No matter how young, children are expected to become more involved in worship services across the Diocese of Virginia. Could this make a difference to a kindergartner, or the congregation? Tyler Henderson, the point person for this new initiative, will give you a resounding “yes!”
Henderson recently started as grant director for Pathways to Prayer and Practice, a five-year ministry project funded by the Lilly Endowment to create and evaluate innovative approaches to incorporating children into worship.
Henderson is living proof of how children can benefit in meaningful and authentic ways. His faith journey began before first grade.
At age 5, Henderson experienced the death of his grandfather, and in the wake of that loss, Henderson’s father decided to be baptized at the family’s church.
“It was something he felt like he needed to do at that time, and my brother and I were with him, and it wasn’t planned for us to get baptized,” Henderson recalled. “I felt a really strong pull and urge to get baptized with him in this very emotional moment … the church let me do it, and then my brother agreed to do it as well. That early memory starts the foundation of my own faith journey.”
Now father to two young children with another on the way, Henderson brings a well-crafted set of academic and professional research skills to his diocesan role. He has blended research, planning, and strategic development to create meaningful, community-focused initiatives.
In this new role, Henderson will leverage research and data in creating solutions for churches and families to worship across generations at a time when attention is hard to hold.
“We’re constantly faced with distractions, and there’s just the pace of life keeps quickening,” he said. “This is an attempt to provide solutions to churches for, you know, starting that faith journey early in life. That’s super important for people to have that type of foundation to stand on and pull from when they’re facing these different distractions and these different noises. If we are able to provide a foundation for the youth, they’ll be able to stand strong on that.”
Five Targets for Children and Worship
The goal is for children to become more than spectators in church, to “feel like they are intimately involved with different aspects of worship that sets up a long-term foundation for their faith development.”
The five key areas:
- Scripture
- Prayer
- Eucharist
- Music
- Sacred Space
“The idea is that we’re going to work with congregations, church leaders and parents to really try to innovate ways that children can be involved in worship in the church, and help families feel more confident instilling worship into life outside of church.”
For kids, especially, “I want them to feel empowered, to feel as if this is their church as much as it is their parents’ church,” he said. “To go to church on Sundays looking forward to worshiping and being involved with worship, and then continuing that deepened relationship with worship in their everyday life, and finding different avenues to experience worship outside of just the church.”
A new program, strategy, or tool developed in one church can become a resource for all churches.
Is Your Church Ready to Try?
“The first step is just really getting in touch with me,” said Henderson. (Reach Tyler via email or by phone at 804-643-8451, extension 1075).
He is working on a formal application process for congregations to apply to the first cohort. He encourages congregations and church leaders to push through fears of breaking tradition or failure.
“The first measure of success is churches being open and willing to take small steps towards figuring out how to get children more intimately involved in worship,” he said. “In the long term, I hope success will be measured by seeing children actively and intimately involved with these five key areas of worship. I really hope that there is a cultural shift to people of all age ranges involved in worship in the church, and that that is seen as normal.”
A Father Too
Henderson’s work dovetails with his family life. His oldest daughter is now 5.
“She just started preschool this year, and we were able to find a small Christian school near us, and just watching her faith grow and her biblical knowledge grow has been one of the most rewarding experiences as a parent that I’ve ever had so far,” he said.
On a recent car ride, she responded to song lyrics. “The artist says something like, ‘I deserve it all,’ and as soon as she heard that, she’s like, ‘No, God does,’” he recalled. “In these little moments I can tell she’s constantly considering God’s power and existence. That really inspires me.”