Songs for Children

Isla and I were discussing "All things bright and beautiful". It was great to hear the children sing it on Sunday, but to be honest, we weren't sure how many of them know it. The truth is, it's not sung much these days on occasions when children are present. It's not sung in schools and it's not sung in all age worship. It tends to be sung at weddings and baptisms by people in their thirties and forties - and also gets chosen by older people who want a song that children will know(!) There are various other hymns and songs that have a similar place.
There is no canon of "children's songs" in twenty-first century britain. This includes Christmas songs on the whole. Every school (and church) sings a different selection of contemporary songs. I suspect that by 2020, we are really going to struggle to find widely known hymns for baptisms and weddings...
This isn't a moan, just an observation.

Enlarging All Member Ministry

We've always been keen on lay ministry in the Watling Valley, but today was a high point even for us! The Mothering Sunday Service at St Mary's was prepared and lead by the young people from start to finish. The two worship leaders were simply stunning "front men", the drama (a Mike Geaney special called Spooky Sunday) was performed with Oscar winning performances and every possible role in the service was taken on by our young people. They received a much deserved round of applause at the end! It was a service that could have taught many "professionals" a thing or two...

The key point I take away is that worship so often lives when it comes from the people themselves. Professional worship leaders can give slick performances, but you can't beat the depth and feeling that you get when the worship is "owned" by the people who have the biggest stake in making it real. Yes, some things went wrong, and there were things that could have been improved, but who cares because it was a living piece of worship that everyone appreciated!