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Worship bags give parents a discipleship tool to better include their children in the service in a quiet, yet meaningful way.
- What are worship bags?
- Why use them?
- How to make them quiet yet meaningful
Do you use worship bags in your small church? Maybe you have thought about it, but haven’t committed to it yet. Or, perhaps, it is a new idea that you have never considered. Worship bags are a really great discipleship tool for families to use in service, especially in small churches.
How To Engage Kids Using Worship Bags answers some of the most basic and important questions often asked about worship bags and introduces us to the opportunity to meet kids where they are at developmentally in worship. Today let’s dive deeper underneath the what and how of worship bags and dig into the why of worship bags and a theological understanding of worship bags.
Reasons Churches Offer Worship Bags For Children
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (NLT) You want your ministries to glorify God, and intentionality helps do that. But isn’t that enough if you offer biblical coloring pages, Christian books, and quiet toys? Perhaps. It depends on your reason for offering worship bags.
Several reasons you may offer worship bags:
- To help parents keep their kids occupied during worship
- To help children to be quiet and not distract others in the service
- To keep kids happy and quiet
- To teach kids a Bible story or lesson when there is no children’s ministry offered
- To equip parents to disciple their children during worship
- To help children engage in worship in a developmentally appropriate way
- To encourage children to participate in the Body of Christ
- To provide children an opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit
None of these reasons are wrong. Knowing what you want to accomplish with your worship bag will help you to decide what goes in them and how best to use them in your small church.
“Worship Bags” Or “Busy Bags”: Why The Name Matters
Activity bags in the church have many names:
- Worship bags
- Busy bags
- Praise packs
- Quiet kits
- Activity bags
Does it matter what you call them? Yes! What you call your worship bags communicates your purpose for them. If you simply want to keep kids quiet and busy, then your choice is communicated in what you call it. Yet, you can offer so much more to children and their parents than simply distracting them during worship.
Children Can Join In Meaningful Worship
Children are capable of joining the Body of Christ in meaningful worship of their Creator.
After Jesus cleared the temple days before the crucifixion, the chief priests and scribes came to complain to Jesus about the children shouting praise to God for Jesus in the temple. They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’” (Matthew 21:16 NLT)
Jesus was quoting Psalm 8:2, which recognizes even the youngest child’s ability to silence the enemy with praise to the Lord. When you can begin to see that ability in children, it becomes easier to nurture it. When the church begins to nurture children’s capability, families and children themselves begin to believe it and live into it.
By intentionally choosing our words of what you call these resources, you communicate your belief that children are capable and offer an invitation for them to join the rest of the Body of Christ in Sunday morning worship. This invitation can make a huge difference in a family’s church experience. To feel welcome and included, allow children to experience a bit of God’s kingdom in a very real way.
Worship Bags Are Discipleship Tools
One often missed opportunity with worship bags is offering something parents can use to disciple their kids in the sanctuary. This is especially doable in small churches where you aren’t catering to hundreds of families. A few simple items can help parents to better include their children in the service in a meaningful way.
A worship guide is a card your church creates with the typical worship service elements (e.g., music, offering, scripture reading, prayer, and sermon). The worship guide would list each part of your service with a simple explanation and perhaps a question for parents to ask children about that act of worship.
This might look like:
- Opening Prayer: We invite the Holy Spirit to make His presence known this morning. How might you know the Holy Spirit is here?
- Music: Throughout the Bible, music and singing are modeled as beautiful and appropriate ways to celebrate and praise the Lord. Which is your favorite song from today?
- Offering: By giving back to God, we acknowledge that all we have comes from God and show our gratitude. What is something you are grateful for?
- Scripture Reading: The Bible is the best way we can learn about God. It is a special love letter, and it is important for us to read it together. What do you hear God saying in today’s reading?
- Sermon: This is a time when we listen and learn from the pastor who has prayerfully been talking to God and listening to God for the whole church. What was something you heard the pastor say?
Special Notes For Your Church Visitors
You may also want to include some special notes for parents about bathrooms, a nursery or cry room, or a specially designated place for children to move around a little bit.
These guides are especially helpful and welcoming for visiting families, but do not lose their meaning on regular attendees and members.
When we understand why we are doing things, it brings more meaning to the activity.
Five Worship Bag Essentials To Bring Depth
After determining your audience and purpose for worship bags, consider what to include. Items to make a deeper ministry impact include something to …
- Disciple
- Create
- Taste
- Move
- Delight
We talked all about discipleship above. So let’s unpack the other four.
Create: Coloring Sheets & The Holy Spirit
One of the most common items in a worship bag is a Bible story coloring page. This is not a bad thing. Lots of kids like to color. This can give them a chance to think about the Bible story on the page. If it happens to overlap with the sermon, even better!
But … what if the Holy Spirit has something different for the child to hear from the story? If the sermon is on the feeding of the 5,000 and you give your kids a coloring page of bread and fish, could you be hindering a child from using their creativity for hearing and responding to something else the Holy Spirit has to share with this child?
Our God is a creative God. He is THE Creator. If you are going to give coloring pages, also offer white paper to allow children and the Holy Spirit more space to interact. Some children may respond by drawing the Bible story using dinosaurs or mermaids, but this is a great thing because it shows us they are hearing and putting the story into a context that is relevant and important to them.
Need to restock your children’s ministry craft supplies? Take a look at the list below!
- 8 x 10 artist canvas
- Decoupage glue
- Foam brush
- Glitter
- Hot glue or craft glue
- Ribbon or Jute twine
- Acrylic paint and Paintbrushes
- Felt
- Sheets of 8 ½ x 11 White cardstock
- Wide popsicle sticks and standard Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic paint
- Brown craft gift bags
- Sharpie permanent markers
Taste: Children Get Hungry
Jesus often met the physical needs of those he ministered to, as well as their spiritual needs. Children get hungry. Sometimes, children get hangry. If you provide something like a lollipop, you can also meet the sensory needs of some children. Sucking helps with calming nerves and anxious energy. This may not be appropriate in your small church setting, and that is ok too.
Move: Add Activity To Worship Bags
Next is something to move. Did you know God designed children to learn to control their bodies by moving them? Much like a teen learns to drive a car by practicing, little kids learn self-control and their bodies’ limits through using their bodies.
When you ask a child to sit still, you are redirecting all of their focus to not moving their bodies. They cannot offer much focus to the service or worship when they are focusing on not moving.
This was God’s design, and you can embrace it by offering children intentional and acceptable ways to move and fidget. This might be by going to a special corner at the back of the sanctuary or offering a finger labyrinth or fidget toy in your worship bag.
Delight: Share God’s Love & Joy
Finally, you have the opportunity to model God’s extravagant love through your worship bags. There are many things like coffee, chocolate, and beautiful colors that God designed for us to enjoy. Not because we needed them, but simply for us to delight in and experience His over-the-top love for us.
Your worship bags can do the same. It doesn’t need to be expensive or fancy, but thinking specifically about things that will bring a smile to a child’s face can communicate your love and God’s love for that child. This may be something like playdough, stickers, or a small worship buddy stuffed animal.
One of the blessings of a small church is the ability to know the children and their interests. Do you have a child that loves bugs? Pick up some small plastic bugs to include in his or her worship bag for a couple of weeks.
Looking for a step-by-step guide to starting or restarting your children’s ministry?
Check out the Children’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
Planning For Children & Families Shows You Care
Be intentional and thoughtful, and you will communicate to each child and their family how much they mean to God and to your church. It doesn’t take too much effort or money, perhaps just a little time and creativity. But those are things that the Holy Spirit can provide through prayer.
Blessings on you, your worship bags, and the families you will minister to through them.
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Joy Wendling is a Children’s, Youth, and Family Minister turned Stay-at-Home Mama. She, her husband, and 5 daughters live on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Helping those who disciple children is her passion, and she does this through coaching and her weekly podcast, Playfully Faithful Parenting.
