Ideas for Making Connections at Church

To Parents
Parents, these ideas are for you! Try one or all of these suggestions to help your kids understand and engage at church.

To Church Staff
Children are a vital and beautiful part of your church family. Here are some great ways to get them engaged and involved on Sunday mornings.

Pastors and worship leaders: I encourage you to be available to talk with kids about what church is, and why we do things the way we do. Consider how they could be directly involved on Sundays.

Ministry staff: Try organizing some of the ideas on this page for the kids and families in your ministries.

Part of the Action

Did you know that children can do lots of things in worship? They just need to be willing and they need to be asked!

Talk with your kids about what they find most interesting in your church worship. Is it the music? The prayers? Reading the Bible aloud? Maybe being an usher and welcoming people when they arrive at church. How about lighting or blowing out candles? Or maybe marching around the worship space waving palm branches on Palm Sunday?

There are so many ways kids can be involved in meaningful ways in worship! Invite your pastor over – or plan to meet your pastor at the church office some weekday and let your kids talk with the pastor about how to get involved and become part of the action!

Worship Treasure Hunt

On a Sunday before or after congregational worship – or pick a time during the week – take your kids on a worship treasure hunt! If your church uses terms like: pulpit or lectern, pew or kneelers, communion table, or choir loft, this is a lot easier; however, almost any church can be a space for a worship treasure hunt!

OBJECT or PLACE: Why is this place/thing important in our worship?

• Pulpit
• Communion table
• Baptismal font or tank
• Cross
• Organ/ Choir loft
• Usher’s closet
• Sign in table

Interview Your Pastor

Schedule a time during the week or on Sunday after church to interview your church’s preaching pastor. (Hint: it is a lot more fun if you take another family, or two, to do this with you.)

Below are some sample questions you might want to ask your pastor in the interview . . . or you can also write down your own questions that you want to ask!

• What do you like best about being a pastor?
• Is it hard to plan a sermon to preach every week?
• What is your favorite Bible passage? Why?
• What’s your favorite part about having kids in your church’s worship service? How do you plan for worship with kids?
• What was your favorite part of worship when you were a kid?
• How did your parents model worship for you? What were their expectations for you?
• What is your most favorite part of worship? Your least favorite part?
• How did you decide to become a pastor?

Interview a Grandparent

Schedule a time during the week or on Sunday after church to interview a grandparent at your church, it could be your own grandparent or it might be someone of that generation that you see every Sunday at church but never really got to know. (Hint: it is a lot more fun if another family, or two, joins you.) You can ask questions like:

• How long have you been part of our church?
• What was church like when you were a kid like me?
• Did you ever have a special job in worship?
• What is your favorite part of worship? What is your least favorite?
• What makes you feel like you belong in our church worship?
• What other churches or places have you worshiped and how did it feel?
• Do you like to see kids like me in worship? Why or why not?
• If you could change anything about – or add anything to – worship, what would it be?