5 Reasons Your Kids Should Go To Big Church

Here are two new buzz phrases for you:

• Family integrated worship
• Family integrated church

These ideas aren't new but many parents and pastors are re-discovering the that "church" means kids too. Guys like Voddie Bauchman are preaching about this everywhere they go. Southern Seminary has hired Randy Stinson as the Dean of their Christian Ed school. God's design for the spiritual development of kids in the family context is making a comeback. But does that mean kids should go to Big Church?

My church is moving this direction. Only two years back the kids didn't even know were the sanctuary was. Now we dismiss the children after about 25 minutes to KidZone Worship. Reform is a process. I'm using video clips in children's church to train the kids how to listen to preaching. We are moving in the right direction.

One problem is that many parents do not see the benefits of having their kids in the worship service. The distractions, the discipline, the potty breaks - all seem like more hassle than it's worth.

Jonathan who blogs at Excogitating Engineer (I'm not sure what that one means) posted on five reasons he wants his kids to come to Big Church:

5 Reasons Your Kids Should Go To Big Church

1. Children can observe their parents singing praises to God and can listen to the exposition of God’s Word. Children learn by watching.
2. Children lose the opportunity to play and not pay attention. Sitting by the parents helps them actually learn.
3. Children are taught that God’s Word and the exposition of it is the most central part of worship.
4. Children are taught great hymns and worship songs of the faith.
5. By being in worship together, parents are better able to develop teachable moments using the sermon from Sunday morning.

I really appreciate hearing dad's talk like this. This is the kind of vision that I want my kids to have when they become parents.

What does your church do? Is family integrated worship on your radar?

If you have your own reasons to add to his list, leave them in the comments.

Subscribe in a reader or get our latest posts by Email