Recently we were away in Western Qld. During that time we visited the Cosmos Centre in Charleville, where we experienced the Big Sky Observatory show. All the people who were waiting for the show were milling around in the foyer & looking at the displays. When it was time to start the show, a confident young lady called us all in together. She told us all to turn our phones off and why. So, that we wouldn’t be distracted and so we wouldn’t disturb others with the light from our phones. We needed to have good night vision to see all the stars. Then she introduced herself and we found out that she was a grade 12 student. She had worked her way through various positions at the Cosmos Centre and was now a host for these evening shows. Three or four other people were assisting her that night but she was the main host and led us extremely well.
This young lady had been encouraged and supported to use her gifts and passions. She was confidently leading a group of strangers, the majority who were well older than she was. Did she know everything about the stars that she was showing us? No, in fact she asked her colleagues when she needed help or needed to be reminded of the name of something.
This got me thinking about our church communities. Do we encourage children and teens to take roles in the life of the church community? Or do we think that they aren’t old enough yet? Children and teenagers are very capable to do things which match where they are at. How do you allow for the young people in your church communities to nurture their gifts and passions to serve?
Research shows that children who feel that they belong and have a purpose in the life of the church are more likely to stay connected to their faith. Not everyone wants to be an up-front leader but there are many roles in the life of the church that people of all ages can fill. I think of the line from a kid’s song we’ve often sung at our church “You don’t have to wait until your grown up, God can use you know”
How can you encourage the young people in your congregation to use their gifts now?
- Ask them what they’d like to do. Give them some options and perhaps suggest what they might like to do from what you know of them.
- Talk to their parents about what they might like to do.
- Encourage adults on the roster to invite a young person to do the role with them the next time they are rostered on.
- Match people from different generations together to get to know each other more intentionally one-on-one for a period of time. Who is God calling you to come alongside and build a relationship with one-on-one?
- When doing anything in the church, think about how kids or teens can be involved? For example if chairs need to be moved, many ages can be involved in that.
Some ways we’ve involved young people in the life of the church over many years
- Children writing prayers with adult support
- Children putting together PowerPoints
- Children & youth on the worship team
- Children and youth helping on the Tech desk
- Grandmother leading prayer whilst her young granddaughter did some actions
- Grandmother leading prayer whilst the mother helped her young boys show symbols to match the prayer
- A 12 year old leading the congregation to participate in Operation Christmas Child
- An 8 year old joining the worship band to play one song until he could play more
- A 6 year old teaching the congregation a new song she knew from school
- 2 young teenagers leading the song they wrote for Pentecost
- A child or youth leading a small group on Options Sundays (a bit like Messy Church)
- A 10 year old taking payment at a car wash/sausage sizzle
- Children/youth being part of the whole church discernment process
- Youth and adults running creche together
- A 13 year old leading a prayer based on the creation story interspersed with the reading by an 8 year old, while his 6 year old brother said “Day 1”, “Day 2”, etc at the appropriate time.
- Youth taking photos at special events
What can you do this week to encourage a young person to use their gifts and passions to serve others in the life of your church community?
Want to Know More?
Would you like to know more about how you can help young people participate in the life of your church?
I’m happy to share more ideas or lead workshops on this and other topics.
email: info@feedmyfamilyblog.com