Children in the Worship Service

In many evangelical churches youth ministries are a big-budget item...with so little to show for it. Maybe, just maybe, Pastor Garrett Craw is on to something here....

Here are some thoughts on children in the worship service. At the church I pastor, we have a whole bunch of kids. Kids are kids. Sometimes they do silly things and sometimes they need to be corrected. But as we treat them like believers (little believers, of course) a funny thing happens; they love coming to church and they worship vigorously. They also feel they are part of The Church with all of its responsibilities and privileges (we don’t have “children’s church” and the kids are full participants). It has also been my pleasure to serve a congregation where the kids are much more respectful to adults, officers of the church, and to

the church as a cultus.

Sadly, most of my Christian experience has been in congregations where the kids are a confusing appendage that everyone wished would somehow transform into ideal adult Christians via photosynthesis. Unfortunately, most of these kids leave the church when they reach adulthood.

So, let’s stop putting stumbling blocks in their way and as King Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14)