“This is the best program I know that provides a spiritually formative setting which is age-appropriate for young children,” says Marcia Floding, a Christian education consultant for the Reformed Church in America, of Young Children and Worship, a curriculum used internationally including the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
“Young children are tactile, they love to play, they are concrete, yet they are capable of experiencing God and knowing Him. Children and Worship takes into account what children are, and presents the spiritual nurture they need at their development level.”
Just two decades old, the program was developed by Dr. Sonja M. Stewart, former professor of Christian Education at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and combines the Montessori approach with religious education. The program presents Bible stories and parables using wooden figures and other materials, creating an environment which cultivates the imagination and invites children to experience the wonder and mystery of God.
Christian Education is comprised of two parts, explains RCA Children and Worship coordinator Jane Schuyler. There's the informational approach (used most frequently in Sunday school) which focuses primarily on teaching content, versus the formational approach, which emphasizes deepening each child's awareness of the presence of God in his or her life.
In Following Jesus, Stewart' writes: “Biblical stories, personal experiences and the Holy Spirit interact so that children come to their own knowing of God, not simply an acceptance of information based on the authority of others. Children can have their own faith in God – as children.”
Schuyler agrees.” Children's spirituality is real,” she says.” For individuals who are called to this ministry, it is a wondrous gift to be present as the child takes a step in faith.”
Nina Zwart, national coordinator for Children and Worship for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, believes the program is effective because it allows the children to “enter into” the story, “helping them understand that God and Jesus love them no matter what.” Becoming part of the story helps them remember it and share it with others.
“After one year of the program, my 12-year-old daughter said, 'Now I get it! Jesus is the Good Shepherd!'” says Zwart, a native of London, Ont.” It goes way beyond teaching about God and Jesus, helping children be in a relationship with them.”
Julie Powers of Newmarket, Ont., has been a leader for the past five years. Not only have her two children grown spiritually through the program, but “it has also allowed me to look deeper into the stories, especially the parables, and has encouraged me to deepen my faith,” she says.
In addition to encouraging spirituality, Children and Worship's calming, insightful method has proven helpful with developmental disorders such as autism, says Powers.
“Children are taught how to calm themselves, to sit, to be still and to feel the story and to absorb it. We don't tell them what to do after the story – they can choose a response appropriate for them. Be it listening to music with headphones, drawing in their art journal, visiting the prayer corner, or working on a puzzle … They pick their response; we just facilitate it.”
In a world of chaos and disorder, Children and Worship provides a place for kids to come and make sense of things. To quote Stewart, “Here they abide in God's love as experienced in biblical stories, parables and liturgical presentations, in order to make meaning in their lives and, as the body of Christ, live as Christ's ministers in the world.”
To learn more about training events in Canada, visit presbyterian.ca/education/ycaw.
