Exploring Predictors of Children’s Relationship with God in the Christian Church

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In a rapidly shifting world, we are learning more and more about the depth of children’s spiritual lives and the value of spiritual well-being for strengthening one’s ability to manage those changing realities. The question remains, what components are most important for nurturing the spiritual well-being of children? This paper outlines a quantitative study guided by self-determination theory to explore if the variables of perceived relatedness or perceived autonomy is Sunday school predicted children’s relationships with God. The presentation will explore the findings and practical implications of the research.

Advocating the Value of Young Children’s Spiritual Nurture

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IThis presentation is designed to equip practitioners to convey why nurturing young children spiritually is paramount to both church leaders and those who direct children’s ministries. This presentation spans the biblical mandate to nurture faith, the Church Fathers’ teaching, an early Celtic Christian model, Sophia Cavalletti’s research resulting in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Holly Allen’s intergenerational worship, Maria Bunge’s complex view of children and more.

The “Ugly Pumpkin” and Other Lessons for Nurturing Children’s Emergent Spirituality in a Garden Setting

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This presentation explores and harnesses the opportunities inherent in one school’s garden project, for scaffolding, nurturing, and sustaining children’s emergent spirituality and faith formation. Participants will explore the efficacy of social constructivist pedagogies, using vignettes of practice from this research project. This presentation will resonate with all who seek to scaffold children’s relationship with God and His creation.

An Evaluation of a Congregation’s Pursuit of a Non-Anxious Intergenerational Discernment of Change

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Recently, the church I lead considered moving from a complementarian to egalitarian framework. To cultivate a non-anxious, intergenerational environment for congregational discernment, we took deliberate steps. We involved children and teens in both church classes and home gatherings. Specifically, we took the church through an intergenerational study of anxiety, with a focus on systems theory. This paper focuses on the process of our discernment of change. The paper seeks to demonstrate our congregational system, the steps of our process, and the learned outcomes of a non-anxious intergenerational discernment process.

Eutychus: A Case Study of the Role of Youth and Children in Acts Koinonia

In contrast to numerous stories of Jesus blessing and healing children in the gospel accounts, children are relatively absent from accounts of the early church’s ministry in Acts. The story of Eutychus’ near-deadly fall in Acts 20:7-12 stands as a surprising and startling exception. Nevertheless, situated within the breaking of the bread and preaching of the Word, this episode places Eutychus at the center of emerging Christian community. By discerning Eutychus’ place within this community, this essay brings children out from the shadows of the Acts text and suggests a model of Christian community that supports more integrated inclusion of children in worship today.

Divided Worship: The Little Children Suffer (and the Big People, too!)

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Separation of children from the larger worship life of churches has become the normative practice in most American churches. While age-appropriate worship gatherings are important for children with other children, worship practices that include children in homes as well as the larger church worship gathering should be considered in order to establish a true and complete community of faith. A heightened awareness of the centrality of worship, and important cooperation between pastoral, children’s ministry, and worship leadership positions will provide a conduit for present and future formation in the life of the entire church community.