The heart of worship

Martyn Payne

And finally - as if all this wasn't subversive enough - our work with children also calls us to question what is really important in helping people to come close to God. Although we as leaders can spend much time (perhaps too much time!) creating exciting programmes, looking for new styles of storytelling, inventing fun games and clever prayer activities and learning lively songs, what all children's leaders very soon realize is that what really matters is developing a relationship with each of the children in our care. Jesus showed us how to do it, as he related individually to the children he came across in his ministry, whether it was to heal, to bless or to welcome them. We know that, whatever we do within our time together, the most important thing is to create a safe place where each person is known by name. This is fundamental to everything. It is only in this context that we have time and space in which our spirits can seek and respond to God's Spirit; it is in this place that faith can be nurtured as we share together our Christian story and play with that story in creative ways. This way of being together becomes the model for encountering God in our midst, as we grow in trust and meet God in each other as well as in other transcendent and mysterious ways. No wonder children's leaders often report that their children much prefer the group time than being together in the family service. And what does that have to say to us as a church? How can the wider church community become a similar safe place to encounter God like this, where each person can teach others to experience and come close to the living God?

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