Children's Faith Formation
Principles & Practices
Becoming a Child, Becoming Christian
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Karen-Marie Yust presents an understanding of the developmental capabilities of children at different ages, the social contexts in which they are growing up, and the kinds of spiritual and ministry practices that contribute to faith formation.
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Best Practices in Children's Faith Formation
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This article presents six best practices, drawn from research and field experience, that congregations can use to develop more holistic and comprehensive faith formation with children today. The article offers practical suggestions for utilizing each practice in children's faith formation.
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Biblical and Theological Resources for Raising Children
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Marcia Bunge identifies fundamental insights from the Bible and the Christian tradition about the roles and responsibilities of parents, the practices and responsibilities for nurturing the moral and spiritual lives of children, and the complexity and dignity of children as resources for raising our children in the faith.
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Bearing Gifts and Receiving Burdens: A Theological Approach to Ministry with Children
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In children’s ministry, the to-do list can be so long that leaders miss taking the time to reflect on what a ministry with children actually means. This article examines historical perspectives on children and how these perspectives can greatly influence our ministries if we’re not conscious of these perspectives. (Children and Religion Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3, 2012, www.childhoodandreligion.com)
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Can a Congregation Imagine "Something New
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This is the story of Grace Lutheran Church that decided to “cancel” the current Sunday School model for a year and try “Something Else”. They believed in the gift of community and the richness in telling and sharing stories, and understood the current program struggled with both sustainability and rooted faith formation. An organic team of leaders, most in their 30s and 40s, created weekly intergenerational experiences paired with the narrative lectionary stories from the worship texts, tying together conversations and experiences each week.
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Creating a High-Quality Church Nursery
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For many visiting families, your church nursery is one of the key places that make the difference between whether families keep coming to your church—or not. That’s why it’s important to take a close look at your church nursery to see how you can improve it to make it an even more welcoming place. A church nursery often is the most important room in your church for visiting families with young children. Even if your worship service is welcoming, if parents don’t feel welcomed and excited about the church nursery, they may never come back. That’s why a church nursery is a key place to put your thought, time, and energy into so that you can attract and keep families.
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Early Childhood Education: A Special Opportunity for Congregations
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This volume of the journal, ISSUES in Christian Education, presents articles that address the significant needs that exist among younger children, the faith formation of younger children, an overview of what is happening in early childhood education, challenges and opportunities facing congregations in offering early childhood education, and models of launching early childhood education ministries.
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Faith and Faith Formation: More Than Just Ages and Stages
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Robert Keeley presents a synthesis of James Fowler’s stages of faith and their application to the faith formation of children and adults. Fowler's stages provide a helpful description that can offer practical insights for all those involved in faith formation.
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Faith Without Words: On Infant Faith Formation
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Faith forms first without words. Faith lives in our bodies before it is named. In our wordy Western culture, adult faith too often drowns in words. Awareness of how we first formed our faith as infants re-connects us as adults with faith at its source.
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Follow Me: Infant Faith Formation
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My curriculum for infant faith formation is a lot like day camp. We sing songs and go on field trips.
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Future of Children's Ministry
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Take a look at the top six trends that'll impact the future of your children's ministry — and discover what you can do now to prepare for Generation Z. Continue reading ...
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Involving Children in Mission
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When we involve young people in mission, we help nurture them into discipleship by teaching them to care for others and by providing them with opportunities to serve. Congregations often find ways to do this with youth, but how about our children? What are we doing to further their heart for service to others?
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Jesus’s Prophetic Reach: Drawing Children to the Center of Congregational Life
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Jesus broke with the expectations of his day by inviting children into his ministry and mission—indeed, into the kingdom of God. Churches today must do the same, celebrating and including children rather than relegating them to the fringes of their worship.
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Just Imagine: Considering the Theological Insights of Children
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Perhaps we should be thinking about how to do Children's Ministry in the way of Jesus, by taking our children's theological questions and observations seriously.
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On Beyond Zebra: Beyond Traditional Models for Children’s Ministry
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Any activity that involves children needs careful planning. If we understand God to be continually at work in the lives of individual children, however, children’s ministry also needs to be flexible enough to discern and nurture the movement of the Spirit. This article offers a fresh perspective on children's ministry that is centered on children and God's activity in their lives.
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R-rated: How to Read the Bible with Children
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The author provides advice and thoughts on sharing the Bible with children.
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Saturated Spirituality: Creating Environments that Nurture All Children
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David Csinos describes four styles of spirituality—word, emotion, symbol, and action, and presents a variety of practical strategies for nurturing the spiritual life of children in each of the four styles.
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The Spirituality of Our Children: Today’s Pray-ers, Tomorrow’s Prophets
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Spirituality is what we do because of what we believe. This definition touches upon our beliefs as well as our actions. It calls us to much responsibility and challenge. Why do we need to talk about children and spirituality? The exploration and integration of spirituality has to begin during the younger years.
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Transforming Practice: Emerging Literature on Children, Youth and Christian Formation
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Karen-Marie Yust reviews the books and edited volumes of 24 scholars or scholarly collaborations, highlighting shared themes and commitments in the major literature on children, youth and Christian formation that has emerged since 2000. (Resources for American Christianity)
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Where Are the Children?
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This article explores presents practices and approaches to ministry that the authors believe are foundational in nurturing the spirituality of children in churches. They invite us into conversation how how we all carry the call to pass on the way of Jesus to future generations.
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What Matters Now In Children's Ministry |
What Matters Now is a collaborative conversation centered on how best to influence children's faith. The project began in May, 2010 with Matt Guevara, Amy Dolan, Henry Zonio, and contributions of children's ministry leaders all around the world. Each author responds to a unique one-word themes in ways that are colorful and catalytic, inspiring and conversational, innovative and foundational, timely and true. There are three reports that can be downloaded from the Learning Exchange and their website: www.cmwhatmatters.com.
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Why Children Need Ignatian Spirituality
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To the extent that we offer our children ways of imagining God always present among us in our families, we help them to understand that everyday life is shot through with grace. Tim and Sue Muldoon write that children need Ignatian spirituality because it can help them learn the value of slowing down to take stock of what their lives mean. We need to help children encounter Jesus by using their senses in hearing stories about him.
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