A little over two years ago we started attending (and then joined) a church that promoted families worshiping together during the church service. At first I thought that they just weren’t “with it” enough to have a children’s program, but now I know that it is all a part of covenant theology and the blessing of the entire covenant community worshiping together.
It has been a learning curve for Mike and I to figure out how this works for our family. At first, we thought it was a “sacrifice” we were willing to make in order to be a part of the Biblical teaching and God-centered worship. Then after a few months, we realized that our family really liked being side by side as we heard from God and gave Him our praise. The boys were 0 (E was born during this time), 2 and 4 and not one of them wanted to be anywhere else than together. So, we brought a backpack with us full of books and crayons etc. for each child. A few months after that, we began to see the sweet rewards. Things like the fact that each member of our family (ok not the baby) could join in the lunch time discussion about the sermon; or the fact that we were able to explain each purposeful part of the service to our kids as it was happening (like, this is why we do this or that); and the fact that our kids were seeing us worshiping our God instead of just hearing us talk about it! We graduated to the point of not needing the backpack anymore and the kids were able and happy to sit and listen and be a part. Especially as they have learned the hymns, the apostles creed and the Lord’s Prayer. We have come a long way; we are now which is amazed that we EVER thought it would be better for our kids to be in a Sunday school class while we do church! This is quite an incredible journey especially considering that for five years I had a full time job helping to run the children’s programs at our old church.
We have recently entered a new “phase” regarding our children in worship. As our oldest has begun learning how to write and needs all the practice he can get, we have made this a part of our Lord’s Day routine. Our pastor makes available a “fill-in-the-blank” style outline each service. We use this to write “key” words for our buddy. He spends some time working on copying that word. An example from last Sunday is when our pastor was showing us how Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord” in Philipians 3:1 we had Aidan write the word rejoice. This system has been awesome for a number of reasons.
1. It helps Aidan to track with the message more easily.
2. It helps us pay attention to what are the main points.
3. On the way home both Aidan and whoever was choosing the words for him (me or Mike) can lead our family discussion about the sermon. It is easy for us all to remember the progression of the passage from which we were studying.
4. Aidan is able to remember what he learned for much longer than just that day as a result of listening and writing and then talking about it with us.
I have a plan for our final “phase” of training our children in diligent worship and learning intently from God’s Word. When our kids are old enough to follow and fill in the notes on their own, I plan on making each person’s completed notes their ticket to receive their Sunday lunch dessert! I think it fits; I am showing them in a physical way how God’s Word is sweeter than honey now so they can remember and apply it all throughout their lives.
I know that not everyone goes to a church where having your children in worship with you is encouraged. At the church I used to work at a card was made to hand to parents (if their children were distracting) that informed them of the various kid’s programs available. So I know that various church cultures feel differently about this. But I wanted to share how this journey has been for us because both Mike and I are thankful for it on a regular basis! We can’t wait until we have had enough home practice with our 19 month old that he too can join us!
Maybe we can get Stacy to blog on this too. Because she goes to a church where it is not the norm to keep your kids with you yet Stacy and Mark have made the decision to do so anyway. So Stacy when you get back, you’ll have to share your story about this.
~Amy
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