Over last weekend I was privileged to be able to take part in The Stream - the second Theological Symposium which gives those in the John Wesley family of churches including Wesleyan Methodist Church of NZ (WMCNZ), The Church of the Nazarene, The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church of NZ the opportunity to learn more about Wesleyan doctrines and distinctives.
Rev Dr. Glen O'Brien, in one of his sessions talked of how so much of Children's Ministry in the church is aimed at making children good members of society (teaching them how to behave, have good morals, how to react in the face of peer pressure etc) rather than teaching biblical truths. He also spoke of how little Wesleyan preachers call church attenders to grow in the likeness of Christ, to grow in sanctification etc as John Wesley did.
It got me thinking - Is he right? Do we teach children biblical truths? Do we actively work as a Prevenient Grace agent (a phrase borrowed from Rev Dr. Richard Waugh) working with the Holy Spirit to draw children into relationship with God through Jesus Christ and do we work with the Spirit to nurture children towards sanctification?
Many of us want to. Many of us do our best. But how do we do it? What material can we use that enables us to teach Biblical truths from a Wesleyan doctrinal viewpoint. What material can we use that enables us to encourage children along the path to entire sanctification? In particular what material works in a NZ setting.
As National Children's Ministry Coordinator for the WMCNZ many will look to me to answer those questions .... but the only answer I can give at present is I'm still looking to find it. I can say though that to my knowledge there is nothing with a distinctly Wesleyan doctrinal approach with an NZ flavour.
Hmmm - maybe there's a PhD topic in that?
Oh and by the way - John Wesley believed children of a very young age could live a sanctified life (a brief glimpse into my thesis due out soon)
So in signing off I ask you - what material do you know of that could be used to encourage children along the path of entire sanctification - in the words of John Wesley - having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked.
Pastor Pete
Pete, this is great. There is a group of people in the Southern District here in the Australian Wesleyan Church who have launched a project to design a framework of Christian Education material to address this very issue. If you are coming to the next Ministerial Task Force mtg later is month we can talk some more about that project and connect some energy and passion across the 'ditch' as Richard so fondly calls it. Rosalea Camereon
ReplyDeleteSounds great. Nice to hear that others are recognising the same need. Validates my thinking.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Peter. On my reference to children, I was actually referring to the sociologial research of Kenneth Dempsey in rural Methodist churches in NSW in the 1960s (published as 'Conflict and Decline.' The Methodists he interviewed understood the role of the church in ‘fundamentally moralistic terms.’ Fewer than a dozen [of the 109 people interviewed] ascribed to the church a theological role. The bulk thought of it as a useful agency for teaching the young ‘the importance of such things as kindness, courtesy, frugality, and honesty, and the virtues of participation in family life.’ I wasn't talking about our present practice so much though I'm sure we could be warned off taking this approach by this negative historical example. Keep up the great work mate and congratulations again on your thesis completion.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that clarification Glen. From my limited viewpoint and from the few conversations I've had since I don't think much has changed! I suspect that most Children's Ministries would see their role today as "teaching the young ‘the importance of such things as kindness, courtesy, frugality, and honesty, and the virtues of participation in family life.' "
ReplyDeleteThis moral agency teaching is important - it is after all part of what it means to live a holy life in the likeness of Christ - but we do our children and the church a disservice, I believe, if that is all we teach them. When I reflect on what Wesley required his preachers to teach the children I'm led to believe that it is important that we do more than we currently do to teach them theological truths in a way appropriate to their age and stage of development (both naturally and spiritually). It's another lesson I think that we can take from him - one that I should add to the 6 I identified in my thesis.