Saturday, March 27, 2010
Children's Sermons
It’s Saturday night and once again I’m wondering what am I going to do for a meaningful children’s sermon tomorrow. The children will have been well saturated in the story of Palm Sunday by the time they get to me. The text for the sermon (Matthew 26:50-56) is difficult for children to understand. All of this leads me to once again wonder why we do children’s sermons. Yes, it is good to be intentionally inclusive of children during worship, but is there another way that would be more effective? Our children who come forward during this time are usually 3-7 years old and this age span in itself creates a challenge. Time constraints do not allow for dialogue about the thoughts presented and most of us have difficulty remembering that these children are concrete thinkers when choosing our words. Each of us is guilty of being too aware of the adult congregation and encouraging laughter in response to our comments. Of course, this further confuses the children. However, I will carefully craft a sermon that will introduce my little friends to Passion Sunday and Holy Week and hope that somewhere in it they will find the good news that they are loved not only by God, but also by all that know Jesus. I still believe that we may need to revisit this common practice and create a different model for children to truly worship. I would like to know what others think about children's sermons.
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2 comments:
I think the intention was good, but it has strayed far from what it was meant to be. At best, children receive a concrete word lesson about the text. But how much can really be communicated in 5 minutes with an audience no less? At the other end of the spectrum are children's sermons with no connection to the sermon, that seem to drag and always seem to include a gift for the children. And while we are on the topic of children in church, what about wiggle bags? Between wiggle bags, children's sermons and children's church, do children participate in worship at all?
An interesting discussion! In my two semi-rural churches, the children that come forward can range from 3 years old up to 15. It stretches me to offer something that can be understood and be meaningful as an object lesson to most of them. Yet I cannot conceive of not taking time with them. We have no regular Church School at one of the churches, and the age spread at the other is too large to permit a meaningful class, though we are going to try the "One Room Schoolhouse" materials from Cokesbury.
As a lectionary preacher, I try to make the children's time relevant to the sermon text, and I rarely offer gifts. As an alumnus of First UMC, I have introduced wiggle bags, but not all of the children take advantage of them.
Do the children really participate in worship? Is there a better way? We are too small to offer a meaningful Children's Church where they might better learn and participate in the elements of a worship service, so the regular worship service is the only place where they can experience its components: music, prayer, scripture, preaching, Holy Communion, etc. I will continue until I find a better way.
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