Sundays…
At Restore, WE LOVE KIDS! Our church is often filled with more children than adults, and we take pride in creating an atmosphere that keeps them engaged and enthusiastic while also allowing parents to worship with limited interruption. We know the importance of providing children with an age-appropriate environment to learn and thrive on Sundays, and we also understand the significance of teaching them how to worship alongside their families.
The reason we believe so strongly in this approach is due to the fact that children are naturally more “hands-on” learners and can have shorter attention spans. The themes discussed during worship services can often be too complex for young children to fully comprehend and a traditional sermon delivered as a monologue is not as effective in holding their attention or helping kids relate what they’re hearing to their own lives as an age-appropriate lesson in our classes.
This is also true when it comes to worship. Kids love to sing! They will sing along to most songs for a line or two. But songs that are designed to benefit adults will simply not resonate with kids the same way a song designed for kids will.
When children can’t engage well in what they're hearing they can begin to daydream or get fidgety. Then, parents get frustrated and are unable to focus on the message or worship that is intended for them. Their focus can be drawn away from meaningful worship or a deeper focus on the sermon while trying to keep their kids from being too much of a distraction. At this point, parents start providing children with random distractions (usually anything within arms reach) or allowing children to wander or play. By getting caught in this cycle we are essentially teaching our children to tune out in big church! This approach does not encourage engagement or active participation in worship, and it does not contribute to their spiritual growth. Being told to sit still and be quiet can unintentionally create negative feelings towards church which will make it increasingly more difficult to get kids to engage in any form of church life as they get older. Which is the exact opposite of what we set out to do!
This is why RestoreKids has a tiered approach to kids ministry. As students advance to the 5th grade, they transition from participating solely in children's ministry to attending regular church services.
Our children's programs start with age-appropriate lessons, worship time, and games and activities to encourage community. We value teaching children how to love and communicate in a safe and nurturing environment with trusted adults, as much as we love sharing biblical lessons. As children grow older, we gradually introduce them to the main church service to encourage their active participation.