Do kids understand worship?

By Pastor Carrie Smith

One of the questions I get asked a lot is: “Will my kids understand what’s going on in worship?” 

Having grown up in churches where there was no other option than to worship as a family, I had never thought to ask that question. But I’ve been hearing this so often recently, it has made me stop and reflect: What did I understand about worship when I was a child? What do I remember?

Here are a few recollections:

I remember the feel of the hard, smooth wooden pews and how I kept slipping down because my feet couldn’t touch the floor.

I remember how, at my grandma’s church, there were little pads of blank paper that said “Lutheran Scribble Pad” in the pew pocket next to the giving envelopes and the stubby pencils.

I remember how my job, while we were waiting for the service to start, was to mark all the day’s hymns with the little ribbons that poked out of the hymnal.

When I was a little older, I remember how my dad (a music teacher) would look down the pew and assign parts for the hymns: Mom on soprano, Dad on tenor, me on alto, and my little brother—well, we just hoped he would sing at all!

I remember “Lift High the Cross”, “Children of the Heavenly Father”, and “How Great Thou Art.”

I remember how grown up I felt when I received communion—especially when I was allowed to have the little cup of wine instead of juice!

I remember being awed by the drama of certain services: singing by candlelight on Christmas Eve; the thud of the Bible being slammed shut on Good Friday; and the excitement and joy of Easter morning, when everyone had new shoes, and (sometimes) even a new hat and purse to match!

Most of all, though, what I remember most about worship is feeling safe, and loved, and knowing that this was somehow important. I may not have been able to articulate it, but I understood deep down that something sacred was happening: God is in this place. These words are important. This music makes my grandmother cry. This bread is more than bread.

A little later, there was something else I began to understand: There might be a place for me in this church. I was so proud when, as a high school student, I was asked to be an assisting minister. It was scary at first, but I knew just what to do: This is how we light the candles. This is how we hold the cup. This is when we stand to pray. This is how you read the words slowly, and loudly, so all can hear. There was no handbook for this, and no special training session—unless you count the Sunday after Sunday, year after year of sitting on a hard wooden pew, nestled between my parents, soaking in the sights and sounds of worship, and marinating in the love of God through Jesus Christ.

Will our kids understand what’s going on in worship? I believe the answer is “Yes!” More than we will ever know.

 

Getting Started with Need

 by Pastor Paul Cannon

For Pastor Carrie Smith and me, this whole thing started with a conviction: kids need to be in worship.  'Need' might sound like a strong word here.  Some might say 'ought to,' others might prefer 'should,' but such legalistic terms may be part of the reason so many kids rebel against religion in the first place.  It's a struggle almost all Christian parents go through at some point in their lives. Maybe you have been a part of this conversation before:

"Mom, Dad, I don't want to go to church" 
"You are going to church if I have to drag you there."

Or as my mother was fond of saying "You have two choices.  You can go to church and like it.  Or you can go to church and not like it."  Let's just say that most Sundays I chose option B.

It's the way of the teenager - a constant struggle for power and control over the great tryant known  as 'Mom' or 'Dad.'  This power struggle occurs at nearly every phase of life for teenagers - what they can and can't wear to school, what friends they should be hanging out with, how late they can stay up, which websites they can and can't go on...the battle rages on.

It's little wonder that church is one battle that parents don't want to fight.  Sunday is supposed to be a day of peace and rest.  Why start it off by dragging their children kicking and screaming someplace they don't want to be? 

For Pastor Carrie and me, the answer is simple: kids need worship.
You might ask yourself, "Need?  Really?  They need to mumble along to fifteenth century hymns, awkwardly chant the psalms off key and snooze through the droning of a terribly dull homily on the hermeneutics of the Trinity?"
Well, not that exactly.  It's not what they do in worship that makes it so valuable.  It's what God does.

Whether your kid is a four year old eating Cheerios out of a plastic bag or a fourteen year old in the throngs of puberty, they need God.  They need love, forgiveness, mercy and grace just as much as any other person in the pew.  Worship, whether we are aware of it or not, is the place where we come together as a community to receive these gifts from God....in bread...in wine...in water...in word.

That's where our conversation needs to begin.  It's not about what they want. It's not about what we want.  It's not about what's easiest or most convenient.  It's about what they need; it's about what we need: a connection to the source of life and a connection to a community that finds itself in need of the cross.