What We’ve Learned About Worship with Kids: Who is this Child?

Introduction

In recent years, I have spent a lot of time studying worship with children both academically and in churches of various sizes and denominations. The founding of the Center for Faith and Children has allowed me to continue and expand on this work, and I recently had the opportunity to reflect on and summarize some of what we have learned about worship with children. When churches consider how to engage children in worship, they often do so through one of three primary lenses: theological, developmental, or contextual. Each lens offers valuable insights—but when used in isolation, each also presents limitations that can hinder a more holistic approach to including children in worship. Asking thoughtful questions can help us to integrate these approaches, taking the best each has to offer. I want to share some of our learnings with you, but in the spirit of the curiosity and wonder of a child, I’m going to share our learnings in three questions. I invite you to wonder with us. Take these questions into your church context–discuss them in your staff meetings, at your volunteer trainings, and see what invitations might open up to you as you join us in reimagining church where a child’s faith flourishes.

Question 1: Who is this child?

Children are spiritual beings

Children, regardless of age, are not spiritually incomplete or waiting to “grow into” faith. They are spiritual beings now, fully capable of experiencing God, loving Him, and participating in His work. Children are made in the image of God, just as adults are. That image isn’t earned or achieved at a certain age or milestone; it is intrinsic and divinely given. Even when we don’t notice, children are wrestling with deep questions and choices.

Children have the capacity to worship

Children are not passive observers of faith. They are worshippers, fully capable of engaging in authentic worship with God. Worship becomes meaningful for children when they are invited to participate, not just observe. As one scholar put it: “Authentic worship is empowered by an environment where children are invited into the worship practices as full participants and find their responses honored as expressions of their relationship with God.”¹

What does children’s spirituality look like?

Rebecca Nye beautifully defines children’s spirituality as: “God’s way of being with children, and children’s way of being with God.” ² This dual relationship reminds us that God is always present, reaching out, and that children—uniquely and sincerely—respond in kind.

So who is this child?

To answer this first question is to begin with a deep theological truth: children are known, loved, and engaged by God. They are not on the margins of God’s kingdom—they are central to it. They are not just learning about faith; they are already living it in real and powerful ways. Our next question will explore how children respond to this divine invitation and how we can best engage them in communal worship.

Children are not on the margins of God’s kingdom—they are central to it. -Dr. Mimi Larson