In many churches, the children’s ministry includes “children’s church,” a time of singing, hearing a Bible lesson, and participating in activities geared for children. Usually, children’s church takes place during the main church service. The children have their own room, their own curriculum, and their own teachers who know and love them.
The Bible contains no specific model for children’s church. However, the Bible is clear that everyone should be evangelized and taught the Scriptures. Sharing the gospel with children and teaching them the lessons of the Bible is surely a good thing. Some churches do this by offering a children’s church, and others opt to keep the children in the “big people” service with their parents or a responsible adult. There are arguments in favor of both models:
Holding children’s church separate from the adult service:
Keeping the children in “regular church” with the adults:
Some churches operate with a hybrid model. During the Sunday morning service, children stay with their parents or a responsible adult. Then, sometime mid-week, children participate in an age-appropriate discipleship program. With the hybrid model, children are taught the Bible on a level they can understand, while their parents still have the opportunity to set the example of worship and proper behavior in the church service.
Regardless of whether a church has a children’s church, the Bible places the main responsibility for teaching and training children on the parents (see Deuteronomy 6:6–9). Parents, especially fathers, are the primary disciple-makers of their own children (see Ephesians 6:4). Any children’s ministry such as children’s church should be seen as coming alongside parents to assist in the biblical training of their young ones. Children’s church should be a supplement to, not a replacement for, parental training in the home.