Kids Leading Worship

Today, in my church, we celebrated World Communion Sunday a Sunday when we remember that the family of God is much bigger than just people who look and sound like us. For three weeks the Sunday School kids have been learning a song from Cambodia called “Now I Know.”  The text is a great reminder that we are children of God and, since it sounds different from most of the songs we sing, it reminds us that there are children of God in many other places in the world too.

“Now I Know” was our closing congregational song in worship this morning. After the collection and without any announcement, the Sunday School leaders got up from their pews and went to the front of church. The kids from 3 years old to 6th grade left their pews and followed them up. They gathered and stood on the steps in front of church as if it had been rehearsed, little ones in front, older kids in the back. Even the kids who didn’t make it to Sunday School this morning but were in worship came up to join the group. (We have Sunday School before worship at our church.) The song has a leader and then an echo so the children sang the leader part and the congregation echoed. The text of the song is simple but profound and the melody easy to sing but not cutesy. It was a great song and ended with the words “so with hope go out in peace. Bring good news to all people on earth.”

The kids leading this song for our congregation was a wonderful example of how children can lead worship authentically. They acted like children but did a very adult job of leading the congregation.

I love it when the things we do in Sunday School can be pulled into worship but it takes planning and creativity. This is one idea that worked for us. What have you been able to do to include from Sunday school into your worship?