7 Ways to Involve Children in Worship

I apologize for my lack of posting. I just started a new position and that, combined with Holy Week & Easter, has kept me pretty busy. One of my roles at this church is to work with children and keep them involved in worship.

Many churches, for whatever reason, pull the children out of worship and expect them to go into the adult space when they are adults. I have never looked at actual data about how many young adults move to the adult worship space when they grow up. However, this sounds like an awful idea. Parents and other adults should be showing & teaching the children what we do in worship. For example, in a more ‘traditional’ setting, we typically stand for prayers and we should show & teach the children this habit. We should expect children to do the same as adults. Oddly, this is biblical! “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.” ~Proverbs 22.6

Here is a non-exhaustive list of ways to get or keep children involved in worship.

1. Have children sit (with their parent’s) closer to the FRONT. This is counter-intuitive, but sometimes the kids aren’t interested in what’s going on because they can’t see. If they cannot see, they don’t feel compelled to worship. Also, if you need to leave the worship space, people will understand and not judge. So one of the reasons for staying in the back is moot.
2. Have children participate in the leadership. This can be as a lector, acolyte, crucifer or communion server—whatever your tradition allows. If children see children as leaders, they will realize that they are part of the worship service too.
3. Get rid of the children’s bulletins! The only REAL purpose they serve is to keep the kids quiet. I know that there is some biblical stuff in there, but that part of the bulletin is only useful after they are literate. After they are literate they should be actively participating! If you feel like you need to have something for the children, incorporate that into the regular bulletin.
4. Make the culture of your congregation accept peeps and squirms. Sometimes in order for children to sit still, they have to move…something. For me, If I had to sit still, I was kicking my feet or fidgeting. I was paying attention and sitting (still?), but I may have been disturbing the people in front of me. This is another reason to get the parents and children all in the same area. Parents are more forgiving of this behavior.
5. In Church School and Choir, teach the hymns and songs that will be sung in worship. If they know the songs, they will be excited to sing them! Also, teach the parts of worship so they know what’s going on. If worship is not foreign to the younger, they are more likely to participate.
6. Use the Church School to participate in reading lessons. When I was in 6th grade, I learned a pseudo-rap to Micah 6.8. Every time that came up in the lectionary I paid more attention. If we teach something to the kids, like that rap, use it as part of the reading. Have a lector read Micah 6.1-5, then the kids start their rap.
7. Sing music with repeating choruses so that children can easily learn the chorus and sing on that part. We should teach the verses too, but this will be a nice way for the kids to learn more about worship with little effort on the part of the leadership!

What have you done to get young people involved in worship? What’s worked, what hasn’t?

Technorati Tags: Children,worship