Dan at Necessary Roughness has written an informative post on “How Churches Should Handle Autism”. He offers practical suggestions to help congregations understand and help these families affected by autism during the worship service.
And what is Dan’s number 1 suggestion? “The real world has no Gospel and has no forgiveness. The best thing a church can do is preach the Word.” Thanks Dan!
Cantor Phil Magness was on Tuesday’s “Issues, Etc” and had a worthwhile discussion on children and worship. Basic theme: Give children something in worship they can grow into rather than grow out of. It’s a good listen.
A few days back I was flipping through “First Person Singular: Reflections on Worship, Liturgy, and Children” by Carl Schalk. It is is a smallish volume of less than a hundred pages with brief reflections on various topics related to children in the life of the church.
Schalk had a reflection that was particularly relevant to the Advent season based on Ambrose, the author of the Hymn of the Day for this First Sunday in Advent – “Savior of the Nations, Come” (LSB 332)
As the story goes, Ambrose (340-397), the great Bishop of Milan, was having trouble with the Arians, a heretical sect which denied Christ’s divinity. When the Empress Justina, who favored the Arians, tried to get Ambrose to open one of the churches–the Basilica Portina–for her adherents, Ambrose adamantly refused. Fearing reprisal from the Empress, Ambrose gathered the faithful in the basilica, singing psalms and hymns to buoy their spirits in this time of persecution. When the soldiers sent by the Empress arrived at the basilica, so tremendous was the effect of the people’s song that the soldiers are said to have joined in the singing. The Empress finally was forced to abandon her plans.
St. Augustine, one of Ambrose’s converts–who as a young man was present with his mother at the Basilica Portina–wrote some years later in his Confession about the moving experience and how the singing had made a profound impression on him. (p. 17)
Schalk next asks a question that propels this historical situation to our own day: “But where were the children?” His conclusion, based on Augustine and that society’s lack of child care centers, is that the children, with the whole family, were at the Basilica singing the strong hymns of Ambrose. The whole church family–young and old–were spiritually nurtured and grew by these hymns.
His encouragement to the church today is to continue (or reinstate, as the case may be) the practice of teaching children the strong and sturdy hymns of the faith — not “Twinkie Tunes with Ding Dong Theology” (title of another reflection). These hymns can be formative in the faith development of the children.
Why not start with Ambrose’s Advent hymn?
Over at Cranach, Gene Edward Veith has a discussion on children and the music they sing in worship — solid hymnody and liturgy vs. “cutesey wootsey” music.
It is a high responsibility to choose the music we place into the mouth of God’s people – whether children or adult. These songs should not be trite or cute, nor filler or fluff. The church’s song should be a faithful proclamation and preaching of the Word. No less should be tolerated.
I remember as a child singing Page 15 and Vespers from The Lutheran Hymnal and liked singing it although I didn’t understand everything. As a teenager, youth (that meant me) were supposed to be “in to” Contemporary Christian Music. I shortly gave that up and turned more and more to TLH because the hymnody had more content and was more relevant to me.
While I don’t have any children of my own, it is a joy to hear the voices of children sing the hymns of the faith and the liturgy, and belt out the Creed and Lord’s Prayer. Whether or not they know it, the children are learning what they need to know and who they are. It is the privilege of pastors, parish musicians, and the congregation to nurture this growth through hymnody and liturgy. In reality, though, it is really God doing all the work.
A great resource for teaching children hymns and personal enjoyment is the four CD set by the Children’s Choir of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ft Wayne, IN. The choir sings hymns and liturgy — no fancy choral settings. This is the Children’s Choir you hear occasionally on The Lutheran Hour. The CD’s can be purchased through St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Concordia Theological Seminary at CPHBookstore@ctsfw.edu, or at Concordia Publishing House.
In short, let God’s children sing. Let them sing the hymns of our Lutheran heritage. Let them sing the liturgy that has nourished the church for hundreds of years. Let them grow through these hymns and liturgy.