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Christian Education Resources that Support Participation of Children and Youth in Ministry

Seasons of the Spirit Christian education resources provide one inclusive program for the whole church congregation. Resources that integrate children and youth into worship, service, and Christian education are supplied for the entire 52 weeks of the church year.

 

Since the Christian faith is lived in the context of community, not isolation, every member of the Christian community can be equipped for ministry (see Ephesians 3:12 and elsewhere). This provision includes children and young people. Seasons of the Spirit Christian education resources supports congregations in providing opportunities for children to minister in church as a powerful part of their faith.

As children’s social horizons expand beyond their immediate family, they start to value social interactions and to derive elements of their identities and self-worth from these interactions. Christian education resources that are well-designed can help at this point to establish quality connections between children and their communities of faith. Involving young people in ministry that serves others contributes positively and effectively to their spiritual growth.

Children and youth want to be involved. They have the time, as well as the gift of seemingly unlimited energy (ask any parent), and a wonderful ability to cross social boundaries as they reach out with their natural compassion to others. They want to be able to connect the Bible stories with real-life experience. What better way to grow faith in children than for them to experience God working through their gifts and talents to minister to and bless others. This is an awesome experience no matter what age!

Naturally, there are risks; certain jobs may not be done perfectly. Congregations will have some learning and adjusting to do. Perhaps the first lesson will be to strive to see matters through God’s eyes. God looks at the heart and the motive behind efforts more than at how well the job is done. If children and youth are discouraged during their early attempts to serve by criticism, how can they be expected to offer their time and talents willingly later in life? Moreover, given the expectancy for God to work that young people can bring to ministry, perhaps adults have as much to learn from younger people’s faith as younger people have to benefit from the experience of elders.

In the Bible story of Samuel anointing David, God recruited an adult, Samuel, to identify David, a youth, as God’s anointed. God needs willing, discerning adults who can identify gifts, look beyond outward appearances, and be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to mentor children into ministry. Young people respond wonderfully to meaningful relationships with caring adults who take a genuine interest in helping them improve in areas in which they are gifted and interested. They need good feedback, regular encouragement, liberal amounts of praise, and occasional constructive criticism to help them develop their gifts. Obviously, this takes time and a long-term commitment, but the children in a congregation are important enough for an investment of this kind of effort.

A word of caution: children are quick to spot when they are being patronized. They do not like being paraded in front of the church to look cute! They want to be involved in worthwhile endeavours and need to be involved on a meaningful and ongoing basis. If a child has a gift for reading the scriptures in worship, for example, they should be asked to do so regularly, not just on special occasions.

Christian education resources that support this kind of meaningful involvement are rare. Seasons of the Spirit Christian education resources provide support through ideas, as well as through specific activities and programs that children and youth can be involved in. Under the care and direction of adult mentors, young people can be involved in many aspects of church ministry. Here are a few ideas for youth with the following gifts and personality traits:

 

  • Artistic – decorating the worship area, bulletin boards, and the entrance. Making gifts for homebound members.
  • Dramatic  – participating in the ministry of the word through readings, drama, and puppet plays.
  • Musical  – participating and leading worship through music and dance.
  • Caring  – being buddies for new children attending church, playing with younger children in the nursery.
  • Practical  – helping keep the church clean, setting up refreshments, tidying the craft cupboards or Christian education resources, caring for the church grounds and repairs.
  • Computers  – setting up e-mail mailing lists; creating websites; helping the technologically challenged to navigate the Internet; printing posters, notices, and greeting cards.
  • Extroverts  – welcoming people to worship.
  • Everyone  – participating in service and outreach projects.


As we disciple the children in our faith communities, we do well to make participation in ministry an integral part of our Christian education program. Christian education resources that support this are a powerful tool that can be used to shape young leaders. The children and youth in our pews are not the church of tomorrow; they are very much a part of the church today. We don’t have to wait for them to grow up. These younger disciples can be active ministers now.

Ken and Sharon Harding live in Northern Alberta. Ken is the rector of the Anglican parish of Athabasca. Sharon has written for Seasons of the Spirit. They parent three teenage boys.
 
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