Children in the Theology of John Wesley

As many of you following this blog know I have recently completed my MTh. My thesis focused on John Wesley and children. I will publish that in full shortly but to give you a taste of what is to come I will drip feed much of my last chapter out here over the next few weeks. This chapter is titled Concluding Reflections and Potential Applications and presents 6 of the many lessons I believe we can learn from Wesley which may be useful for those called to children’s ministry in the twenty-first century.


Today - the introduction - Lessons for the Twenty-first Century (part 1)
The second major aim of this thesis was to identify lessons from Wesley which may be useful for those called to children’s ministry in the twenty-first century. It is to this which we now turn. As we do so we recognise that his recognition that God works with children as children and not as “little adults” provides the basis for the most important of the many lessons this practical theologian teaches us. We will discuss that lesson later but for now note that with Wesley as a “theological mentor” we have the advantage of being able to learn from both his theology and his practical implementation of that theology.

For instance and perhaps not unsurprisingly given my project management background, I see that Wesley provides us with a planning and implementation framework which, at least in most respects, could serve as a model for planning and implementing any facet of children’s ministry. Indeed it is a model which would be useful in many situations because Wesley, probably without knowing it, followed a reasonably standard project methodology covering planning, implementation and review.

However, not only can we learn from the process he employed, we can also learn from the actions that he took particularly in implementing his educational views. We could for instance discuss his lack of understanding of the value of play in childhood. There is also value in considering his willingness to wait for the right people rather than rushing to appoint someone for the sake of getting things happening. Lastly, his willingness to tie his expectations as regards education into the wider requirements he placed on members of the Methodist movement, and in particular those he placed on his preachers, provides further valuable lessons for us.

Food for thought I hope

Blessings
Pastor Pete