Children in Worship
Children with Bo during OPCC Kids Time
“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” – Psalm 78:4
During Each Worship Gathering:
Children and young people are ALWAYS welcome in worship at OPCC. You are welcome to sit wherever you like in our sanctuary, including our Family Friendly Worship Area. For those children and youth worshiping with their parents in the sanctuary, children’s worship bulletins, crayons, colored pencils, children’s Bibles and manipulatives are available for use during worship services. We simply ask that you return these reusable items following the services so they can be updated and readied for the following week.
During Each Worship Gathering:
Children and young people are ALWAYS welcome in worship at OPCC. You are welcome to sit wherever you like in our sanctuary, including our Family Friendly Worship Area. For those children and youth worshiping with their parents in the sanctuary, children’s worship bulletins, crayons, colored pencils, children’s Bibles and manipulatives are available for use during worship services. We simply ask that you return these reusable items following the services so they can be updated and readied for the following week.
Mr. John joins the kids - we always make sure there is room for children in our activities, and that they feel included!
Our hope is that the Family Friendly Worship Area allows for more movement and activity for children during worship. Children and families are invited to sit anywhere they would like in the sanctuary, but we do make every effort to allow families to worship together in a setting that is welcoming to children of God of all ages. Speak with a greeter about how we can make your worship experience more comfortable!
Check out MORE recommendations for worshiping with your children below.
Check out MORE recommendations for worshiping with your children below.
10:30 a.m. Worshiping with Children
Children are encouraged to worship with their families during any worship gathering. Children are ALWAYS welcome in worship at OPCC.
Following the Worship & Wonder Scripture in 10:30 a.m. worship, children 4 years old through 3rd grade are invited to attend Children Worship & Wonder if they would prefer a worship experience just for children. During Children Worship & Wonder your child will experience God through God’s Word, praise songs, prayer, communion, and an age-appropriate lesson. Children will be taken to Children Worship & Wonder by a volunteer following the OPCC Kids Time in 10:30 a.m. worship, and can be picked up in from the Children Worship & Wonder room just to the north of our main entrance.
You may also choose to take your children to our excellent nursery. Our nursery staff provides childcare during worship services and during the Christian Education hour. Nursery care is available for infants through kindergarten-age children. Nursery care is also provided during special worship services and meetings throughout the year. (Please contact the front office to check, or request, if childcare is needed during a meeting.)
Affirmation of Children’s Involvement in Worship
In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, ― "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Because we love our children, because we follow Jesus, because we assume care for children in baptism and blessing, and because we are part of a covenant community that has always been called to teach its children, we welcome children and their place in worship. We are excited they want to worship God and we want to assume our responsibility for leading them.
Therefore we believe:
How Adults Lead Children to Worship
Children, with natural spontaneity, experience God in unexpected ways and places and often lead adults to an openness which helps all ages to worship. We plan experiences hoping to lead children to worship. We cannot make children worship, rather we can help children to become conscious of God’s presence and to respond to God’s love. To lead children in worship requires the participation of the entire congregation. At baptisms and blessings the church family, along with the child’s immediate family, assumes responsibility for nurturing and guiding the child in faith. Our church family conveys this welcoming attitude toward children in various ways. This includes everything from saying, “Hello!” to children in the halls, to being understanding and tolerant of a child’s need for expression and movement during a worship service. These expressions of loving acceptance are the foundation for subsequent and more formal worship experiences.
How We Assist Children in Worship
The capacity to worship is clearly a gift from God to both children and adults. It is our responsibility to cultivate this capacity in children by helping them participate in the worship service. We offer the following suggestions for ways of developing “worship readiness.” We invite you to use them selectively according to your family’s specific situation.
Introduce Your Child to the Place of Worship and Its Leaders
Introduce Your Child to the Order of Worship
Prepare Your Child for the Worship Service
Introduce Your Child to Sacraments
Help Your Child by Your Participation and Attitude
Enjoy! Remember, God invites us to worship God with a joyous heart!
Children are encouraged to worship with their families during any worship gathering. Children are ALWAYS welcome in worship at OPCC.
Following the Worship & Wonder Scripture in 10:30 a.m. worship, children 4 years old through 3rd grade are invited to attend Children Worship & Wonder if they would prefer a worship experience just for children. During Children Worship & Wonder your child will experience God through God’s Word, praise songs, prayer, communion, and an age-appropriate lesson. Children will be taken to Children Worship & Wonder by a volunteer following the OPCC Kids Time in 10:30 a.m. worship, and can be picked up in from the Children Worship & Wonder room just to the north of our main entrance.
You may also choose to take your children to our excellent nursery. Our nursery staff provides childcare during worship services and during the Christian Education hour. Nursery care is available for infants through kindergarten-age children. Nursery care is also provided during special worship services and meetings throughout the year. (Please contact the front office to check, or request, if childcare is needed during a meeting.)
Affirmation of Children’s Involvement in Worship
In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, ― "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Because we love our children, because we follow Jesus, because we assume care for children in baptism and blessing, and because we are part of a covenant community that has always been called to teach its children, we welcome children and their place in worship. We are excited they want to worship God and we want to assume our responsibility for leading them.
Therefore we believe:
- Our congregation should include our children as participants in an increasingly meaningful manner in our worship service.
- Children of school age are capable of participating actively and developing an understanding of the worship service.
- Children of pre-school age can also benefit from the experience of the worship service.
- The child’s development of an understanding of worship is best accomplished when participating in the worship service.
- The role of the parent(s) and other adults as the model for a child attending the worship service is essential to an orderly growth in the understanding of God.
How Adults Lead Children to Worship
Children, with natural spontaneity, experience God in unexpected ways and places and often lead adults to an openness which helps all ages to worship. We plan experiences hoping to lead children to worship. We cannot make children worship, rather we can help children to become conscious of God’s presence and to respond to God’s love. To lead children in worship requires the participation of the entire congregation. At baptisms and blessings the church family, along with the child’s immediate family, assumes responsibility for nurturing and guiding the child in faith. Our church family conveys this welcoming attitude toward children in various ways. This includes everything from saying, “Hello!” to children in the halls, to being understanding and tolerant of a child’s need for expression and movement during a worship service. These expressions of loving acceptance are the foundation for subsequent and more formal worship experiences.
How We Assist Children in Worship
The capacity to worship is clearly a gift from God to both children and adults. It is our responsibility to cultivate this capacity in children by helping them participate in the worship service. We offer the following suggestions for ways of developing “worship readiness.” We invite you to use them selectively according to your family’s specific situation.
Introduce Your Child to the Place of Worship and Its Leaders
- Visit the sanctuary when it is empty. Walk around. Look. Explore.
- Tour, examine and talk about: the cross, pulpit and Bible, organ, choir loft, communion table, baptistry, and stained glass windows.
- Touch: handle everything in the pew rack and explain its purpose. Practice getting out a hymnal and Bible and signing your name on the registration card.
- Schedule a visit with any of the pastors and introduce them to your children.
Introduce Your Child to the Order of Worship
- Locate the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible (Matthew 6 or Luke 11) and talk about its origin. Pray the Lord’s Prayer at bedtime or at a meal at home.
- Use last Sunday’s worship bulletin to explain its purpose and discuss the order of worship.
Prepare Your Child for the Worship Service
- Get a good night’s sleep and don’t rush on Sunday morning.
- Before the worship service, be sure your child has had breakfast and a chance to use the restroom.
- Dress comfortably – both you and your children!
- Use the time after you take your seats and during the prelude to locate hymns and Bible scriptures. Look around and recognize friends and those seated around you.
- Remind your child that many of us are quiet when we talk with God, and that we don’t want to interrupt others when they might be talking with God.
- Be sure he/she has an offering, Bible, hymnal, and especially a children’s worship bulletin available when you walk in the sanctuary.
Introduce Your Child to Sacraments
- Give your child an opportunity to view a baptism and to welcome a baby after a blessing. Perhaps they might want to create and send a card to welcome them.
- Discuss the meaning of communion at your child’s level of understanding as we celebrate this feast together as a family of faith
- We welcome all to the table in invite your family to decide when you want your child to receive communion.
Help Your Child by Your Participation and Attitude
- Avoid phrases like “Be quiet,” “Sit still,” or “Be good.” Small children need to move – not without regard to those around them – but as their young, developing muscles require. Sitting cross-legged may give relief to dangling legs.
- Do emphasize, by words and actions, the positive, important, happy thing you have come to do together! You are a model for your child.
- Hug your child frequently during the service. Tell him/her how happy you are to have him/her there. Let your child lean against you, have physical contact, ask you questions, have your attention. For the next several years you will be worshiping through your ministry to your own child. As you answer his/her questions, guide his/her eye across the page, locate a Scripture, or point out a place in the worship bulletin. As you do these things, do not mistakenly feel you have interrupted your worship. Remember the One whom we worship said, “Whoever welcomes one such child as this in my name, welcomes Me.” - Matthew 18:5
- Brief prayers at mealtime, a prayer of thanks on birthdays and special occasions, a Bible story at breakfast or bedtime, listening to praise music in the car, a simple conversation about what God want us to do… in short, all the ways we recognize God as a present and loving reality in our daily lives are the basic preparations for participation in congregational worship.
Enjoy! Remember, God invites us to worship God with a joyous heart!
