You may have heard the saying “Children are the future of the church” or its sister phrase “Children are the Church of tomorrow”.
I hate both of these.
Children are not the future of the church, neither are they the church of tomorrow. Children and Youth are full members of the church today. To speak of them in any other way is to relegate them to wait until the grown ups decide they’re old enough to participate fully in the life of the church.
In any Sunday School program we should work to lead children on a lifelong path of Christian faith, spiritual growth and loving service to others. This is not something that is completed once a child has reached a certain age or has proven mastery of a given set of concepts. Children are welcomed additions in all aspects of our church life together and are honored for bringing their unique gifts with them. For example, children serve at the altar as acolytes. Without their assistance and presence our worship would be diminished. The Children’s Chapel offering is brought up by children as young as three. Their gifts, no matter how small, in their basket are honored with the same thanksgiving prayer as the gifts of everyone in the service placed in a big, fancy silver tray. Perhaps the best example of children’s gifts being used to their full potential and in equality with adults are children’s choirs. They are carefully trained and prepared and bring so much to our worship services when they sing.
When we tell children that they are the church of tomorrow, what we are really saying is “sit there, be quiet, you will matter when you’re older.” When we say that children are the church of the future we reduce their presence in our Church to nothing more than a token of how great we think we are. When we believe these empty platitudes, we rest on our laurels thinking that all we have to do is make sure they physically reach adulthood and they will keep the church going on into the future.
Instead, when we embrace children and youth as full members of the body of Christ no matter their age, we enrich and enliven the church of today.
