Let the Children Worship (Christian Focus) Paperback – 2 Dec. 2016

Please read this book!! It's so, so good. It paints such a beautiful picture of why we worship, and the importance of children being included. I can't it say enough...please read it!

My children are grown but I am the Children's ministry leader at our church. I read this book in order to provide resources for parents in our church. WISH WISH WISH I had this book about 20 years ago. I HIGHLY recommended with all the parents in children's ministry. THANK YOU for writing this little book. It was an easy read!

Let me share what I liked about it:90 page book, so it's not a long read. Broken into 7 chapters.Chapters have headings and subheadings.Every chapter ends with a conclusion, making it helpful for the reader to comprehend.It is rich with scripture quotes and references.It's reality based- his presupposition is just getting to church is a big deal for most families. Let alone sitting together quietly for an hour or more.His thesis for worship and including children remind us that: all we do must be grounded in the Word of God or biblical, our worship be with joy, as well as reverence, edifying, and praise based. We treasure worship and communing with God, and our actions and attitudes should show the joy and value this plays in our lives to our children.He's positive and encouraging in his tone, motivating the reader to remember- God created us for worship, it's the purpose of the church gathering, because it marks our identity as believers.He shares that parents need to work with their children on this, but he also teaches that the congregation, leadership, and church community need to be supportive and helpful.What I wasn't as fond of:not sure the audience of this book-written to academic or theologically educated people, perhaps even of Reformed Denomination? (first chapters) Later chapters are more to parents/lay people, there are a lot of theological terms that may not be in the reader's regular vocabulary, and might have served the reader better with definitions, footnotes, or connections.Covenant Community (we don't use this term in my local church)Ordains, sacramentsnot sure how all parents will feel about his plan that suggests children don't have anything with them for the meeting to help their active engagement.he suggests it's not doodling time, or even note taking time, as it can be a distraction.he suggests that all children can learn to sit with the help of their parents and focus directly.We know that there are different learning styles, and different types of children.I prefer to teach parents to know their child, and figure out what will work best for their children at each age and stage, with their learning styles, activity level, and needs.I prefer a view that remembers that a child can be sitting on the floor drawing, or even make a tower of his color wonder markers, but still hear the speaker, the songs, the testimonies, the Word of God, and be thinking about it. And he might be listening better than a child the same age forced to sit in the chair and look at the leaders for the whole time.I don't equate sitting, looking attentive, standing, singing, etc to real worship, learning, or growth for all adults or children. Some of us need to move, some need to take notes to be processing, some color or knit so that they CAN focus, some need to be on the floor to be less distracting. Some chew gum, have a snack, or sip water. I bring fidgets that are quiet and can be manipulated while attending to the meeting.

A great short book that makes you take an honest look inward and outward about how we truly view children (ours or theirs) in the active fellowship of worship.

I am a Children's Minister. This book has given me great insight into children and worship. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to further their knowledge about growing a child in their worship experience.