We often approach the Bible as a book about women and men who journey with God, so it is fascinating to notice the ways that children appear in the Scriptures. In Genesis 37:2, Joseph, at 17 years old, is labeled a dreamer. Moses’s speech in Deuteronomy 6 suggests that parents should expect children to be spiritually curious. “When your children ask you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand” (v. 20-21). Children are active participants in God’s redemptive work.
Congregations are wise to pay close attention to what is happening in the lives of children. For at least a generation, we have leaned into models of ministry that might be described as church for children. We set aside special times in worship for children and then usher them out of the sanctuary to a more child-friendly space. Church for children can be done well, but are there ways to imagine church with children? What would that look like?
After a few years of trying to teach Sunday school on Zoom, we are all trying to understand how to reconnect with our youngest members. The challenge before us may provide the perfect opportunity to innovate. If attendance in the children’s classes or the Sunday night youth group has not rebounded, this could be the time to discern whether you want to stick with the same approach or revisit the model for children’s and youth ministry in your congregation. If children have an active role to play in God’s redemptive work, what can our churches do differently to ensure that the youngest among us are about their Father’s business?
