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 A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 context ...

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

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming 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 Places * Reform, Al ...

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

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

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 of

Christian education Christian education may refer to: * Catechesis, a type of Christian education associated with the Roman Catholic church and churches that follow a liturgical paradigm *Sunday school, a form of Christian education used widely among many different ki ...

). 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 (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

steps and face the pews. 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 File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

. 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 ...

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, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

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