Child of Blessing:
Growing Faith in Worship
PAM’s Child of Blessing: Growing Faith in Worship program directly aligns with the Lilly Foundation's Nurturing Children initiative, which seeks to “nurture the faith of children by motivating and supporting congregations to give greater attention to the inclusion of children in worship services and prayer practices in sensory-rich ways.” This five-year initiative, beginning January 1, 2025, will be structured in seven cyclical phases, each designed to engage children in meaningful and inclusive worship experiences.
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Listen, Analyze, Synergize, Prioritize: We will listen to the needs and interests of children, parents, congregations, and worship planners, evaluate new ideas, and prioritize resources and activities for development.
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Develop: Create and curate materials for children, worship leaders, and congregations to support multigenerational, multi-sensory worship experiences.
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Test: Pilot new initiatives, resources, and approaches in select congregations to assess their effectiveness and suitability for children in worship settings.
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Train: Provide training and support for worshiping communities to effectively engage and nurture children, including those who are differently-abled.
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Disseminate: Share insights, resources, and best practices with congregations, religious communities, and seminaries.
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Evaluate: Regularly assess the impact of initiatives on children’s spiritual growth, engagement, and sense of belonging, as well as the overall effectiveness of the Child of Blessing program.
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Sustain: Develop long-term strategies to ensure the continued nurturing of children in worship, including ongoing training, evaluation, and adaptation of practices.
Examples of the program’s activities include creating training and resources for congregations of all sizes, with plans to test these in over 75 churches by the end of the five-year period. We will develop weekly activities based on the full lectionary cycle, collaborate with seminaries and the First Call Community to offer training on the value of multigenerational worship, provide resources for preaching to the whole congregation, and produce videos showcasing artists, composers, and liturgical dancers working alongside children and adults. Additionally, we will create worship activities that fully include children who are differently-abled.
We will conduct a long-term study in six congregations to track the effects of the program, and take advantage of our summer worship conferences, which bring together hundreds of children, preachers, musicians, and worship planners in worship settings for two weeks each year. This unique access will help us refine and expand our efforts to nurture the faith of children in vibrant, sensory-rich worship environments.
