Excerpt from Creating and Leading Children's Sermons: A Developmental Approach

by O. Suthern Sims, Jr.

As a preacher's kid growing up in the deep South, I spent a lot of time in church. In those formative years my father was my religious hero and the best preacher I ever heard. But, if I am honest, I have to confess that as a child, I really did not understand much he said from the pulpit. I did, however, gain a great deal by "just being there." The congregation affirmed me, and I knew I was loved and accepted by that community of believers. My faith foundation was constructed during those years. Out of this life experience I developed an empathy for children in church and a desire to make church meaningful and appropriate for them. This book is an attempt to satisfy that goal.

The children's sermon, an established time during the Sunday morning worship service devoted exclusively to children, is a practice that has grown and expanded into virtually every Christian denomination during the last 30 years. A special time for children during the Sunday worship hour takes many forms and involves different age groups depending upon the needs, purposes, and objectives of a particular church. Not everyone has endorsed the practice, however. Ferrol Sams writes.

I was reared in an era when children should be seen and not heard.
Nowhere was this more evident than on Sunday morning in church. It
has been a trifle difficult, therefore, for me to adjust to the interruptions
of ritual throughout our land called Children's Worship.

Unfortunately, too many persons responsible for making presentations in "children's church" know little about how children develop physically, cognitively, and socially. They also lack an understanding of the historical place of children in the culture and have an inflated confidence in the American culture's current acceptance of the value of children.

...For a few brief moments every Sunday morning the church can minister to children in a way that can significantly impact their growth and development. By choosing developmentally appropriate materials, words, stories, and illustrations, the children's sermon presenter can share with children God's love for them and, in return, the congregation's acceptance of them as the children of God and the children of that fellowship of believers. Presenters of children's sermons should emphasize love, joy, sharing, forgiveness, peace, hope, security, safety, and cooperation. If presented in the language, context, and experiences children understand, children's sermons will effectively teach these and other concepts and attitudes of the church.

The purpose of this book is threefold. The first section gives guidelines for preparing children's sermons that communicate with children of various ages based on their physical, cognitive, and social development. The second section provides 60 model sermons developed according to the principles discussed in the first section, emphasizing general topics, "church words," and special days--all of which lay a faith foundation. The third section furnishes child development information and theory, children's sermon research survey results, and references that give credence to the importance of using appropriately developed children's sermons in worship. The material discussed in the third section is applied in the first two sections of the book.

O. Suthern Sims, Jr. is the author of "Creating and Leading Children's Sermons", published by Smyth & Helwys Publishing. To order, go to the online bookpage or call 1-800-747-3016.

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