This term, in Bay Kids, we continued with our formational learning focus, and it’s again a beautiful privilege to be part of your child’s discipleship journey.
Whatever we’re learning about, in whatever programme we’re in on a Sunday morning, amidst paper plane chaos and vege crisps, we underpin it all with a foundation of Biblical Literacy, Scripture Memorisation, Experiential Prayer, the Joy of Community, and now the formational practice of Worship.
Our curriculum, across all our programmes, has been about demystifying Worship, normalising Worship, and making Worship ‘everyday accessible’ and fun for all our children at every level.
And right now, we’re in the middle of exploring the six ‘Ws’ of Worship as our foundation of understanding: The What, the Who, and the Why; the Where and the When; and the hoW.
So let me fill you in on what your children have been learning about so far, so that you can have some shared language to discuss Worship together around the dinner table, and to bring it into the ordinary moments of your day - loud singing in the car, quiet moments of worship at bedtime, and shouts of joy despite difficult days.
The first thing we did was look at what Worship is. We know that it is the first commandment of the law - Only Worship God because God is Number One. And we actually love to shout this bit out loud! But we also know (amidst the shouting) that Worship is about loving God with all of ourselves, and that’s also the biggest command that Jesus gave us as His followers.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)
Love is why we worship. We love God and we show Him through worship. He loves us and we thank Him through worship.
In worship, we enter God’s presence and focus our attention only on Him. We give thanks, we praise, we sing, we dance, and we bring our whole selves to spend time with God.
And we can do this regardless of the Where and the When, and no matter hoW we’re feeling.
That's why it was important to look at what it means to Worship in the Good Times, and also in the Bad Times; To look at both Worship that's Noisy in crazy busy circumstances and also Quiet in still and reflective moments.
And all of this foundation helps us to understand that we have access and familiarity to Worship. That it's a normal everyday part of our relationship with God, and that it’s something that we can be part of.
As parents, we need to guard our children’s perceptions of what worship looks like, as well as their experiences of worship, so that they’re not just limited to what we sing together on Sunday mornings in Church, or allocated to a formalised isolated occasion.
Background worship music can become a familiar household soundtrack or a much needed soothing car trip backing track. Silly sing-a-longs, pyjama praise parties, reflective readings, and seasonal selections of hymns and carols can easily become part of our family routines and rituals, allowing Worship to weave its way into our ordinary lives.
Please feel that you can encourage your children to join in on Sunday mornings with the percussion instruments and ribbon streamers. Their loud and overly enthusiastic ownership of the front of the Church is a beautiful picture of Worship and Joy that our Community needs to experience. Don't worry about the noise and the chaos and the lack of rhythm, it’s good for our souls!
In Bay Kids we want to expand our children's engagement with different forms of worship and also grow their capacity to worship freely.
We don't want worship to become a singular static image but instead a formational expression of love and relationship that draws us closer to God.
We want Worship to be thankful, transformative, calming, simple, interactive, responsive, overflowing, and joyful.
In Bay Preschool this starts with Bubble Worship - a joyful response to background worship music with bubble blowing and dancing and simple action songs to join in with too.
In Team Bay Junior, we’ve had the privilege of learning action dance songs with Jen. Jen is full of joy and energy and her actions are fun and inviting. The room changes when we worship enthusiastically together and get our bodies moving, shaking off our sillies and our grumpies, and embracing the joy, despite coordination issues. We also spend time worshipping quietly and reflectively, thanking God individually through Psalms, prayers, and silence.
Our Team Bay Seniors have had the opportunity to be part of our amazing Kids Worship Band, playing their own instruments and leading the Church in Worship as Worship Leaders, not just performers. They are also a huge part of what enthuses our Juniors to learn actions and give it their all in worship too. They are already modelling our culture of Worship.
And this Sunday we’re really looking forward to seeing all of this in action, worshipping with our Bay Kids in Church and being a Community of Joy together that Worships with free and open hearts.
Our Memory Verse for this Term, from Psalm 100, verses 1 and 2, reminds us to ‘Shout for joy to the Lord, everyone on earth. Worship the Lord with gladness. Come to him with songs of joy,’
So check out our Follow ‘dance moves’ video on our Bay Kids Whanau Facebook Group and prepare yourself for Joy.
Arohanui,
Charlotte