A children's sermon or children's homily or children's message is a part of a church service dedicated to communicating an abbreviated

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

message that is palatable to small children. It might be thought of as a mini-

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

for children. Children's messages are common part of the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

churches, as well as in other Christian denominations. The message may be given by the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

or a

lay leader A lay leader is a member of the laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader either by their peers or the leadership of the congregation. In most denominations, lay leadership is not an ordained clerical office, and the lay leader's res ...

(such as the

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

Christian education Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

). For a typical message, the children are asked to gather at the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

steps and face the

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

s. The pastor may have some sort of object or tactile teaching aid to focus the children's attention on the topic. The sermon typically lasts two to three minutes and may end in a brief

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

. Children's messages are often related to the main sermon and may prepare the congregation for it. In cases of

family integrated church In Christianity, a family integrated church is one in which parents and children ordinarily attend church services together; during the service of worship, children and youth stay all through church services and do not attend children's and youth m ...

es, children return to their pews to sit with their family for the remainder of the Divine Service; in other churches, the children may be dismissed to

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

following the children's sermon.

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20050818182953/http://www.butlerumc.org/Childrens%20Message.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20060720184635/http://talkingdonkey.worldmagblog.com/talkingdonkey/archives/015547.html Christian sermons {{Christianity-stub

See also

Sources