FAMILY ORIENTED SERVICES
So on page 106 Ashton talked about how during a family oriented service, all parts of it should be child friendly. He says thats its not fair to keep the children in and then to ignore him. I strongly agree with him on this one. Growing up i hated with a passion going into the services with all the adults because it was so BORING!!! everything the pastor said i felt was blah blah blah blah! I felt the pastor could have made the service a little more intresting on the fourth Sundays if all the children had to sit in there unwillingly. I feel that when children go into a church service, which in my case was once a month, they should seriously try to make it as child friendly as possible. I believe that if kids are intrested in the service, but at the same time get the message given then they won’t have the mindset that “BIG CHURCH IS BORING!” Also just because a service is child friendly doesn’t mean that it down plays the Adults or does lack of edification. Dr. Olshine told us in our communicating to youth class that if you can engage a child than you can engage an adult and your lesson will probaly have a strong impact on them. children need simplicity and a creative approach through the sermon that will keep them locked into the service. if you ask me adults are the same way.
So i guess my question is what ways can we keep our family oriented services child friendly and adult friendly?
I think that we have already begun to do that. When we have skits, video clips, etc… we are being creative in our service. I agree that if the pastor can get the kids to understand the message than the adults will most likely also be impacted. I remember that there was one pastor (i don’t remember who) but he would pay his kids to sit in the front row and to take notes on the service. In doing this he was able to check to see if they understood the message or not. If his kids could understand it than there was no doubt that the other adults and kids could understand it.
Also, I think that when you have the kids doing a song at the beginning of a service than usually they will pay attention more in the rest of the service. Maybe it’s because they were able to be more a part of the service rather than just sitting in the seats.
If my pastor paid me, I would definetely sit on the front row! I am going to email him and suggest it for this Christmas! Thanks for the brilliant school funding idea, Carla!
One might try mixing in some children’s music in the service as well. I used “Jesus Loves Me” in one service (the lyrics are actually pretty good). This could send the message, “Kids, we care about your ability to understand and participate on every level.”
You know what I meant!!
I get all excited just from hearing you say that adults need child-friendly services. When we try to make things more interesting, we are doing more of a service to the adults than to the kids : ) I have one word: “creativity.” We need to look for what creative gifts are available in the church and incorporate those gifts into the service. I realize that it can be very difficult for someone planning a service or a sermon to think creatively under a deadline, but so much of the time it seems there is not even an effort. We need more visuals. It amazes me how often a speaker comes to chapel and just talks!