Last month I wrote to you about youth and children in worship, the importance to them to be in worship and the importance to us to have them in worship. From our earliest years we learn to worship and praise God by doing just that- gathering with the people of God, singing, praying, reading and listening to scripture, sharing in the sacraments. Over the past month or two we have had conversations on this with parents, the Worship Committee and the Christian Nurture Committee and have begun to look for ways to bring our young people into worship more fully. Here are some of the ideas we have developed and have either put into action or hope to do so soon.

1. worship bags: we are making available to our children worship bags with worship related activities and also Bible story books. The children will be encouraged to sing hymns, listen and follow scripture readings, pray, follow along in the bulletin with responsive readings, etc. during worship. At times when they begin to lose focus the activities in their worship bags are there to keep them busy. Remember that our children are experienced multi-taskers and are able to do two or three things at the same time and still know what is going on around them.
2. worship brochure: you may have noticed in the pews a new brochure entitled, “Children in Worship.” This brochure provides good information for parents and for the congregation to help include children in worship.
3. hymn of the month: starting in May we will have a hymn of the month that all of us can learn and sing together.
4. a time for children: during the time of children I will be sharing Bible stories with the little ones, but also talking with them more about worship and what goes on in worship, why we do what we do. This may be helpful for the adults also.
5. worship roles: we hope to find ways for our youth and children to participate in worship leadership, such as reading scripture, ushering, helping to set the communion table, provide artwork for the bulletin covers, etc.
6. children’s church: we have phased out children’s church over the last month. The nursery is still available for our younger children who need it. We will have good supervision for them along with story books, puzzles, games and other faith and worship related activities.
7. word of the day: I hope to start this soon. Each Sunday the children will have to listen to the sermon and count how many times I use a certain word, such as resurrection. The word will be published in the bulletin each week.

These are just some of the things we are working on to include children more fully in worship and to help make worship more meaningful and accessible to them. Please welcome our children into worship, greet them each Sunday, learn their names, share the peace of Christ with them, be patient and understanding, and praise and encourage them as they grow in their faith. This is a blessing for all, young and old.