Should we have children in worship? Should we have a separate worship service for children? Learn why worshiping with children is so valuable.

Table of contentsWhy the Need to Explain Having Children in Worship?Having Children in Worship Is the Biblical PatternChildren Were Present When RejoicingChildren Were Present When Reading God's Word Was ReadChildren Were Present When Seeking the LordChildren Were Present When Confessing SinChildren Were Present When Praising the LordChildren Were Present When RepentingWe Should Have Children in Worship to Foster a Positive View of ChildrenWhen My Son Learned We're Expecting Our Tenth ChildDon't Argue from Silence Against Children in WorshipHaving Children in Worship Is not an Essential

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Should we have children in worship? Should we have a separate worship service for children? Learn why worshiping with children is so valuable.

Growing up I played soccer, basketball, and baseball. When I was in junior high and high school I switched to football, wrestling, and track. When I was an elementary schoolteacher, I coached high school and junior high wrestling, and elementary school flag football and girls basketball. In all my experience playing and coaching, I found that football coaches receive by far the most criticism. The reason is play calling. Whatever plays the coach calls there will always be fans convinced the coach should have called another play instead.

Katie and I attended a small school. There were less than twenty guys on the football team, which meant that if you had a pulse, you probably played offense, defense, and special teams. On offense I played running back and I had my own thoughts about the play calling. There were times I thought it would have been better if the coach called a different play.

But then something happened that changed everything for me. I overheard the coach explaining the play calling. He said, “We run this play to set up this play. Then we run this play to set up this play. And if they respond this way, then we run this play, but if they respond this way, then we run this play.” And just like that I understood what our coach was doing. Hopefully this post serves the same purpose and helps you understand why we would have children in the worship service.

Why the Need to Explain Having Children in Worship?

We tend to be convinced of whatever we first experience. This is why people raised Buddhist typically stay Buddhists, people raised Mormon typically stay Mormons, people raised Pentecostal typically stay Pentecostal, and the list goes on.

If you go into many churches across the nation, the norm is for parents and children to be separated for events and activities. There is a worship service, and the kids are removed for children’s church. There is a midweek service, and the children go to youth group. Because this is so common, it is what many people first experience. They become convinced it is right because it is all they know.

A paradigm shift can be required for people who never thought about church any other way. They are not opposed to having children in worship. Instead, they’ve never seen it differently, so it’s not on their radar. Many people might be surprised to know it was the norm throughout most of church history and it is still the norm throughout most of the rest of the world today for families to worship together.

We are part of a Christian hospitality network we highly recommend called, “A Candle in the Window.” A Chinese family stayed with us. They came to the United States so the father, Peter, could receive pastoral training and return to China to plant churches. He said they had always seen children in worship until coming to the United States.

A pastor friend, Cary Green, and his wife, Lois, were missionaries in Germany. They came to the United States when they were told they could no longer homeschool. They shared about church life in Germany,