Five Ways Your Congregation Can Help Children & Youth

There are many simple things that congregations can do to encourage ministry that makes a difference for children and youth. Churches can become advocates for all children & youth, become more child-friendly and youth-friendly, practice Safe Sanctuaries, develop parent support activities and start new programs for children & youth.

Five Ways Brochure (PDF)

Create Child and Youth-Friendly Congregations

Urge parents and others to bring children and youth to worship services.
Include children and youth in worship as greeters, ushers, acolytes, liturgists and preachers.
Put some of the church’s pictures, flyers and posters at child-height.
Sing songs and tell stories in worship that speak to the experiences of children and youth.
Include funding for child-youth missions and programs in the church budget.

Establish a Safe Place for Children and Youth

Have two adults present at all times with groups of children and youth.
Eliminate hazardous conditions in the church building.
Set up evacuation plans and conduct periodic fire and emergency drills.
Learn about ways to prevent physical and sexual abuse of children and youth.
Train all teachers and youth workers in policies and procedures to protect the health and welfare of children and youth. Visit www.isafesanctuary.org for more information.

Develop Parent Support Activities

Offer Bible study and parenting classes for parents.
Encourage parents to read books and to watch television with their children. Encourage parents to know the media their teens consume.
Sponsor mini-seminars on family issues (e.g.., finances, nutrition, child development, and home-work balance).
Develop a mentoring program for parents challenged by behavioral or environmental issues (e.g., drug or alcohol abuse, gangs or domestic violence).

Become Advocates for All Children & Youth

Collaborate with neighboring churches to address community issues.
Recruit church volunteers to handle neighborhood projects or to work with child-serving agencies.
Tell your elected representatives where you stand on child-family issues.
Celebrate Children’s Sabbath each year. (Free resources available at www.childrensdefense.org.)

Start New Programs for Children & Youth

Set up an after-school tutoring and enrichment program.
Develop a childcare or early childhood education program for preschool and school-age children of working parents.
Recruit grandparents to work with children as tutors, readers, mentors, etc.
Develop a mentoring program for young adolescents.
Initiate a one-day-a-week “children’s club” for music, art, Bible study and recreational activities.
Compile a directory of local services and resources and distribute it to families in your congregation and community.
Fund a scholarship program to help young people continue their education.
Raise money to send young adolescents and teens to summer programs and camps.
Work with hospitals, doctors and others to establish health care resources for families without health insurance.
Develop a children’s partnership program with another church for learning, serving and playing together across racial, ethnic and economic lines.