Children & Worship
IN THE CITY OF GOD,
KIDS ARE PLAYING IN THE STREETS.
Since the gathering of the church is the primary place in which we see God’s Kingdom in our world, we worship as families because we believe that it benefits both children and parents.
HOW?
We acknowledge that this can make gathering for worship on Sundays a more difficult task for parents. Whether your children are squirming or crying, we are glad to have them with us!
We also believe that worshipping as families trains us as parents in teaching our children the liturgy (e.g. why do we need to confess our sins? What did the pastor mean when he said x in the sermon?).
To help your kids, Trinity provides age-appropriate worship notes and activity bags for children to use during the sermon [full of activity sheets, a craft item, a little snack. and books to choose from].
engaging IN WORSHIP as a family
Below are ideas to help your family prepare, participate and process what it looks like to worship as a family. We pray these ideas help make worshipping together not only doable, but wonderfully fruitful.
Practice and Pray.
During the week, bring home a worship guide and practice going through the liturgy together.
Discuss why we sit, stand, sing, and pray during different parts of the worship gathering. In painting this purpose, it gives opportunity to discuss expectations of personal participation.
Pray for the worship gathering as a family on Saturday night or on your drive to church together.
As an example to your children, pray vulnerably in relation to your own distractions, needs, and hopes.
Engage & Teach.
Discuss with your spouse who will coach which children during the service or split time overseeing them during different parts of the liturgy.
Whisper things like, "We're praying so let's be still" or "Let's stand during this song".
Exemplify, through patient words and your engagement with the liturgy, that the time your family spends at church is formative and important to you, them, and God.
It's common to need to take children out of the service to pause and remind them of the expectations. Encourage them to enter back into the service with joy and obedience.
Recap & Remember.
Following church, celebrate that you got to spend time together and encourage children in areas they obeyed or improved. Gently discuss an area they could improve in the following week.
Take time after church to ask what song they enjoyed or which part stood out to them. Why did it stand out to them?
Have a family discussion on the ride home or during lunch. Read the sermon text again and asking for one another’s answers to the application questions found in the worship guide.
One weekly question to answer together might be, “How can we as a family grow in obedience to God this week?”
