On Sunday I helped to lead an all-age service at St Nic’s, where I am Associate Minister, looking at the story of Jonah. I had some interesting and encouraging feedback from the congregation; one person told me that they had brought a family they knew along, and that they so enjoyed it, they were planning to come again. A comment that stood out for me included this: ‘It was great to have an all-age service without any cringey moments.’
Apart from being a nice comment, this is of huge importance for churches in relation to discipleship, nurture and mission. All-age is important to give your children’s group leaders a break—but its importance goes way beyond that. Good all-age services can be key learning moments in the life of a church—and research shows that a good experience of all-age services is significant is seeing children of faith grow into adults of faith. A key break point in discipleship is the transition from age-specific groups to joining the main congregation. It is the time when many drop out—but a good experience of the main service earlier on can help address this.
So what we the components of the service that made it cringe-free and effective?
First, we took the whole story of Jonah (it is not very long) and explored the different parts of it through the liturgical shape of the service. So chapter 1 led us to think about God’s call on our lives, and how well we have or haven’t responded. Chapter 2 led us into praise. Chapter 3 enabled us to focus on the central lesson, about what is on God’s heart, his generosity and kindness. And chapter 4 challenged us to consider how far we are shaped by this. This meant we entered into, and experienced, the story, rather than just hearing it.
Secondly, we had a clear structure which kept moving and alternated between congregational activity and things done from the front:
Welcome and quiz
Song
Video clip
Responsive prayer
Songs
Dramatic monologue
Talk
Song
Communion (including short intercessions)
Short talk and Responsive prayer
Song
Third, we ensured that everything was child-accessible but nothing was child focussed. I often invite people to come and help from the front—though did not in this service—but if I do, I always invite a mix of adults, teenagers and children. ‘All age’ has to mean all age—relevant and engaging for each stage of life.
Fourthly, there was plenty of variety. We did not have a straight Bible reading, but engaged in the story by means of a quiz, using the excellent Testament video from a few years ago, which really draws out the comedy of the story, and an entertaining dramatic monologue by the wonderful Steve Stickley in place of reading chapter 3. (He made much of the fact that even the cows repented, Jonah 3.7–8!)
Fifthly, everything was presented using something tangible—we didn’t have any extended periods of talking without something to watch or do. Every point I made in my talk had an image to go with it on the screen.
Sixthly, we aimed to ensure that the service offered integration. This was at two levels. On the one hand, the different elements linked with each other, primarily through the narrative of Jonah. We included Communion, and so the key conclusion of the talk led into that, and connected our being shaped after God’s heart with the receiving of the elements. On the other hand, it was important to link what we were doing and reading with our experience of life. The main way into that in the talk was the idea of what makes us grumpy (plenty of material there!) and what made Jonah grumpy. So we connected what we were doing together with the reality of our daily lives.
Lastly, we did not steer away from doing some serious theology. The central message was that God’s heart is one of kindness and grace to others, particularly those who are different from us—and we often struggle with that. You can listen to the dramatic monologue and the talk (15 minutes in total) on the St Nic’s website.
This sort of thing requires quite a bit of work, but is well worth the effort.
It will also require some re-orientation for most leaders for which the acceptance of constructive criticism will be invaluable. I like especially the requirement to be “child friendly but NOT child orientated”.
For many years our church ran an “all age committee” which planned and assessed our all age services and carried over the lessons learned form one service to another. Inevitably this had a positive effect on our other services as well as many of the inclusivity principles apply elsewhere. As well as sifting ideas for “best practice” it also enabled us to identify more people who were willing and able to contribute in a practical way, thus spreading the work load.
Thank you for giving me hope that an “All Age” service can work. My minister is currently saying that these services are for children and adults “endure” them. I hope to structure a service just like you have to appeal across the generations. Thanks for sharing!