Object lessons in worship mean more to adults
Redeemer has a passion for children’s ministry and had developed a lively interactive forum within our worship service geared to the young as well as the captive adult audience.
We tried the old object lesson format, the foundation of many messages for children. We discovered that they do not hit home with children. Children think concretely and object lessons rely on the ability to think abstractly. We abandoned them in favor of a more hands-on, interactive approach.
Our Ambassador visits have taught us other approaches. Here are some observations.
1. Overall there are very few children in church and fewer tweens and teens. Fewer than a third of the churches have a children’s sermon.
2. When there is a small group of children, almost every congregation dismisses children after the opening of the service.
3. Pastors at times seem awkward talking to the children and then the children take over. They have a good time and the adults enjoy the break, but the value as “sermon” is weak.
4. A couple of the pastors did more formal presentations for the children, using puppets and scripts. The messages were, in each case, very well prepared. Children and adults were attentive observers. There was no interaction.
5. The object lesson is still the fallback position for children’s sermons and is usually the focus of published materials for children’s sermons.
Our visit to Trinity, Fort Washington, was different. Pastor Jim Goodyear used the object lesson even though no little children were present. A Little Brown Bag object lesson came at the end of the service before dismissal. A member had placed an object in the bag and waited for Pastor Jim to find religious meaning in the random surprise. We’ve seen the same technique used with children who found delight in trying to stump the pastor, but the message fashioned for them probably went right over their heads. In this case, the pastor got it right — object lessons are for adults! The congregation loved the Little Brown Bag and Pastor Jim drew several poignant observations from the little knit cap he found hidden that morning. (Each stitch was made with love.) His point hit home as the congregation was embarking on a project to knit watchcaps for the Seaman Center! Good job, Fort Washington!
Good thoughts! Thanks for your input. 2×2 is going to develop this part of our forum more. It’s part of worship where experimentation is easily accepted, and with some more attention, can possibly help make up for the waning impact of “Sunday School.” Let’s hope parents do take the message home and talk to their children.
I agree that children’s sermons can seem awkward and that object lessons can go way over the kids’ heads, but I think these moments give (in addition to many other good things) something for parents to discuss later with their children. Parents aren’t always in the Sunday School class to hear what is said…but the parents hear this sermon and can use it as an opening to share their own faith with their children. Directing the object lesson to the whole congregation makes this invitation to share even more obvious. I love that. Thanks!