"Mama, YOU pray."

We have a moment in our service called "Pop Praise." Our worship leader starts us off with, "I praise God for..." We typically have a handful of people share one or two sentences of a recent praise to God. I totally love this part of church for a whole host of reasons. And I see this time as a natural opportunity to have children participate. While we don't intentionally target adults, we have never had a child share.  To no avail, I have tried a couple different organic ways to encourage kid participation with our elementary children. Several Sunday's ago, during "Pop Praise" I found myself waiting with eager anticipation for just one child to share. As I silently watched one adult and then another speak, my two year old tugged on my skirt and whispered, "You pray, Mama."

"What, honey?"

"Mama, YOU pray."

In the midst of my planning, and pleading, and good intentions, I forgot to lead. I LOVE that my daughter watches and casually says, "Uncle Lonnie is praying. Auntie Anna is praying." I LOVE that she is growing up in an environment where she hears and sees testimony of God's grace from a community. But when the day is done, who has the greatest impact on her life? I do. And Eric does. For Justice (and Micah) to grow up believing in the transforming work of God, she needs to observe her parents.

This is just one example of why our church has made a leap into family worship (and away from age-based ministry). It's likely that this will be a season. As our congregation changes, so will we. Maybe we will go back to having elementary children leave during the sermon time. Or maybe there will be seasons in the year where children are invited to participate fully, and then a sermon series that's not totally appropriate for 6 year old ears. I don't know. But right now we have halted most* age-based ministries and whole families are worshipping together. Naturally, I love it. But something tells me it's not so natural for everyone. So I thought I would share a few reflections and observations from my perspective.

Communion: We took communion one of our first Sundays of family worship and I thought, "Ooh, bet this is new for some families." And then I remembered that our children are invited into the service EVERY time we take communion. What a glorious opportunity for families to remember Christ's body, broken for you, together. I have had some great discussions with other pastors over the years on the appropriateness of children participating in Communion. The most common concern I hear is, "They don't understand...." While this is likely true, let me offer a confession. As an educated adult, I don't understand. I cannot count the times in my life where God has revealed something to me that I thought I understood, but most certainly did not. The Divine is often times shrouded in mystery. I lean towards using the opportunity, the regular recurring event of communion, to lead children (and adults) into a more full understanding of the Eucharist.

Drawing During Church: If you have a child who can doodle peacefully, great! I've witnessed this a few times, and been amazed every time. It usually starts with drawing a picture, or making circles. Eventually it becomes words. About a month ago, one young girl left church with a page of beautiful scrolls and the words, "GOD IS GOOD" in the middle of her page. That phrase might seem simple, but it's a foundational truth all of us could be reminded of once in a while.

Worship through song: In our church, kids can be found singing, dancing, clapping, bouncing, quietly observing, or even shaking a musical instrument. This is one of the more natural and easy parts of worship for kids to participate in. Is the sound a little off? Maybe. But guess what? God doesn't think so.

In my next post, I'll list a few tips you can use at home to prepare your family for church.

*We still provide nursery care for infants/toddlers up to 4 years of age.