Watching It Happen
It's been just over a month since I retired as Director of Children's Ministry at Christ Church. Several people have asked me what it's like to watch it all from the sidelines. Has it been hard? Does it feel weird? Do I miss it? Is it great?
Actually it's been all of those things, but mostly it has been amazing! And I'll tell you why.
Looking back on this past year, and on nearly nine years in Children's Ministry, there's a long list of memories: Sunday school, Christ Kids Worship, Story Hour, nurseries, Arts & Rec, Children's Choir, meetups with moms and volunteers, special seminars, along with all the cute, funny, and often rather profound things the kids have said. But the most beautiful memories are the things parents themselves have shared, because that tells me that the church is doing what she is called to do: she is coming alongside parents and strengthening them as they teach their children in the way they should go.
They have shared stories of their kids teaching younger siblings songs from Christ Kids Worship, and of their children acting out their Sunday school lessons when they get home from church. One family who recently moved away wrote that one of the greatest things they packed up and took with them was "the value of having [their very young children] in worship with the congregation on Sunday mornings." What a gift!
Look around you on Sunday mornings! Our young families are coming to worship! Anyone who has raised children or grown up in the church knows that Sunday mornings can be challenging. But look! Here they are, Sunday after Sunday, bringing their little ones to worship, to Sunday school, and to fellowship. And you as a church are there to meet them. Thank you! And thanks be to God!
After several months of transition and a few shifts in staff, I'm so thankful to see that this ministry is in very good hands. Rachel Dallaire, Dawn Lundell, and Rachel Morales are each wonderfully suited to the work. Of course, ultimately this ministry is in God’s hands, and he lovingly invites us into the work.
How can you help?
- Pray! Pray for the ministry, and pray specifically for the kids and families who sit near you on Sunday mornings. Pray that the Lord would continue to bless his church with great love and faithfulness throughout all generations.
- Get to know them! Chat for a few minutes with the parents and with the kids.
- Serve! Ask how you can help. Right now, Rachel D. shares that they could use a few more people on the Wednesday night Play and Pray rotation, where they're focusing on Scripture memory. Talk with her about how you can be a part of that!
So why is it amazing to watch it all happen? Because it is happening.
Because one generation is praising God’s mighty works to the next. And it’s not just one or two people; as a whole church we have chosen to press into this great and high calling of worshipping the living and true God together, young and old. As the saying goes, the sights and sounds of children in corporate worship are a profound sign of God's promise to be our God and the God of our children, and their children after them.