What matters to 4th and 5th graders?
What matters to 4th and 5th graders? What is unique to their age and stage that connects to the life of faith? These kids are the oldest ones in Kids’ Community at The River Church Community and their community is growing. We average 10 to 12 kids on a Sunday when we used to have only 3 or 4.
Peers certainly become more important at this age and these kids are easily bored by repetition because their thinking is becoming more expansive. I love the questions asked by kids of this age . . . when engaged they can keep storytellers and leaders on their toes! But one thing that is really striking to me is how eager they can be to help and make a difference – not always (or even usually!) at home, but certainly in the church context. They are becoming more skilled and competent and I am increasingly feeling convinced that the faith community too easily neglects a call to develop and receive the gifts of children – especially these older ones. They have something to offer.
Beginning this year the 4th-5th Grade Community will be getting out and serving every other month on Kidserve Sundays. It is an opportunity for kids to make a difference, experience faith as action and not only knowledge, and grow in friendship with one another. A couple of the girls also want to learn how to do storytelling for younger kids and we will experiment with that in the new year. They practice almost every Sunday!
We started out our Kidserve Sundays in October. The Bymasters and Cary Stanley took the kids to Heritage Home, a home for expectant, unmarried mothers run by CityTeam ministries. The kids helped sort recycling and washed vans. The best quote of the day was from some of the girls while they were carrying around a bunch of bags of sorted recycling. They said to Brett, "It's almost like we're their servants or something!" and Brett responded, “EXACTLY -- just like Jesus was!” 