Shariing faith with children
08/09/21 02:12
John H. Westerhoff III is now retired, but in the years when we were gaining our education and launching our careers, he was a very prolific writer and teacher of Christian Education. His books, “Bringing Up Children in the Christina Faith” and “Will Our Children Have Faith?” have had a huge impact on the Christian Church and upon our life’ work of education and faith formation. As we return to the work of Faith Formation in a church, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Westerhoff and his ideas. There were many other influential teachers in my life, but Westerhoff was among the authors who got me to thinking about faith formation in models that are different from the public school model.
As an aside, it is a strange quirk of the history of the Christian Church that in the early days of the Sunday school movement, the education offered by churches had little to do with institutional survival - or of teaching the children of the members of the church at all. The history of faith formation suggests that the family is the primary conveyer of faith from one generation to the next. Sunday schools were started to provide literacy education to children who were forced to work in factories. Sunday being the only day off from work for those children, it was a day when they could practice reading and writing. Over the years, Sunday schools changed and became places where churches wrestled with the task of conveying faith from one generation to the next.
During the Covid-19 pandemic many churches have essentially closed down their Sunday Schools. Being careful not to become places of spread of the contagion, weekly face-to-face gatherings of children, for whom there is not yet an approved vaccine, was deemed to be too dangerous. The church we serve has not had Sunday morning education classes for children for more than 18 months. The pandemic has forced a re-thinking of how faith formation takes place and how congregations can resource families in conveying faith to our youngest generation.
One of the lessons I have learned since the days when I first read “Will Our Children Have Faith?” is that the Christian Faith is more resilient than it first appears. Asking the question in those words makes it seem as if the existence of faith from one generation to the next is something that can be controlled in a single generation. The implied fear is that if we do not teach the faith to our children future generations will not have faith. I doubt that John Westerhoff believes that our faith is that fragile. The transmission of faith from generation to generation has always been a multi-generational enterprise and many people have come to faith despite a lack of formal Christian Education.
I firmly believe that Faith Formation - the art of teaching the Gospel - is the central task of the church. Faith is shared through experiences more than through formal lessons. The phrase, sometimes attributed to Henrietta Mears, “Faith is caught rather than taught” is one way of thinking about the transmission of faith. Children learn about faith by participating in worship and by being surrounded by the experiences of Christian community. It is partly an understanding of how learning takes place. Lectures and formal lessons are only one small part of a wider vision of education. Because faith encompasses all of life, experiences that engage multiple senses and multiple learning styles are better at conveying faith.
In the seasons of pandemic, we are discovering new ways to assist families in the task of faith formation. Today we will be assembling bags of resources to be delivered to the families of our congregation. There will be stories, crafts, and even a snack in each bag. There will be small bells that can be rung. There will be origami paper and instructions. There will be play dough. Then the bags will be delivered by members of the Faith Formation Board to the families of the church by the end of the week.
On Sunday we will have a large Zoom meeting of families during which different leaders will be telling stories, leading crafts and inviting children and adults to ring their bells as they share in prayer and fun experiences. The resource bags are designed to be used during the Zoom call, but they are also designed to be used by those who cannot participate in the call. There are stories and instructions for crafts included int he bag that can be used by families to talk about faith.
Our vision is to have regular distribution of additional items for faith formation to be delivered to families throughout the year. Part of our inspiration comes from STEM subscription boxes that have become popular. Families can subscribe for monthly boxes delivered to their home. Each box has one or more projects that can be used to teach principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our bags and subsequent additional distributions are designed around the same theory - that families participating in educational experiences in their homes are great teachers.
Unlike the stem kits, however, we are not interested in gaining paid subscriptions. We are not motivated by the money paid for these kits. We are delivering them without cost to families. Furthermore, we acknowledge that there are many different sizes and shapes of families. In addition to parents and children, we are distributing bags to grandparents who have opportunities to share faith with children. Grandparents have long been important in the process of conveying faith from one generation to another.
The logistics of learning who the families are, and even where the children live have been complex. Making lists of names and addresses for deliveries has required a significant investment of time. Taking faith formation to families rather than waiting for them to appear in church is a task at which many congregations are not practiced. Like every teaching task, we are learning as we go.
I am confident that our children and their children will have faith. But we have unique opportunities in this point in time to provide resources and support for families as they undertake the important work of conveying faith, hope and love to the children of our community.
As an aside, it is a strange quirk of the history of the Christian Church that in the early days of the Sunday school movement, the education offered by churches had little to do with institutional survival - or of teaching the children of the members of the church at all. The history of faith formation suggests that the family is the primary conveyer of faith from one generation to the next. Sunday schools were started to provide literacy education to children who were forced to work in factories. Sunday being the only day off from work for those children, it was a day when they could practice reading and writing. Over the years, Sunday schools changed and became places where churches wrestled with the task of conveying faith from one generation to the next.
During the Covid-19 pandemic many churches have essentially closed down their Sunday Schools. Being careful not to become places of spread of the contagion, weekly face-to-face gatherings of children, for whom there is not yet an approved vaccine, was deemed to be too dangerous. The church we serve has not had Sunday morning education classes for children for more than 18 months. The pandemic has forced a re-thinking of how faith formation takes place and how congregations can resource families in conveying faith to our youngest generation.
One of the lessons I have learned since the days when I first read “Will Our Children Have Faith?” is that the Christian Faith is more resilient than it first appears. Asking the question in those words makes it seem as if the existence of faith from one generation to the next is something that can be controlled in a single generation. The implied fear is that if we do not teach the faith to our children future generations will not have faith. I doubt that John Westerhoff believes that our faith is that fragile. The transmission of faith from generation to generation has always been a multi-generational enterprise and many people have come to faith despite a lack of formal Christian Education.
I firmly believe that Faith Formation - the art of teaching the Gospel - is the central task of the church. Faith is shared through experiences more than through formal lessons. The phrase, sometimes attributed to Henrietta Mears, “Faith is caught rather than taught” is one way of thinking about the transmission of faith. Children learn about faith by participating in worship and by being surrounded by the experiences of Christian community. It is partly an understanding of how learning takes place. Lectures and formal lessons are only one small part of a wider vision of education. Because faith encompasses all of life, experiences that engage multiple senses and multiple learning styles are better at conveying faith.
In the seasons of pandemic, we are discovering new ways to assist families in the task of faith formation. Today we will be assembling bags of resources to be delivered to the families of our congregation. There will be stories, crafts, and even a snack in each bag. There will be small bells that can be rung. There will be origami paper and instructions. There will be play dough. Then the bags will be delivered by members of the Faith Formation Board to the families of the church by the end of the week.
On Sunday we will have a large Zoom meeting of families during which different leaders will be telling stories, leading crafts and inviting children and adults to ring their bells as they share in prayer and fun experiences. The resource bags are designed to be used during the Zoom call, but they are also designed to be used by those who cannot participate in the call. There are stories and instructions for crafts included int he bag that can be used by families to talk about faith.
Our vision is to have regular distribution of additional items for faith formation to be delivered to families throughout the year. Part of our inspiration comes from STEM subscription boxes that have become popular. Families can subscribe for monthly boxes delivered to their home. Each box has one or more projects that can be used to teach principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our bags and subsequent additional distributions are designed around the same theory - that families participating in educational experiences in their homes are great teachers.
Unlike the stem kits, however, we are not interested in gaining paid subscriptions. We are not motivated by the money paid for these kits. We are delivering them without cost to families. Furthermore, we acknowledge that there are many different sizes and shapes of families. In addition to parents and children, we are distributing bags to grandparents who have opportunities to share faith with children. Grandparents have long been important in the process of conveying faith from one generation to another.
The logistics of learning who the families are, and even where the children live have been complex. Making lists of names and addresses for deliveries has required a significant investment of time. Taking faith formation to families rather than waiting for them to appear in church is a task at which many congregations are not practiced. Like every teaching task, we are learning as we go.
I am confident that our children and their children will have faith. But we have unique opportunities in this point in time to provide resources and support for families as they undertake the important work of conveying faith, hope and love to the children of our community.
