Are your kids leading worship? Why not include their creativity, talent, faith and energy in your worship service on a regular basis?
How do we identify the talent that is out there? Distribute an “I Wanna Help Out' sign-up sheet so children can sign up to:
>> sing or play an instrument
>> dance or play bells or run a puppet
>> do a speaking or non-speaking part in a play
>> help with streamer sticks and flags.
One of my kids volunteered his yo-yo so we included his yo-yo tricks in a stewardship talk. Take inventory of the talent around you and go from there.
Before you share the peace of God and greet each other, invite kids do a skit demonstrating ways that people greet each other (hand shake, salute, high 5, fist bumps). Tell the congregation that the greeting is about making people feel welcome and reminding each other that God’s peace is a gift to each of us. Then invite the congregation to share the peace of God as they greet each other.
Spice up the announcements with a parade of props. As the pastor leads the announcements, have children walk past the pastor with a prop highlighting each announcement – a bag of groceries for the food shelf, a ladder for the building project, kids in choir robes for choir rehearsal. The announcements will be memorable!
Illustrate a lesson. Choose a Psalm (Psalm 104) or a lesson (The Lost Sheep – Luke 15) that lends itself to illustrations. Break the lesson into bite-sized pieces so the children know exactly what they will draw for their verses. Then scan the drawings and pop them into PowerPoint. Display the slides as the lesson is read during worship.
Dance to the Palm Sunday entrance song or the story of Pentecost. Children with silk flags and streamer sticks will add a lot to any celebration.
Skits give children an opportunity to share the promises of God and the stories of God’s people. Narrated scripts work great because children take their cues from the narrator, but children are also good at memorizing lines and running puppets. Skits help God’s word come to life or can help explain how the mission quilts we make are used in other countries.
Invite. Direct. Affirm. Children are our future worship leaders, but they are also very capable of being our current worship leaders. Let the children lead!