Blogging along "The Way"

As a father of a small child I know only too well how self-conscious you can be of any noise your children make in church, and how embarrassing and off-putting it is when someone else goes ‘sssh’ to your child (or somebody else’s for that matter). As a committed Christian I can cope with the odd encounter with this sound, but I can also think of one or two churches I will never visit again because of it. So when the title of a new book entitled “Church Growth Through the Full Welcome of Children: The ‘Sssh Free Church” crossed my paths I had to give it a look.

This modest sized booklet in the Grove Evangelism series (Ev87) is a very down-to-earth examination of how one particular parish (New Malden, in the Diocese of Southwark, England) has seen the issue of children in the church and responded to that vision. The vicar, Stephen Kurht, has written honestly and engagingly about the motivation, approach, set-backs and successes of his parish in producing a form of worship for children and young families.

After a brief discussion about the changes that happen in the lives of younger people as they start new families – changes that often lead them to start thinking about the big questions – he offers a challenge to all ministers and congregations: as we impress on parents bringing children for baptism the importance of the vows they will take, do we take equally seriously the congregation’s commitment to welcome these young people fully into the People of God?

The ‘Sssh Free Church’ as it has developed in Christ Church, New Malden would be beyond the resources of most, if not all, parishes in this diocese but there is plenty to both challenge and inspire even the smallest church community in this little book, and at 28 pages it is well within the scope of the leadership in every parish to read it and engage with the ideas.

Ev 87 Church Growth Through the Full Welcome of Children: The ‘Sssh Free Church’ by Stephen Kuhrt can be obtained in printed or ebook form from www.grovebooks.co.uk

Review by Sean Kelleher, Anglican Parish of Sunraysia South

Filed under: APOSS, General, Reading