Sunday mornings at our church can be a bit rowdy at times! As we gather to sing praises to our Saviour, a toddler may be heard laughing in the back, another child may run across the room to be able to stand by a special adult friend, a mom may help her son climb onto a chair to see the words on the screen, and two squirming siblings may need to be separated by their dad.  Some churches prefer to have the kids–particularly the youngest of them–in a separate location for the entire Sunday morning service to allow for adults to worship free from the many distractions that children can create. And I also agree that there should be times of worship and study reserved for adults–examples of this are even given in Scripture (see for example, Deuteronomy 11 and Nehemiah 8).

So one may wonder…what is the value in a room full of as many children as adults singing praises to the Lord?  Glad you asked.

Cross-generational worship follows the Biblical command

Psalm 148:7-13 states:  “Praise the Lord from the Earth…Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord…” How are young men, maidens, old men and children to praise the Lord together without times of intentional cross-generational worship?

Cross-generational worship follows Biblical examples

Several Old Testament accounts record children and adults worshipping together.  For example, 2 Chronicles 20:13 says that all of Judah “stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children…” for a word from God which then resulted in all present “worshiping the Lord” (vs. 18). Nehemiah 8 and Nehemiah 12 also records times of children worshipping God alongside their parents.

Cross-generational worship provides a time of teaching for the younger ones

Children undoubtedly learn from modeling. This is observed by all parents and those who work with kids, and teaching through modeling is encouraged in Scripture (see Proverbs 23:26, Titus 2:7 and 1 Peter 5:3).  As children spend 20 or 30 minutes each Sunday observing their parents and other respected adults worshipping the Lord, they learn to do the same.

I can remember attending worship one Sunday morning with my Grandmother as a young girl, and I can still hear her voice joyfully singing “Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God!” I remember noticing the joy in her voice as she sang and realizing that the words were not just generic lyrics to a song, but was the testimony of her own life. As a result, this hymn has become a personal favorite as I’m reminded of the example of worship my Grandmother set for me that day.

Whenever I’m blessed to have one our church’s children crawl into my arms or stand beside me during our times of worship, I pray that they sense that same genuineness from me and that it spurs them on to seek a relationship with the Lord themselves. I also pray that all of the children would sense that these times of worship are something special…that they would see their parents and a room full of other adult role-models making the worship of God a priority in their lives. I pray that they would sense God’s presence in our midst and be drawn into their own time of worship.

Sure it may be a bit chaotic at times to have the little ones in the same room worshipping alongside us! But as the body of Christ, we have an obligation to show patience to each other, “bearing with the failings of the weak” (Romans 15:1) and to follow Jesus’ command to welcome the children (Luke 18:16).  May we never have the same attitude as the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 21:15 who became “indignant” at the children worshipping Jesus in the temple. Rather let us welcome the children and model for them the proper attitude of worship, training the child in the way they should go!