Church staff and volunteers see their local churches in a particular light. You see the wicks struggling to add to the candle lighters. Maybe you’re the one emptying the dehumidifiers to keep the organ working. You’ve probably seen the pastors in t-shirts before service debating the cost of new mulch for the front flower beds.
From a child’s perspective, especially for our infrequent attendees, this is all just…. . arrive. Suddenly, on a Sunday morning, they can arrive at a place with transcendent music and bright windows overlooking freshly mulched flower beds, and they see a mysterious adult in a long robe speaking into a microphone and leading worship. It makes perfect sense that even the most outgoing child would be hesitant to suddenly have deep conversations about their inner life with this stranger in a strange place.
Is clergy only for adults?
I was struck by this realization one semester when my church had more kids than ever in our Wednesday after-school program. Our group of children had multiplied, and the only solution was to group all the children from grades 2 to 5 – more than two dozen children of varying academic levels, attention spans, and familiarity with Scripture – into one classroom for their Bible lesson. They didn’t all know each other either. Some attended different services among our church’s three separate places of worship on Sunday, and others did not attend church on the weekend.
As I spoke with the children, a common theme ran through all of our conversations: the children loved being in the hallway of the children’s department, but beyond that, the church was an “adult space.” The sanctuary? For adults. The kitchens? For adults. And, worst of all, the pastors in their long black robes? For adults.
Building relationships between children and clergy
What started as a quick filler after a chaotic lesson one day became a crucial part of our children’s ministry. I bought each child a composition workbook for 50 cents and collected a bag of colorful pens, sharp pencils, and paper clips. At the end of each lesson, we took about 5-10 minutes to journal about whatever the kids wanted to write about. What made this activity different was what they did After their logging time.
The children wrote about their lesson, asked a question, told a story or drew a drawing. They could choose to write for themselves and put their notebook in the “classroom only” pile, or they could choose to share what they wrote with a pastor at the church. Those who wanted a pastor to read and respond to their writings or drawings would put a paperclip on the page they wanted to share and put their notebook in one of the piles for pastors at our church. The pastors would then have one week to respond.
We have the following safeguards in place (actually created by the children themselves):
- Parents were always invited to read their child’s diary
- If anyone revealed a potential danger to themselves or others, we would have a meeting with the family.
The impact
Beautiful relationships were formed between the children and the clergy. The piles sent to pastors increased each week and the conversations continued. Our shy kids shared their hopes and dreams and their BIG questions about God. Our extroverts shared where they struggled. Our little ones shared photos and much more. Our children gained confidence by approaching pastors outside of children’s sermons, and our pastors had an immediate point of connection with children in the hallways and in the pews. Clergy even started signing up for VBS before they were asked! An investment of 50 cents and 10 minutes in our children has made a remarkable difference in the culture and conversations of our church.
More Ways to Use Journals
Although we used these journals during a weekday training program, they could also be kept in the sanctuary for children to use during worship. You can use them at a day school on your campus, at special events and much more! If your congregation is more traveling and/or tech-savvy, you can set up an email account or drop box on your church website for children and youth to communicate with clergy (always get permission from parents and guardians, of course!).
May this idea spark creativity within your congregation to connect your students in a new and original way!
The image shown is of Jessica Lewis on Unsplash
Amanda Herridge (she/her/hers)
Amanda Herridge (she/her) is the Associate Director of the Sharing Faith Initiative at Austin Seminary. She holds a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from United Theological Seminary and experience as a Family Minister in the UMC and ELCA churches. She has also dedicated time to community service through child welfare, and has taught all ages, from preschool to college, in a wide variety of roles. Her greatest joy is being the “fun aunt” to her niece and nephews and teaching pottery to her friends in her home studio.
