"The 8:30 service is a Rite II liturgy using a blended contemporary style of music and worship, designed to be friendlier to families with small children. The 8:30 Adult Choir leads the worship with anthems, piano and of course the Annunciation Memorial Pipe Organ." (so sayeth our church website.)
I switched to this earlier (for me) service several months ago. I attend service and then Sunday School and then head home. I appreciate the music (much of it drawn from Gather, a Catholic hymnal) and seeing kids in worship. But as far as I can see, the service isn't much different than the 11:00, except it doesn't have incense, bells, or all 3-scriptures-plus-a-psalm.
So, a few weeks ago I sat behind a friend and her 2 small granddaughters (maybe 3 and 5) and found myself tempted to get frustrated because of the distraction they provided. Given my own inattentiveness issues, I was finding it hard to stay focused on the sermon. Then I thought, "HEY! Why should those little ones even have to be in church for the sermon? Dullsville!" (I've never seen anything like an in-service Children's sermon in our parish.) I remembered that we used to have Children's Church during this service and wondered, "where did it go?"
Now, I am definitely of the school of thought that kids belong in church with their families...the reason that the liturgy and many scriptures live in me so deeply is that I was required from an early age to be in church and be still. (And no, I was NOT allowed to bring a book. :P) However, the fact that I did it doesn't mean that other kids should have to do what I did, or will get what I did from it. If there's a different way that we can meet them on their level, then I'm all about that. And I always had plenty of age-appropriate and FUN options to supplement Sunday morning worship (props to my Mom for that.)
So that morning I made lots of notes on the bulletin about the questions I had, and I spent the rest of the service enjoying the fact that A and her little girls were there at all...surely not the most serene worship experience for any of them, but she brought them. I felt so grateful for that.
I made a mental note to ask, "Hey! Whatever happened to Children's Church at the 8:30?" Then the next week, I heard in the announcements that Children's Church was starting back up for kids 3 and up, and that help was needed.
And here is the crazy thing: I immediately grabbed my phone and emailed the CE director (who was actually sitting one pew behind me) and offered to help. (I've never worked with young children in church before. I've been a high-school Sunday school teacher, and a youth group sponsor.) I didn't take time to pray about it; I just did it...I guess on the theory that if I had spent that much time thinking about it, I needed to step up there.
So, we began on Lent 1. It was the first day of Spring Break and also the first day of Daylight Saving Time. The service was sparse in general, but we had three children join us:perfect! My colleague Miss Liz and I went to the chapel with the children and went through a simplified liturgy: Lighting candles, singing, saying The Children's Creed and The Lord's Prayer. Miss Liz read the gospel from a Children's Bible and talked with the kids about the temptations of Christ in the wilderness. They listened, they heard, they remembered what she said and answered in the conversation afterward. They were amazing! One boy told us confidently, "You know, no human being could EVEN survive longer than 30 days without food!" Miss Liz didn't argue with him or give him any platitudes either. She just agreed that it would be very hard. They all held hymnals, read the words, and sang along to "Forty Days and Forty Nights." We returned to church just after the sermon and the prayers of the people.
I needed that. A new frame for worship. A new community to worship with. A new way of being church. I am blessed.
