Hands On Training

I have the great honor, pleasure, and responsibility of not only being a dad to five, but also of helping lead an outstanding group of Royal Ambassadors (RAs) at my church.

I’m a proponent of involving the children of our church as much as possible. Last weekend was our focus on WMU Sunday which spotlights the work of the Women’s Missionary Union. This day offered the opportunity to have children and teens from our Wednesday night missions groups, which are sponsored by the WMU, to serve in some capacity during the service.

The Girls in Action (girls in grades 1-6) shared the prayer calendar for missionaries and the Acteens (teen girls) sang. Both groups did well, but I want to focus briefly on the RAs since that is who I was directly involved with and received compliments about. The Lads and Crusaders joined together to serve as ushers during the offering of both morning services, with two of the Lads giving the offertory prayer. This created a lot of firsts for the boys:

• The first time wearing their new RA uniforms comprised of khaki pants, white button down, necktie (royal blue for Lads, Gold for Crusaders), and navy blazer complete with an embroidered RA crest on the pocket.

• The first time, I’m aware of, our RAs collected the offering during a service.

• The first time one of the boys prayed publicly in front of the congregation.

• The first time I’ve seen them so excited about doing something in front of the congregation they were asking when they could do it again!

While the comments on the boys’ appearance didn’t fall to the wayside, as proven by one of my sons wanting to wear the uniform to the evening service, those weren’t the most meaningful and impactful statements. The acknowledgment and encouragement shown by telling these boys how great it was seeing them involved was most important.

Reflecting on the comments directed to the boys about their service, I started wondering if the reason there is such a shortage of workers in the church is because when they were children they weren’t encouraged to serve or were told they couldn’t when they asked to?

This brings to mind Proverbs 22:6 which reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Applying this to life as an adult, how often does training only come in a classroom setting where teaching happens? I understand this is the case sometimes, but the vast majority of training I have received as an adult involved both classroom and hands-on training, with the bulk being hands-on. Even in the circumstances where the training was classroom only, what was learned in the classroom was developed and honed through practical application. In church we teach our children how to be a Christian in Sunday School, Children's Church, and a variety of other programs, but are we providing ways for them to put these lessons into practice? Is there any reason we shouldn’t offer practical, hands-on training for our children in serving as a part of the Body of Christ?

One reason I've heard for children not helping is they are too young or too small, which in some cases may be true, but when it comes to serving the Kingdom shouldn’t we make a way to let them participate or find an alternative more appropriate to their size or age? I believe if you tell them they’re too young to serve as children, they’ll convince themselves of other (invalid) reasons they’re not capable as adults. Before telling a child they “can’t” do something in service of the church ask yourself if they truly can’t or if it’s because it would be easier or more convenient for you if they didn’t. Obviously there are some things a child may not actually be able to do. I’m not saying we need to explain our decisions to children all the time, but if they’re asking to do something in the church and there’s a valid reason why, I would suggest you help them understand why they can’t do x, y, or z now, but reassure them you are glad they want to help and you want them to help in that capacity in the future when they are able. Lastly, before they lose interest in helping, find another way they can be helpful now.

Let’s make it a point to find and create small ways to get our kids involved in church, comfortable praying in public, and excited to share the gospel so they won't make excuses to avoid it as adults. Start their contributions to the Kingdom with small easy tasks, like our church did with collecting the offering, singing, reading prayer calendars, and prayer. Once you’ve planted the bug, make sure you work with them to find new areas of service when they ask to do more. Based on my encounter, I assure you they will ask to do more. I can’t guarantee it will be the same for everyone, but the majority of these children will grow to be comfortable and confident when the time comes for them to serve the church as adults.

Oh, and lest I forget, the oldest boys who participated Sunday are only in fourth grade.

Jody A Thibodeau

Published 27 February 2025

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