Partners in the Church (believed to be out of print), tells of a service in which a wonderful act of ministry took place:
While his parents listened to the sermon, a young boy busily coloured a picture of Jesus and wrote in crooked letters across the page "Jesus loves you." Despite his mom's embarrassment, the boy insisted upon giving the picture to a man sitting farther along the pew. A few weeks later, the man stopped the boy's mother and remarked that he was so thankful for the boy's gift of the picture. He shared that he had been struggling with his wife's death and that when he received the boy's picture he felt God come into his heart.
A grieving man experiences relief from his pain through the innocent, guileless attention of a child. The youngest among us have a place in the ministry of the Church: not only, however, as the object and recipient of ministry --and of God's love-- but, as we understand here, as the bearer of that ministry --and of God's love!
Faith: Caught... Not Taught!
According to John Westerhoff, children's presence in worship is not only important, it is necessary if, together, we are to become the whole people of God.
Westerhoff's premise is that faith is "caught," not "taught." What better way for children to know what faith is all about than to be part of a community that laughs together, cries together, struggles and worships together--a community that lives and shares its faith with all of its members and sojourners.
When a child is baptized in our midst and made a member of the Church of Christ, the adults of the congregation promise to be active in nurturing that child's faith. We need to work together to do just that--to nurture our children in their faith, and to be nurtured by them in return. Children give us the gifts of boundless energy, enthusiasm, trust and a fresh point of view; adults can share the gifts of acceptance, experience, and the wisdom of the Church through the ages.
Worshipping Together
If we believe that faith is "caught," not "taught," and if Sunday morning is the time that is important to us as a worshipping community, then adults and children need to be together at this time. Worship is one of the basic ways in which people are formed in their faith and learn what it is to be a Christian. Moreover, children learn worship by worshipping with the congregation. They learn that they belong to Christ and are welcome in his church. They participate in the proclamation of God's Word and in the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. They "learn" God's kindness, favour, love and forgiveness. Children need to worship regularly, from their earliest years. We all learn best by doing, and understand more clearly that which is concrete rather than abstract... that which is caught, rather than that which is taught!
Receiving the Gospel
Dennis Benson, author of The Ministry of the Child (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1979; believed to be out of print.), tells this story from his own experience:
A woman in the congregation phoned to let Pastor Dennis know that lumps had been found in her body, and she suspected the worst. He worked late into the night, Saturday, searching for the right text, prayers and words to sustain her until the news came. She sat third row from the front as usual.Somehow the worship seemed heavy. The warmth he wished to project evaporated. As he launched into his third point on the theme of "hope" a young toddler came down the aisle. The child paused at the third row, turned, then climbed up on the seat beside the woman. He didn't say anything. He just snuggled in. Her arm encircled him. He responded with a hug. He sat with her only for a minute or two, but when he returned to his parents, warmth and hope once again lived in her eyes. She had received her gospel --her good news-- for the day.
Children and Baptism
Baptism is about belonging. When we are baptized we become members of the church family, the Body of Christ in the world. From the days of the early church, the children of believing parents have been baptized and nurtured in the family of God. This acknowledges that children, too, are part of the covenant relationship with God. When these children are older, they will make their own profession of faith in Christ, affirming the faith into which they were baptized.
Those of us who were baptized as infants cannot remember our own baptism. But, as we experience the baptism of others, we come to understand the importance of this act in our own lives. Baptism is a sacrament--an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given by God. In the sacrament of Holy Baptism all who are gathered have the opportunity to experience afresh the reality of God's grace--God's love and forgiveness freely given. It is thus very important that children have an unobstructed view of this magnificent faith drama. In fact, at Trinity, we frequently invite children to gather around the font for baptisms.
The baptism of children and infants clearly indicates that baptism is God's action. God's love is always with us and will never let us go. God's love toward us is unmerited. It does not rest on any act of ours--even our penitence--for God loved us from the foundation of the world.
Baptism marks the formal beginning of the Christian faith journey. It is here that the
community of faith gathers in celebration of God's bountiful grace, pledges support
of the newly-baptized, and shares the gifts of the kingdom. Children must be
afforded the opportunity to affirm the wonderful gift of their baptism, on an ongoing
basis, together with the whole people of God.
Katie's Party
I was visiting a friend--a pastor in the Niagara area--one day, in his church, some years ago. His wife was there, as was mine. As the four of us chatted, our friends' daughter, Katie, wandered up to the sanctuary, where she could be seen miming the actions of Holy Communion. Katie was only four or five years old at the time. As she paced along the broad step, she could be heard uttering the words "a little drink" over and over again. Later, came the words "Jesus' bread. Jesus' bread. Jesus' bread." Then there followed a really good imitation of her father's post-communion blessing --to his slight embarrassment-- with arms uplifted and outstretched in a grand, almost theatrical, orans / embrace.
That was many years ago. What was clear, then, was that communion had become a very large part of the reality of Katie's world. Perhaps that was not surprising, as Katie communed every Lord's Day. What was not clear was what Katie understood by "communion." Did she "understand" as you and I might? Yes? No? Does it matter?
Children and Communion
John joined his parents in making their way to the altar. The five-year-old looked at the basket of bread and asked: "Is this for me?" "Sure," his pastor replied, thinking to herself "we wouldn't sit you down at table, at home, and not give you food."
Families wouldn't think of withholding affection or nourishment from a child because the child could not yet "understand" what it means. From ancient times, the Church has embraced infant children with the gift of Holy Baptism for just that reason. In the same way, the church has learned that it cannot withhold the broken bread of God's love, or the precious blood of Jesus, from its children. We are stewards of those marvellous gifts. Good stewardship involves sharing the richness of those precious gifts with our children.
Jason's Story
Jason was four years old. It was his first communion and everything was ready. Jason's family had just moved into New Hamburg, so he was new to the parish and had not previously partaken of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.The table had been set. A little procession was forming in the narthex. A big "Come, Walk With Us" banner was hanging in the nave. The Affirmation! Singers were mustering in the Katie Luther Room for that morning's anthem. Kids in the grade three Affirmation! Ministry programme brought the bread they had baked on the previous Friday's "professional development day." A couple of their number would place it carefully on the table at the Offertory. The wine represented the labours of the Klaassen family, a couple who had been making wine for communion for some time.
Upon their arrival at Trinity Church, Jason and his family experienced the centrality of Holy Communion in the life of this community. Jason would watch for "the parade" and listen in wonder to the many voices singing together at the Sunday celebration. When the sermon got a little long, he turned around at his seat, kneeling on the floor, and used his pew as a table to draw some pictures with the crayons he'd gotten on his way in to worship.
When it came time for the offering, Jason was interested to see kids involved in the procession of the gifts. Jason watched with wide eyes as the assisting minister prepared the table and the presiding minister, together with the people, rehearsed the old, old story and began to gather the people to the table. As the pastor offered the bread to him, she said "The body of Christ, given for you, Jason." He eagerly took the bread, as he had been shown, in the "Jesus' cradle" he had created with his overlapping, cupped hands. Then the assisting minister -- a neighbour whom he knew from the street where they'd moved -- offered him the cup. He helped Jason to take the base of the cup in his own hands while steadying it for him. "The blood of Christ, shed for you," he said.
The holy meal was new to Jason, but, as he took part in the celebration, he felt loved and special and a part of a great, extended family. He didn't understand what it meant... or did he? A little? A lot? Does it matter?
Making All Things New
In 1991, following upon several years of study, prayer and contemplation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada approved the Statement on Sacramental Practices. This document speaks of Holy Communion as the meal of the baptized--children included! Wonderful! Slowly, cautiously and carefully, we are coming to reclaim the place of children in the worship life of the whole people of God. Reformer Martin Luther would be proud! For more information, see the Sacramental Practices Statements [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#sacprac] (ELCIC, ELCA, et alia) material in Section 3 of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site [http://www.worship.ca/].
As mentioned above, Trinity's pastors and Sunday School teachers are working closely together to foster the wholeness of our worshipping community. Our Sunday Church School curriculum -- Whole People of God -- is specifically oriented toward making the connection between our lives as worshippers, our lives as teachers and learners, and our lives as Christians active in the world.
As in Jesus' day, adults in our congregation are asked to accept and welcome the
children in our midst, to openly receive the gifts they offer, to visit with them (over
coffee and juice between the services), to acknowledge their presence and worth as
part of the church of the present, the here-and-now, as well as of the church of the
future.
Here are some suggestions for worship which embraces children. These are practical ways in which parents (grandparents, godparents/sponsors, guardians...), teachers, worship leaders and children--together with the whole people of God--can live out their baptismal promises, together, with God's help.
Hints for Families, Parents, Godparents and Grandparents...
P ...we
worship as we live:
C
In the name of the Father
+, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
P The
Lord be with you.
C
And also with you.
P We
are bold to proclaim the
mystery of faith.
C
Christ has died. Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Hints for Worship Ministers...
One of the best sources of ideas is Debbie Lou Ludolph's God's Children: Teaching Liturgy to Children [http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids2.html], a companion piece in the God's Children series.
Three agencies offer research, wisdom and resources which can significantly undergird the involvement of children -- and others! -- in the worship life of the church.
The following works emphasize the inclusion of children in the whole life of the church. Most are mentioned with extensive notes in the ELCIC's Catalogue of Resources for Worship and Spirituality [http://www.worship.ca/sec3.html#catalog], available in Section 3 of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site. See especially sections 8 and 9. Items are generally available from Sperling Church Supply (1.888.838-6626) or Augsburg Fortress (1.800.661-8379 in Western Canada; 1.800.265-8922 in Ontario; 1.800.265-6397 in Eastern Canada).