In class on Wednesday, we discussed the emerging church again, going over nine key hallmarks of this movement as identified by Bolger in his research. One area is participation and our connected discussion of the participation of children in the church is of special interest to me.
So often children are either completely seperated from adults in age-appropriate groupings or never separated from adults with little or no age-appropriate groupings. But the truth is they need both equally.
Humans have very different developmental needs throughout thier life and this cannot be ignored, no matter how vibrant or authentic community is within a church. A five-year-old interracts with his or her world and is able to grasp the reality of Jesus in a different way than a twenty-five year old or a fifty-five-year-old. This has to do with brain, large and fine motor, emotional, and spiritual development. A church that does not address this is doing a diservice to its children and youth, no matter whether there are 3 or 93 of them in the church.
On the other hand, children and youth must live and interact in relationship with people of all ages, developing healthy role models for how to live. They must be active participants in all areas of the church. They are part of the family with unique needs.
