We want the children to know this isn’t just an adult church...
Sunday school is not about training kids for when they become adults, says Emma Price of Living Waters Church in Chorley. God is speaking to them now!
“God never said that what we read in the Bible is for when we’re older. There’s no age discrimination – it’s for now!” says Emma Price.
Emma is the children and families worker at Living Waters Church in Chorley and within this role heads up the Limitless Kids Chorley team teaching primary-aged children.
Each week, they nurture faith, integrate children into wider church life and support parents as they disciple their families at home.
“I’m passionate about creatively communicating the Bible to children so they understand it’s not just a fairy story or something for adults.
“The stories in it are truth, fact, history. It’s about helping them understand that and how they apply this to their own lives,” she says.
Emma goes about this in a number of ways. The church has a vibrant teaching programme on Sunday mornings, catering to the 35 children who attend regularly, the wider number who attend more sporadically and a recent influx of new families.
Over the years, the team has used a mix of self-written material and bought curriculums, and run holiday clubs, mid-week discipleship groups and special events to engage the group. All activities are flexed to suit the children attending.
“Whatever material we’re using, we pick out what we think will be most relevant to our group because there’s no one-size-fits-all programme that suits everyone,” says Emma.
A particular focus is helping children understand the relevance of faith and church life in their everyday lives and to integrate them into the wider congregation.
“We’re a very welcoming church and want to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable.
“We have the children in with us at the start as one big family and they get to experience worshipping alongside the adults. It’s also about taking part, so we involve them in our services – through things like hosting, prayer and slots at Easter and Christmas. We want the kids to understand that this isn’t just an adult church. It’s their church.”
As the children leave the main service to join their own programmes, the team help them understand they are simply moving to another part of God’s house.
“As much as possible we try to make the experience in the kids’ room the same as the adults’ in the main church. We’re still worshipping and learning. We also help them understand why we do the things we do. Why do we raise our hands? Why is there an offering? Why do we welcome people? Why do we pray?
“We once ran a series that covered everything that happens from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave so the children felt integrated. We didn’t want them to feel they were watching the adults until it was time to go to their session.”
Supporting parents
Emma is aware, though, that Sunday mornings are just a tiny part of children’s discipleship, and also makes supporting parents a priority.
“Children have families around them who are with them 24/7 so we want to help and encourage them too.
“Sometimes a parent will send me a photo or video of their child praying or worshipping at home.
“They thank me for what we’re doing but I always flip it and say we might have them for 40 minutes on a Sunday but the parents are sowing and watering seeds all throughout the week.”
This means being available if parents needs a chat about a child struggling at school, for example. It also means being sensitive where there are additional needs.
“We have an increasing number of children who are presenting with special needs, whether they are diagnosed or the families simply sense there’s an issue.
“We can’t promise to meet every need every time but we’re investing in training for volunteers to lessen the fear factor for those who don’t necessarily feel equipped or aren’t used to working with children with additional needs.”
When parents mention a need as they register their children Emma organises a coffee meet-up to help understand how best to support them.
“They can tell us what a good day or a bad day looks like for their children and what might trigger them. Understanding that means we can support the bigger picture of what happens at home and school so we’re all doing the same thing. That helps make the world a lot less confusing for the child.”
Maturing faith
Emma says the value of her team’s work can be seen in the different ways the children respond.
“For some it’s the videos their parents send of them dancing to worship in their front rooms.
“With others it’s the child who prays during class and the words resonate with a sense of the Holy Spirit.
“Then there’s the joy of seeing a child you first met at reception age maturing in their faith – going from never praying out loud to being willing to do that, from never answering a question to wanting to tell you things, from struggling to integrate to feeling an integral part of the group.
“It’s the same with children as it is with the adults – it’s only when we feel safe and comfortable that we can trust, be vulnerable and ask questions.”
An example to highlight this was the child who felt confident enough to dance at a women’s breakfast.
“Her mum had sent me a video of her dancing to a worship song after she’d seen the youth doing it in a service.
“She was asked to dance at the breakfast. She’s at the lower end of primary age but she felt confident enough to perform in front of 50 women. There wasn’t one woman in the room who wasn’t really moved by that.”
For Emma, this is evidence of the need to help children develop in their faith right now, rather than just preparing them to live it out when they’re older.
“My experience growing up was that you were in training in Sunday school for when you reached adulthood,” she says. “But it’s not like that. It’s about teaching and integrating children as soon as possible. God is speaking to them now!”
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.
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