Feedback

I had to write in (something I have never done before) to say how brilliant the last edition of Premier Childrenswork was.  

I was particularly touched by ‘Was that God?’ by Ivy Beckwith, who approached an area I continually strive for as both a children’s worker and Christian mum. Then there was a review of the book Parenting children for a life of purpose by Rachel Turner, reviewed by Sarah Holmes. I am down to the book shop!  

Inspiration for my work into engaging children with God came through yet another article by Ian Adams and Carolyn Edwards on page 38 - on adventuring into stillness, both at home and church. Finally the importance of this way of working with children was all tied together by ‘It’s children’s work Jim, but not as we know it’, part two by Sam Donoghue.  

Easy to read, thought provoking, and most importantly practical - thank you Premier Childrenswork for continuing to inspire me. As Sam Donoghue writes: ‘They (the children) had found a way of finding God for themselves’ (page 19). Is that not what we all hope for?  

Ruth     

Thank you for this edition of the magazine. I found it really helpful in showing how children can encounter God and experience him for themselves.  

I was particularly pleased to see the articles from FACT as I was a regular volunteer for the charity and still support them along with occasional volunteering.  

The Godly Play article was encouraging - particularly the ‘I wonder’ questions. Thank you for your magazine.  

Joanne     

I read Sam’s articles in the last two issues with great interest and there was much in there which was commendable: the nature of learning in community and the focus on children encountering God were both excellent.

 However, I have some major concerns with the articles in a number of areas. Firstly, Sam seemed to set up a false dichotomy with his initial thesis that ‘we are primarily educators, teaching children how to be Christians’. The Christian gospel is one of content: we must learn the character of God and how he tells us to worship him before we encounter him. For example, Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is that their, ‘love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment’. While Sam is right to reject the classic historical Sunday School model which over-emphasised knowledge, he overreacts by downplaying truth and doctrine which are essential for following Christ.  

This leads into his comment that, ‘the problem with the model where I teach children about the Bible is that I do all the thinking’. While sounding laudable this too betrays a misunderstanding of how we encounter God. The Bible’s own definition of how we encounter God is through the word preached. So Paul commands Titus to ‘teach’ (Titus 2:1). It is this that brings ‘salvation for all people’ (Titus 2:11). We do not get ‘between children and God’ by so doing. Instead, we present the living God to them.  

And this is perhaps the problem: Sam has replaced meeting God in the scriptures with searching for ourselves in the scriptures, and so we must meet God elsewhere. Take his example of David and Goliath (part two, p20): the purpose of this story is not that God can help me overcome, but that God has sent a rescuer king! Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, present us with Christ, and we are to present Christ to our children from the entire Bible. How can they fail to encounter God if we are setting their gaze on Christ every week?  

Instead, by letting the children look    inside themselves for answers, they will only ever encounter God in their own image. Scripture not only provides us with the content for our ministry but also provides us with the method for ministry. Sadly Sam has argued against one secular educational model only to replace it with another.  

Robin  

Thanks Robin for your feedback. This is a tricky question for me to answer because quite clearly we disagree pretty profoundly about this. You come from a tradition that puts the teaching of scripture at the centre of your faith and you see this as fundamental to how you nurture the children in your churches. However, I wouldn’t say that this is how children are best brought up in faith. A key thing to remember is that these are children not mini-adults; we know much about how they grow in their faith and they are just as deep and profound as an adult (perhaps more so), but they are also very different.  

My instinct as an evangelical is to want to teach but we have been doing that for a long time and it hasn’t worked. You may argue that the problem is that our teaching has lacked depth and substance but that isn’t what the experts are saying. They are saying that we should give children the tools to think for themselves and set them up for a lifetime of theological thinking. The Bible is full of people encountering God in all manner of ways and in all manner of places and we know that children follow that pattern; we know that the first time most children feel a sense of God is in nature, not even in church building!  

What I am trying to do is build on this: looking at what Christians have been doing for 2,000 years to encounter God and find practice there to help develop children’s innate sense of God that they are born with. Of course we want to tell them about Jesus, about what he did and what he said, but they will encounter Jesus long before I do that and I want to help them understand and have the language to explore what they have experienced.

Sam DOnague, co-editor