The involvement with children as a ministry within the church is a privileged place to be. Being a part of their spiritual formation and laying a foundation of truth in them is an awesome responsibility and one we should not take lightly.
As they grow up in the church and are part of the model set by the body, the children tend to emulate what they see around them. We pray at this time, we raise our hands when we worship, and we use certain words when talking at church.
But WHY?
This important question needs to be answered for the children. WHY are we doing these things? What is the purpose? What is the value? Where is God in this Christian expression?
A Christian faith that is based on rote rituals is powerless and in my years of involvement with children’s ministry, I have felt compelled to go further than just teaching children the WHAT of the Bible and our Christian practices. We need to help our children find the WHY – an expression of our interaction with God.
As I sat at a conference, listening to Dr. Lorna Jenkins speaking about the value of children’s ministry in the church, a profound realisation hit me : Every instruction and every encouragement in a children’s lesson has within it, the power to teach the WHY of our Christian life. Even more than the topic of the lesson, our interaction with the children and the program needs to show them how to meet with Jesus in the actions that we do.
This “revelation” so impacted me that I started in children’s ministry that week and haven’t looked back in 23 years.
Experiencing God, His love and His power is where we want to lead our children. They must grow up engaging in prayer, worship, and obedience as a living expression of faith and value and not as a compulsion.
If done right, these foundations will serve as a stabilising factor as they grow up and encounter a worldview that is anything but Christian.
May we continue to see our children fall in love with Jesus and live with complete confidence in His Presence in their lives. May we find our children live lives of compassion and service out of the overflow of their inner joy found in the Holy Spirit.
Lord, please help us!
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