Young children need a special environment where they can meet and worship God. They should have their own experiences where their faith can be nurtured and they can be prepared to join in the full life of the congregation. Sonja M. Stewart and Jerome W. Berryman have taken the needs of children into account and devised an exciting way to introduce three-to-seven year-olds to the wonder of worship. Their approach, which integrates religious education and worship, has been presented at numerous workshops and training sessions. Based on the authors' experiences, the methods described here will be invaluable to teachers helping children understand and participate in worship. For their part, children will be led to experience God, using all their senses.
Activities are developed around the order of worship commonly used in Reformed churches: assemble in God's name; proclaim God's Word; give thanks to God; go in God's name. Stewart and Berryman suggest beginning with the most essential parts of the service, adding to these as the children progress.
They describe how to set up special rooms where through storytelling, art, and other specially designed activities children can enter more deeply into the life of faith. They offer lessons based on parables of the kingdom, selected passages from the Old Testament, and stories that are part of the liturgical year.
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