Family Faith Formation
TABLE GRACE FOR THE SEASON OF PENTECOST:
Dear Lord,
You have blessed us with many amazing gifts.
We have the shining sun, clear air, cool waters, and plentiful food from
the earth.
Thank you for these gifts.
Teach us to use them wisely;
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen
|
The following is the June, 2008 article for the Family Faith Formation Series which appears in the monthly newsletter. We hope you take the time to reflect on the Biblical passages and the ideas, to get grounded on this journey with your family and with God. |
Teaching Your Child Church Manners
Everyone, I believe, would agree with the expression, “Manners matter.” We want our children to know proper manners for going out to eat, for going to a movie theater, for attending a concert… While the list of circumstances could go on and on, we all want our children to be polite and loving in their interactions with others. So what exactly do we mean by “church manners”?
Church manners basically mean participating fully in worship while helping others to participate fully in worship.
Yes, I said “participate fully in worship”! Worship is not supposed to be something that the adults attend to while the kids are simply “amused” by something else to keep them quiet – worship is for everyone!! So parents, let’s begin to teach our children how to participate. We want them to stand when the congregation stands, and sit when the congregation sits. Just by following those movements, the children begin to take part, so encourage them to stand and sit. Encourage them to come up for the children’s sermon, but that does not mean they are to tune out of the rest of the service. We want them to listen carefully to the sermon and to see the ministers prepare for Holy Communion. Help your child participate by sitting where they can see what’s going on (or if they are really small, allow them to stand still on the seat, but please hold onto them!) – sometimes not seeing what’s going makes the children feel disconnected from worship, which leads to distractions, and therefore less than polite behavior. Many parts of the service are the same each week, so encourage your child to start responding in worship – start with the easier parts, and gradually move into prayers and some of the music of the liturgy. (I know kids can learn the music – if a preschooler can memorize the lyrics to the songs from High School Musical, then they can learn the songs in the liturgy.) Let’s also encourage our children to stay in the sanctuary for the whole service; when they go in and out during the service, they miss important parts of worship.
Church manners also mean that we are helping each other participate fully in worship. By standing, sitting, listening quietly, and responding at appropriate times, our children are also helping others in worship as well. I personally am not a big fan of taking children out of worship – they can’t learn if they are not there – but especially for our littlest ones, going to the training room may be what they need for a little bit, and then they can try to participate again later.
God gave us the gift of worship, and this gift is not for adults only. It is our hope that everyone in our church family, including our youngest members, actively worships together, to the praise and glory of God!
Sandra Barnes, AiM