Children in the Midst

Kids gathered on the floor to listen to Bishop Michel.

…Jesus called to himself a child - the essence of one who is powerless, dependent, needy, little, and poor. He placed the child ‘in the midst of them,’ as a concrete, visible sacrament of how the Kingdom looks. Jesus’ act with the child is interesting. In many of our modern, sophisticated congregations, children are often viewed as distractions. We tolerate children only to the extent they promise to become “adults” like us. Adult members sometimes complain they cannot pay attention to the sermon, they cannot listen to the beautiful music, when fidgety children are beside them in the pews. “Send them away,” many adults say. Create “Children’s Church” so these distracting children can be removed in order that we adults can pay attention.

Interestingly, Jesus put a child in the centre of his disciples, “in the midst of them,” in order to help them pay attention. The child, in Jesus’ mind, was not an annoying distraction. The child was a last-ditch effort by God to help the disciples pay attention to the odd nature of God’s kingdom. Few acts of Jesus are more radical, countercultural, than his blessing of children.

—Stanley Hauerwas, in his book Resident Aliens

In the archives are:
Making Room for Children in Church gives some practical guidance on how to make the worship experience more welcoming for children.

Teaching children the language of faith. A newspaper column on how and why we need to convey our faith to our children.

Recapturing child-like faith. A newspaper column on how children are not the future of the church, but an important part of the church now.