Are there children in your church congregation? How blessed you are!
Do those children stay with you during the worship service? What a wonderful gift to worship alongside them!
Does your worship service include a time set aside just for them? What a great opportunity to learn and grow!
In some churches, the "children's time" is the responsibility of a children's ministry director, associate pastor, or a volunteer. In other churches, that job belongs to the same person who preaches to the grown-ups.
Some of us "grown-up preachers" are good at it, but others struggle to know what to say or how to say it.
Some of us look forward to it, but, if we're being honest, lots of us are intimidated by it.
Would you rather preach a three-week tent revival in Texas in July than spend 5 minutes sharing a simple message with a bunch of adorable, unpredictable, high-energy children while the entire congregation looks on?
If so, you are NOT alone.
Preparing a sermon for adults and leading a children's time are very different things. Being good at one doesn't automatically make you good at the other.
However, if you are clear about what you are doing and why you are doing it--and if you are willing to put some prep time into it--it's something that even you, dear preacher full of dread, can do well.
Here are a few big ideas and a bunch of little ones to help YOU lead "a time for children" well.
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[1] "With" and "for," NOT "at" and "to." |
| If your church includes a "time with children" or "children's message" as part of the regular worship service, make sure that the time is truly welcoming and beneficial for your children.
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- Get down on their level, literally and figuratively.
- Use words and images they understand. Don't use your Roth IRA or "that mean boss" you had at your last job as examples in a children's sermon. Instead, talk about school and pets and sports and chores.
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When their attention wanders, don't embarrass them. Instead, redirect them with the same kindness you'd want someone to offer you.
- Take their observations and questions seriously. They may have something to say that the rest of us need to learn!
- Laugh with them, never at their expense.
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Use this special time to explore the message's big idea, to dig into a portion of the worship service that we all take for granted (e.g.--why do we pray so often? where does the money we put in the offering plate go? what does "Amen" mean?), or to reflect on some aspect of the day's main scripture passage together. As you learn with them and from them, you are modeling what it means to be part of the Body of Christ in ways the entire congregation will remember.
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Not sure how to relate the day's scripture passage to children? "Worshiping with Children" offers lots of guidance for lost preachers.
Their articles are indexed by topic, scripture, and lectionary week, so click the button to dig in and start exploring!
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| Or the stars, or the sparrows, or the way of the ant, or the waves of the ocean...
God made that--and God is speaking through the world He created to reveal His wisdom, beauty, grace, and provision.
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Unfortunately, as technology invades more aspects of daily life, we (adults and children alike) are increasingly out-of-step with the world God created. Look for opportunities to connect the truth in God's Word with the truth evident in God's world.
Here is my very favorite example from the 181 worship services I've watched this year. It's from Rev. Tommy Jobe (Rocky Glade CPC, June 23, 2024). (It starts at 25:19 on the video, if you'd like to watch)
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Did you ever wonder how birds, with those skinny little legs and big bodies, can sit on a wire or in a tree and not fall over? When birds perch, their knees bend--and when their knees bend, their talons lock. It's an involuntary muscle response that allows them to stay steady on their perch even when it's stormy.
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Knees bent = security, stability. What a great illustration for prayer!
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Need some inspiration to help you make those connections between God and the amazing world God created? Go for a walk in the woods. Visit a zoo or aquarium. Spend quality time with a dog. Watch the squirrels scamper through the trees in your backyard.
And if you still need help to build those connections, click the button to take a look at this website!
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| We Presbyterians are wordy people, who hold wordy worship services (and send wordy emails!).
The children’s sermon is the one time in our service when we can safely move beyond words and into the realm of tangible things and actions.
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Make the most of the opportunity to taste and see (and hear and smell) the goodness of the Lord by offering your church's children more than words.
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- You are the salt of the earth. Give each child one of those tiny salt packets from a fast food restaurant as you consider together what it means to be "salt" on the ball field, in the classroom, or at home with your brothers and sisters.
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Talking about church or communion or witnessing? Show the kids several "sample sizes" of products, or divide a single donut into a dozen "sample-sized" bites to share. Talk about how our life together in church, or our experience of the Lord's Supper, or the way our lives bear witness for Christ in the world are just a tiny taste of God's Kingdom. Like a sample, church (or communion, or our witness) should make people want more!
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"My sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:3): Give each child a small mirror and a dry erase marker. Have them write or draw one thing they've done wrong on the mirror, and then look at themselves in those mirrors as you talk about sin and forgiveness. Use a cloth to erase what they've written as you talk about the power of forgiveness.
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Talking about love or unity? Raid your own desk drawers for examples of ways we "keep things together" (paperclips, stapler, glue, tape, rubber bands, nuts and bolts, etc). How does Jesus' love connect us to God and to each other?
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Need help with object lessons? The Dollar Store Children Sermons website has all sorts of lectionary-based object lessons using props you can buy at a dollar store.
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[4] Don't forget that we are ALL children. |
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There are grown-ups in every congregation who will learn more from the "time with children" than from the sermon itself. That's okay. Some of us truly are children at heart, no matter what age is on our driver's license!
Invite adults to participate into the children’s sermon. If the kids are learning sign language (see link below), the adults should try it, too. If you ask the children a question, ask a few adults to respond as well.
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Including grown-ups is one way of keeping the kids from being “singled out” as performers for our entertainment (which they are not!).
It also reminds everyone that we are ALL one big family, worshiping God, wondering about God, and learning about God on this journey of faith together.
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Sign Language is a great way to reinforce a key word or idea. You can Google nearly any word and get simple signing directions, but here's a video that teaches how to sign dozens of "church" words (and the entire Lord's Prayer). Choose a single word that goes along with the day's message, and try it!
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The Louisa Woosley Preaching Initiative is a grant-funded program of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Our goal is to equip ministers and candidates for ministry to preach compelling sermons to today's diverse and often divided world.
For more information about the initiative and our programs, visit our website.
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