Today, it is common to have a youth service, “Cultinho?Children and so on. But have you ever stopped to think that the scriptures do not order the separation of age worship and that this is a very recent practice in the story of Where does this practice come from?, Tom Ascol, in his article A Family for God, provokes our reflection with his answer:
He asked me a question I had heard several times during my years as a pastor: “Do you have a childcare service?”This time, instead of giving a long explanation of our practice of not separating our sects by age, I decided to give a brief, precise and intentionally provocative answer. See how it went:
? Yes. Every Sunday?
? Excellent. Can you describe how worship is structured?
? Of course. There are songs, prayers, Bible readings, offerings, and teachings. There is also the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on a monthly basis, and baptism is performed periodically?
? Interesting. Can adults participate?
Certainly! In fact, do we encourage adults to attend these services with their children?
My conscience did not allow me to leave this young father with a false impression, so I went on to explain that, although we have a service for children, we do not have a separate service exclusively for them, on the contrary, our worship. , like all our church, it is designed for all ages.
Certainly, a church that is committed to serving people of all ages faces a difficult challenge. In our days of “specialization,” it is much easier to “concentrate” ministry on those who share the same phase of life as ministry in people whose age includes several different decades.
Perhaps that’s why some people try to structure churches by doing just that, resulting in young churches, student churches, and older churches. What is even more common is the intentional fragmentation of churches into independent ministries separated by age, which at best coexist. In a local congregation. In this ministry model, parking may be the only place where grandparents, parents, and children see each other when they attend church meetings.
This may be a somewhat controversial issue, but you should certainly consider Ascol’s arguments.
Dr. Tom Ascol is pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, executive director of the Ministry of Founders and editor-in-chief of Founders Journal.
By Tom Ascol. Extract from www. ligonier. org. © 2013 Ligonier Ministries. Original: A Family Under God
This article is part of the March 2013 edition of Tabletalk magazine on “A Culture Fascinated by Youth”.
Translation: Isabela Siqueira. Crítica: Renata Esperito Santo?© Fiel Ministry. All rights reserved. Website: www. MinisterioFiel. com. br. Original: A family for God and should we have a service for children?
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