Our ultimate goal in ministering to children is to bring
them to self-fulfillment and maturity in Christian faith characterized
by:
(a) personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior
and Lord;
(b) mature decision-making and behavior reflecting internalized Christian
values; &
(c) righteousness, holiness, and the fullness of the stature of Jesus
Christ.
1. Parents are God’s “first curriculum.”
The first representation of God that a child “reads” is through
the care and nurture
of one adult male and one adult female. Thus, the Church’s curriculum
inspires and
supports positive human parenting.
2. Children are gifts from God.
We begin our ministry to children with a vision of helping to bring them
to fulfillment of God’s design for them.
3. Children are open to God.
Children do not need arguments to prove the existence of God; nor do they
need to be convinced that prayer and other acts of worship are important.
Children are capable of religious experience because of the very nature
of the development of the human mind.
4. Jesus placed a high value on children.
The openness of children became the analogy of commitment of Jesus to
discipleship.
Jesus accepted the children at their stage of development for what they
were, but
He saw beyond that to their potential as full-grown creatures made in
the image of God.
5. The church is the “family of God.”
The congregation ought to be an extended family, a tribe, or a network
of intimate
circles of mutual concern, sharing, and faith. We are created for fellowship,
not isolation and loneliness. If a congregation does not find ways of
developing the kind of warmth
and support it should have, it cannot hope to nurture its children well.
6. Christian faith is never more than one generation
from extinction.
Children know nothing about the acts of God in history unless we share
that knowledge.
Thus, we should carefully plan the learning exposures of our children
to unfold to them
the mighty acts of God in such a way as to help them arrive at the same
sound faith
that we possess.
7. The early years set the tone for lifelong values.
Children learn what they live. The early sources of consistent value influence
are essential
if a child is to be formed in such a way as to be an effective, functioning
person as an adult.
8. Children deserve to be helped to moral and
spiritual maturity.
Just as children pass through cognitive stages in the development of the
mind, they also move through identifiable stages of moral thought.
