A LETTER FROM PASTOR KYLE
To our Faith Fellowship Families,
For the past 8 months we have been testing out Kids' Worship on Sunday mornings. It’s been really fun to watch them engage with the songs, but my research has led me to some pretty eye-opening findings. I want to highlight 5 reasons that we feel this doesn't work for our church.
Hypothetically, if a child enters our children’s ministry as an infant, and progresses through our programmed ministries through 5th grade, they will be somewhere around 11-12 years old. So for the first 12 years of their life, their reality of worship will be singing, spinning in circles, and dancing to high energy songs with choreographed dance moves. While this is adorable, what is their perception of worship going to be as they enter middle school, high school, and young adult life? I believe, with this model, we are setting them up to feel even more disconnected, unwanted, or maybe even rejected by the church, because their view of worship is not the same as the adults.
The Long term spiritual health of our kids is at risk:
Our kids are so impressionable in this early stage of life. It’s our job to lead them and guide them in the way of the Lord. Being a living example for them. So I asked myself: What are we teaching them by shipping them off to kids worship, and not letting them be a part of the rich spiritual practices of worship, prayer, or communion? It’s a powerful experience to teach our young kids about communion while practicing it, and model for them what worship and prayer looks like.
The Opportunity to share spiritual traditions with our kids is at risk:
I feel that, long term, we are doing them a disservice by not having them participate with us. It is our Biblical responsibility according to Proverbs 22:6 - “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” and Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
As parents, we have a Biblical responsibility, a command from God, to disciple our children. It’s very difficult to do that with them in another room.
We need to develop deepLY rooted, sustainable faith in our kids:
My research on this led me to the one-eared Mickey Mouse theory. Essentially, it is stating that the congregation and its ministry form the head of Mickey Mouse while children’s ministry forms one ear that is barely attached to the head. The problem is that young people grow up with an understanding that children’s ministry is barely connected to the life of the whole church if it’s connected at all. They view children’s ministry as something that is separate.
This view ends up supporting the natural self-centeredness of adolescence and when young people grow up, they find themselves without an understanding of church and the whole church’s ministry and their part in it. That is when they drift away.
We should be connecting with God together, and Experiencing worship as a family unit:
These kids are the future. They are going to inherit the church. We should be doing everything we can to see them grow and mature in their faith, so that the church this generation inherits and leads has a firm foundation with deep roots.
We need to Equip the next generation to lead the church they inherit:
Our vision is to equip our children with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And we do that by inviting them, just like Jesus invited the disciples, to “come and see” who Jesus is and by modeling for them, as a body of believers, what it means to follow Jesus; helping them find their identity in Christ, rather than emotions or experiences, and ultimately equipping them to walk as Jesus walked.
So, beginning September 8th, we will no longer be offering Kids’ Worship. We will still be offering childcare for infants and toddlers from the beginning of service, but children age 3 and up will now be staying with parents until the announcement is made that they are free to head out to FF Kids, where they will still participate in Biblical lessons and activities. This is what we feel is in the best interest of the spiritual formation of our kids.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via phone or email at 715-387-6169 or kyle@faithfellowship.life
For the Glory of Christ,
Kyle Kann
Next Gen Pastor
