Thinking about Kids Time at Church

There seem to be quite a few blogs around linking to the new online Briefing magazine, so I might as well become one of them. 

Just read a very interesting article: 'Maximizing the kids' spot at church' 

The purpose of kids time as stated in the article makes a lot of sense to me: 

To quote my minister, the aim of the kids’ spot is to “make a cultural statement about who we are as a church”. The fact that we send kids out for most of the service could give the impression (to them and to the adults) that church is not for children. However, we know from the Bible that children are valuable to Jesus (Matt 19:13-14) and are able to know and understand the sacred scriptures (2 Tim 3:15); after all, they receive specific teaching from Paul (Eph 6:1; Col 3:20). Having a kids’ spot says that together—kids and big people—we are God’s church in this place. It says to the kids “You belong at church, you are part of us”, and reminds the adults that this is so. Having kids in church for at least some of the time, and having a segment to serve them in particular, reflects the unity we have as the people of God, as the body of Christ.¹

(emphasis mine)

For the last year or so (or since we started doing whole-sunday-school programs each term, rather than each class working through different material), our kids talks have predominantly been from the church4kids leaders revising last week's material or introducing this week's material. I love that it keeps the adults informed about what the kids are learning, and I hope it fosters connections between the adults and kids, and says to the whole congregation that what the kids are doing is important. 

But there are so many great ideas elsewhere in the article that I'd love to try! Even though some sound quite scary. Like interviewing a family on how their home bible reading is going - yikes, but how cool!

Food for thought.