By Julie Hagen
This past Sunday we celebrated the 3
rd
grade Bible milestone. Children processed into worship and stood in front of the whole congregation before receiving their New Adventure Bible! I was honored to read the names of each child as Bibles were handed to their parents. Remembering the Promises made at Baptism, parents placed Bibles in their child’s hand. We encouraged them to read their Bibles and learn the stories of God’s people. We prayed that the Word of God would
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By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary
My niece is a lively, energetic preschooler. She is curious and asks lots of questions. And she has opinions, and isn’t afraid of sharing them. I love my time with her, as I introduce her to new things and she invites me to enjoy life’s ordinary moments.
Last Thursday night in class we wrestled with the question…
what is the call of childhood?
And what does faith formation entail?
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By Julie Hagen
This fall my congregation began a new format for our children's church school. We need a significant larger amount of leadership from parents than years past and I've discovered that much of my job is finding ways to communicate the importance of being involved. We need parents to be a part of the ministry that is happening each week.
Nancy Going recently blogged about The Race
we, as the church, find ourselves in against all of the other things children have going on in their
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By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary
I just spent the weekend at a big conference of Children's ministers, and I heard the same conversation over and over. "Our parents keep their children so busy." "We don't know even really know the parents or children in our churches." And I heard lots of conversation about figuring out new ways to get their attention.
Much of the American church (big or small) is deep into a race
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By Neil Christianson
Remember the last baptism you saw? It is a beautiful miracle to see! Through the water and the word, God claims one as his own and we see the transformation right before our eyes. God promises to work in the life of that individual and bring them to eternal life. What a promise! But that’s not all. There is a sacred promise made by the parents that I want you to think about.
In the service, the pastor says, “In Christian love you have presented this child for
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By Ashlea Denton, MA CYF graduate from Luther Seminary
When asked to come up with an example of learning from children, nearly every adult can quickly give a response. Whether it be from their own child, a distant relation or a chance encounter, adults have been, often unconsciously, learning from children for generations. Matthew 18:2-5 is often quoted when speaking of the role of children in the church and illustrates the importance of children,
"I'm telling you, once and for all,
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Here are a couple of ways you can begin to get your church talking about and practicing the shaping power of living into a child of God identity rather than a consumer one, and address the issue of cyber-bullying at the same time.
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Here is a resource that
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Dr. Terri Elton discusses the Missional Church and the First Third of Life
How does the church remain faithful, while also being open and imaginative?
The church finds itself at an important crossroads. Aspects of church are being questioned, new challenges are stressing current practices and old answers are not sufficient for current circumstances. In the midst of this reality, however, some believe that the future of the church has great promise.
Those participating in the Missional Church
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Carrie Carroll, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment at Luther Seminary, talks about kids and money.
(This video was developed in collaboration with Luther Seminary's Center for Stewardship Leaders.)
related link:
Dorothy C. Bass and Craig Dykstra once unpacked the meaning of Christian practices. They write: "By Christian practices we mean things Christian people do together over time to address fundamental human needs in response to and in the light of God's active presence for the life of the world. Thinking of a way of life as made up of a constitutive set of practices breaks a way of life down into parts that are small enough to be amenable to analysis, both in relation to contemporary
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