e have to do something with those little crumb snatchers so we can get on with real ministry!” It was meant to be funny, but when students offered this and a few other tongue-in-cheek reasons why children’s and family ministry is important, they knew they were poking fun at some stereotypes that really exist in the church. Indeed, the time was right when Bethel Seminary added the Master of Arts in Children’s and Family Ministry to its innovative, online, InMinistry degree programs just over two years ago. Today the 68 students enrolled in the program are realizing their dream to pursue a theological education without having to leave their current ministries. Not only are they affirmed in their passion for ministering to children and families, but they also are building their ministries on a foundation of solid theological preparation.

Four reasons for children’s and family ministry

1. God’s Word commands us to nurture and care for children.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NRSV).

This is the classic biblical foundation for maximizing “teachable moments” during a child’s spiritual formation; all day, every day, we should be sharing our faith and living it out in front of our children. It is not a suggestion, but rather a command that calls for obedience from the community of faith.

Some would have us believe that the Bible is a book about adults and for adults. In reality, God’s Word includes hundreds of references to children and families. For example, the word child is used 195 times in the NRSV; the word children appears 482 times; family shows up 88 times; and other family-type words number more than 8,000. Indeed, Scripture is filled with narratives about families, instructions for families, and commands for the community of faith to become family for one another.

A gift from God

Psalm 127:3 declares that children are gifts from God. Thus, in communities of faith we must receive them as gifts, treasuring and caring for them. In addition, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, the parents and adults of the community are instructed to pass on the heritage of faith to the coming generation. Psalm 78:4 states, “We will not hide them from their children: we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”

Consider what happened when Joshua and the people of Israel crossed the River Jordan into the Promised Land; Joshua called on the people to build a memorial of 12 stones, one purpose of which was to teach the children and pass on the story of God’s wondrous work. Joshua 4:6 says that in the future, when children ask about the meaning of the stones, the people are to tell them of God’s miraculous deeds among them when the River Jordan stopped flowing and the Ark of the Covenant passed through. Note that Scripture does not say if the children ask, but when they ask. The writer obviously understood the inquisitive nature of a child!

From generation to generation

Calls to justice in the prophetic books regularly included the admonition to care for orphans and widows. The wonderful passage in Zechariah 8:1-5 describes a time when old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with canes and sit together in the city squares, and the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play. This is a powerful vision in which the two bookends of the developmental cycle that are often at greatest risk—the elderly and the young—are safe and valued.

Welcoming the children

While Jesus never called a child to make a decision to follow Him, He placed a high value upon children. He welcomed children into His presence, taking them into His arms and blessing them when others preferred that He rebuff them. He offered them to adults as a model of Christian discipleship and faith. He demonstrated that children are people of worth when He healed them just as He did adults.

And Jesus welcomed the praise of children. After He cleared out the temple and drove away the merchants, He began healing the blind and the lame. The little children praised Him saying, “Praise God for the Son of David.” Leading priests and teachers of the law were indignant and asked Jesus if He heard what the children were saying. Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2: “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?” (Matthew 21:16). Jesus chastised His detractors, revealing that sometimes the religious leaders miss the point entirely and it is the children who really get it!

2. Children are responsive and open to spiritual things.

One child development model identifies six components of a child’s development. The metaphor of the hand is a helpful way to explore those six components. The fingers represent physical development, emotional development, cognitive development, social development, and moral development. The palm of the hand, supporting each of the fingers and allowing each finger to have expression, is spiritual development. We believe the child is a spiritual being from the very beginning.

Early decisions for Christ

Young children cannot articulate or comprehend very well the saving work of Christ on the cross. However, this does not mean they are incapable of interactions in the spiritual realm. Early, consistent saturation in a warm Christian environment prepares children to respond to Christ’s salvation call at the appropriate time in their lives. An oft-quoted statistic is that up to 85 percent of decisions for Christ are made before the age of 18. Interestingly, most of those decisions are made during the childhood years. In fact, lifetime values find their foundation in childhood.

What did you learn in Sunday school?

It is not enough to say that children are open and responsive. Children also offer adults the opportunity to learn from them if we are willing. In the upside-down Kingdom of God, children remind us that the last will be first, the greatest will be the least, and unless we become like children we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. We can catch a fresh glimpse of the world through the eyes of children and a fresh glimpse of faith as they experience and hear the stories of Scripture for the first time. When parents and adults ask children, “What did you learn in Sunday school today?” they would do well to listen as rapt students and let the children be their teachers.

3. The church is called to be the “family of God.”

In our fractured and complex society, it is time for the church to pick up the mantle of being the “family of God” for all children. Children today live in complex family situations. One-half of all children live in homes headed by someone other than their two biological parents. They may live in single-parent homes, blended families, cohabiting families, extended families (where grandparents raise their grandchildren), or in a guardianship context with neither parent nor relative. More than 50 percent of mothers of young children are employed outside the home, causing parents to traverse the difficult terrain of child-care issues while balancing the demands of home and workplace on a daily basis.

In addition, the recent boom in drug-affected babies, children experimenting with drugs and alcohol at earlier ages, high levels of poverty among children, and more than two million reported cases of child abuse and neglect reported each year signal a crisis in our culture. If we enlarge our perspective to look beyond the borders of the United States, the statistics become even more sobering (see “The Plight of Our Children Worldwide” on page 7).

In light of the many challenging and complex situations in which children live, we need to hear the words of Jesus. He redefined the family as those who follow the teachings of God, and said that biological ties are much less critical than spiritual ties (Matthew 12:46-50). The church is called to be “family-like” in all of these situations by offering hope and healing to children and families.

4. The millennial generation of children is deeply loved and highly treasured by the adults in their lives, and the church must do the same.

In our culture, one of the hallmarks of the “millennial generation” (those born in 1982 and following) is what author Leonard Sweet, M.Div., Ph.D., calls the “double ring”—when two seemingly contradictory things are true at the same time. While individuals and groups within this generation suffer great pain through abuse, poverty, drugs, violence, and challenging family situations, they are yet among a generation that by and large is loved and treasured.

Enjoying the lowest child-to-parent ratio in American history, just two percent of all kids under the age of 18 live in families with five or more children. While we do see some evidence of families getting larger as Generation Xers produce offspring, the child-to-parent ratio remains low. Millennial babies frequently arrive to parents who want them desperately. They may have endured the costs and challenges of infertility treatment, or waited to have children and are now ready to make them their first priority. A whole generation has sought happiness through the pursuit of wealth, climbing the corporate ladder, and satisfying their material whims. But at the end of it all, they are finding that what really matters is children and family relationships! Quality education and health care for children headline political agendas. Family-friendly restaurants, vacation packages, shopping centers, and airport terminals all speak to the current emphasis on children and families. Now more than ever, churches have an opportunity to offer meaningful ministry to families who want their children nurtured in a safe and secure environment.

The millennial generation, while worthy of ministry in and of itself, may also hold the key to bringing an entire span of contemporary generations back to the community of faith. Parents who treasure their children will choose churches that place a high priority on children’s and family ministry—high enough in fact to value relevant theological education for those in charge of such a crucial work. Perhaps we will witness “those little crumb snatchers” bring new application to the age-old words “A little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). •

Denise Muir Kjesbo, director and lead faculty member of Bethel Seminary’s Children’s and Family Ministry degree program, came to Bethel Seminary after 13 years as associate professor of educational ministries at North American Baptist Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She also has served on the adjunct faculties of North American Baptist College in Edmonton, Alberta, and Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Currently the contemporary worship coordinator for the First Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, Kjesbo has been involved in ministries to children and families at small church plants and large established churches alike. As a workshop presenter for two curriculum publishing companies, she travels throughout the United States and Canada to train and equip those who share her passion for children’s and family ministry. A 1979 graduate of Bethel College, Kjesbo received her M.Div. from North American Baptist Seminary and her Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She is co-author of Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry.

• Street children. According to the United Nations (UN), there were 142 million street children worldwide in 1996. That is more than the entire population of France and Great Britain combined.
• Child mortality. In Brazil more than 1,000 street children die each year—about four children per day. Every third Brazilian child dies before celebrating an 18th birthday.
• Child soldiers. According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, in 1995-96, 250,000 child soldiers under 16 years of age were fighting in at least 30 nations. The latest statistics indicate that number has now risen to 300,000 child soldiers.
• Sexually exploited children. The UN reports that one million children become prostitutes each year.
• Refugee children. Approximately half of the 53 million people forced to flee from wars in the past 50 years were children.
• Female children. In some countries, more than twice as many boys as girls receive medical treatment. In Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, discrimination against girls results in more than one million deaths each year.
• Child laborers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are between 100 and 300 million working children in the world.
• Sick children. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 million children worldwide are infected with HIV, 90 percent of whom live in the developing world.

Statistics are from Rainbows of Hope (www.wec-int.org/rainbows), an organization that cares for children around the world.