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Children and Worship
How can children be welcomed and engaged in worship as members of the body of Christ? How can we rediscover their gifts of participation and leadership? This section offers the following resources and reflections:

Related books published by the Worship Institute

	A Child Shall Lead: Children in Worship. John D. Witvliet, editor. Choristers Guild and Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 1999.
	The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together. Howard Vanderwell, editor. Alban Institute, 2008.
	Helping Our Children Grow In Faith: How the Church Can Nurture the Spiritual Development of Kids. Robert J. Keeley. Baker Books, 2008.

Articles, including questionnaires, interviews, and lectures
Children's Messages
John Timmer
how to use stories to teach the gospel message to children
Creating a Child-Friendly Culture in Your Church
Robert Keeley
presentation on how church communities can help children grow in faith
Come and See: Child's Play (Reformed Worship)
Dean Heetderks
a plan for creating liturgical art with adults and children
Four Steps to Including Children at the Lord's Supper
recommended by Synod 1995 of the Christian Reformed Church
Kinesthetic Prayer: An Example with the "Prayer for the Holy Spirit's Illumination"
a resource from Friendship Ministries (www.friendship.org)
Picturing Jesus: Children's Bulletin Ideas for Lent (Reformed Worship)
Della Stroobosscher
goal: to provide children's bulletins that draw children (and youth) into the worship service
A Precious Feast, a Tangled Web
Syd Hielema
a case for welcoming children at the Table
Questionnaire: How well is your church doing?
Karen Wilk
a helpful tool for assessing how well children and youth are integrated into your church’s life
The Sermon for Children
Randall D. Engle
ideas to involve children meaningfully in worship
first printed in The Chorister (Aug./Sept. 2004) and reprinted with permission
Songwriters Tell Their Stories (Reformed Worship)
Randall D. Engle
kids in costume introduce a Service of Songs
Suggestions to Help the Whole Family Worship
Karen Wilk
practical suggestions from the evening before worship to the trip back home
Sunday Morning Parenting (www.thebanner.org)
John D. Witvliet
article on congregational collaboration in intergenerational worship
Worship That Is Friendly to Children, part 1
Norma de Waal Malefyt and Howard Vanderwell
ideas to help examine your efforts at incorporating children fully and consciously into vital congregational worship
Worship That Is Friendly to Children, part 2
several other dimensions: the children's message, children and song, children and prayer, and designing a series of services with children as the focus

Books
Bibliography of Children's Resources
Children's Books about Worship

Events
See Calendar of Events for a complete listing of upcoming events

Multimedia
A Child Shall Lead: Children in Worship
John D. Witvliet
a vision for intergenerational Christian worship that sees children as full participants in Sunday worship, including ideas for both teaching children about worship and including children more fully in worship services
Children's Gifts to God
artists: children from Ferry Memorial Reformed Church, Montague, Michigan
visual representations (PowerPoint) of biblical texts used during a responsive reading in worship
1.) Psalm 104
2.) Romans 11:33-36
3.) Romans 11:33-36
4.) Romans 11:33-36

Other Links
Choristers Guild

Vital Worship
Feature stories ... for inspiration, learning, and group discussion

“Christ, to train humans, had to become man himself. If we wish to train children, we must become children with them. Would to God such child’s play were widely practiced. In a short time we would have a wealth of Christian people whose souls would be so enriched in Scripture and in the knowledge of God.” —Martin Luther from his introduction to the German Mass when speaking of games to help children memorize scripture, Luther’s Works: Liturgy and Hymns, Vol. 53 (Fortress Press, 1965).