Children in Worship – A “Family” Responsibility
Written by Linus Koe
Ever since the start of the year, the children have sat in with us for the first part of our worship services. This was something we used to do, pre-COVID, at the 8.30am service, and on second Sundays at 10.30am. Having children in service is often a challenging thing, especially for our parents. Yet, it is a needful thing.
When our children turn the age of 13 they begin joining our main worship service often with much reluctance. Many youth prefer something catered to their age, or might not feel that the main worship service is relevant to them. But could this reaction be an outcome of our own doing? During their most formative years, our children spend most of their church-life outside of the worship service. It should come as no surprise that they have not learnt to understand and love the time as a gathered body of Christ because they are hardly together with us!
In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Having our children included with us is a biblical model of what church should be. Every time the Old Testament church was gathered, it was always with young and old. God has, from the time He formed a people of His own, wanted the children to be present to ask questions and find out from their parents what the adults were doing (take a look at Ex 12:26). How precious would a time be when a father explains the Holy Communion to his young child?
The rest of the congregation play a big part in nurturing the faith of the next generation too. I suggest 3 ways each congregational member can help:
- Firstly, acknowledge that parents, not Sunday School, make the biggest impact on the faith of their children.
- Secondly, knowing that fact, to affirm parents in their biblical mandate given to them in Deut 6:4-9.
- Lastly, play an active role in the discipleship of the next generation by encouraging parents and helping them out where possible.
To my fellow parents, the church thanks you for taking every bold step to share your faith with your little ones. It is one of God’s good plans for bringing glory to His name. If you ever need help, resources, or just to talk about things, do speak with our Family Discipleship Staff (Ps Dev, Linus, June, Ruth, Li Hui) and BOD Members (Alice, Jerry, Cassandra). We are here to partner you in this journey.
Family Sundays will be starting from April on a monthly basis. I hope you will be as excited as I am to see each of our 4 English congregations, coming together as a bigger family in Christ, making use of such opportunities to model and share our faith with the next generation.
