Children and Youth in Worship

In infant baptism, the church and parents of the baptized commit themselves to do all that they can to raise that child to faith in Jesus Christ.  As worship is the central act of the Christian community, to exclude children and youth from worship is to exclude them from the event that most profoundly shapes our Christian identity – the worship of God.  Thus, we urge parents to worship weekly with their children and youth.  While it can be a bit distracting to worship with a small child, we believe it lays a foundation of faithfulness for the future. We recognize that participation in worship is often what determines whether or not our young ones will possess a faith deep enough to sustain them for a lifetime.

FCC is committed to doing its best to provide worship that engages children and youth.  We work to include children and youth as liturgists, greeters and ushers.  From Time with Children (the children’s sermon) to Communion, we intend for at least one component of worship to engage our younger worshipers.  Worship activity bulletins are provided for children each Sunday morning so that they can learn the songs, prayers and stories of our faith in the worshiping community.  Young ears and hearts pick up far more than we give them credit for.  As they worship alongside their parents and others they learn what adults value and pay attention to the priorities they set.  To worship regularly is to set God as a high priority – loving our children and living into our baptismal vows asks nothing less of us.