My church = Bible based sermons that I absolutely love. But watching the pre-recorded church service at home during the time of COVID, wasn’t cutting it for our kiddos (ages 8 and 6). My husband and I watch every Sunday, but we needed to also figure out a different way of doing church as a family to serve the needs of our kids.
So here is a roundup of different ideas for doing church at home.
1. The Bible Project
The Bible Project offers an engaging multi-media series to do Church at Home with reading, listening to a short sermon, watching a 5-7 minute video, and discussion questions. (I think these are now listed as Bible Studies.) You can do all of this in about 15 minutes. But the great thing is, you can also stretch it out, reading more of the scriptures they list or responding to the quality discussion questions.
Multiple modalities are powerful.
For our family, the multiple modalities are powerful—It has us reading, listening to Tim Mackie, watching the powerful Bible Project videos, and reading scripture together. The pacing of the material is great too. My 6 year old son is pushed a little bit to pay attention, but he can gather himself up enough to listen for 5 minutes, especially when he knows there is a video coming up next. We usually end by singing a song altogether or two together at the end. Sometimes the kids can think of one that goes with the message and even explain why they chose that song.
2. Systematic Theology with The Ology
If you haven’t read through this book as a family, this might be a great place to start. This book is a children’s systematic theology book. It simply explains essentials of our faith and offers corresponding scripture verses. Depending on the length of the entry, you can read all or part and then read a corresponding scripture that they provide. (This book is also a top pick on this year’s Gift Guide.)
There is a CD that goes along with the book that you can purchase separately. My kids absolutely love this CD and sing along with it. Print out a few song sheets and make it a family sing-a-long after reading the book together. Discuss the beautiful illustrations and consider making some as a family art project.
With the freedom of being at home, how can you include other modalities of learning during church? Think–Dancing during worship, responding with art during the sermon. There are limitations, but there are also freedoms here.
3. Check out other churches
Before COVID were you hearing from the Lord that it might be time to leave your church? This might be the perfect time to check out other churches on-line, without dragging your family all over town. You can say, “Let’s check out how other Christians are worshipping and learning about God in our town.” Whether or not you leave your current church, seeing other believers in your town can be a powerful and encouraging experience.
4. Visit Churches of Friends or family–Virtually Together
Do your kids have friends that go to other churches? Maybe they live across the state or the world but because so many houses of worship have moved on-line, now you can “go to church together” on-line.
For this idea to work, involve the kids. Have them contact relatives or friends to see if they can plan going to church together. To make the visit more interactive you can have the kids:
A. Write questions about the sermon and talk about them afterwards on Zoom or FaceTime.
B. Share what their favorite song was and why.
C. Draw pictures of the sermon and share the drawings afterwards. The whole family can do this, then you mix up the pictures, show them and everyone can guess what is happening. Be sure to do this in a positive way so that kids who are younger don’t feel lesser for their drawing abilities.
D. Write down and illustrate a favorite verse from the sermon and share afterwards.
E. Talk afterwards about the differences and similarities between your churches.
A variation on this idea is to visit a church from another culture. Can you find a church that speaks your language, but is from another culture that you can visit? This is a great opportunity to talk about the worldwide body of Christ. You can also discuss what pieces of our church are Christian and what are just part of your culture. For instance, in my Northwest American church, hardly anyone wears a suit. Not even the pastor. What do the kids notice–visually, liturgically, or hear that is different than your home church?
Do your kids notice the American parts of your church service? Do you?
5. Read Scripture, Discuss, Sing out of a Family Songbook
Read through a book of the Bible together. Have the youngest kid pick which book. Read a few chapters at a time. Talk about them. Then sing together.
Do you know what your kids’ favorite worship songs are?
Do you know what your kid’s favorite worship songs are? Do they have any? How about making a family songbook. (If you are homeschooling, this can be a great literacy project that includes a real publication piece as your family actually will use the songbook.) Be sure to number the pages and the songs, for easy finding. Pull out any old songbooks you have from being a camp counselor or maybe that college ministry you were a part of. Talk about and play worship songs that you love from YouTube. Tell them where you heard it, what the Biblical Truth in the song is, and how it impacted your relationship or understanding of God. And add it to the songbook.
Let your kids see you struggle and learn.
And yes, if you played guitar poorly back in your youth group days, it’s time to dust it off and amaze your spouse and kids. Sure, you might need to practice a wee bit to build up those callouses again, but it’s worth the look on your kids’ faces. And yes, you might sound terrible and stumble through a few songs, but let’s face it—How often do we let our kids see us fail or do something we aren’t good at. Let your kids see you struggle and learn. Laugh about it. Show them you are more than what you can do perfectly. Show them how to struggle with grace.
6. Include Others
Is there someone at your church who is single and needing fellowship? Are you able to expand your quarantine bubble and let them in your home? Maybe you could safely do this by all wear masks and leaving the window open or singing outside together.
My kids (sometimes) even behave better when others are around. And sometimes, they seem to ask different questions or share ideas than when it is just us. A new person in your home can offer not only fellowship but also a valuable perspective on the sermon, or a chance to engage and listen within your family unit. Plus, we need to be looking for ways and opportunities to include our brothers and sisters during this lonely and isolating time.
7. Act out the Bible
Keep it short and sweet. Then you’ll actually do it. (And enjoy it.)
Break out the costumes. Read the Bible. Then act out what happened. Write down the characters, put them in a jar and draw out the names. Even the dog can participate. If your kids are young–Keep it short and sweet. Set a timer for 15 minutes and be done with afterwards.
Want to make a homeschooling activity out of this? Have the kids during the week: 1) Read the story 2) Write a simple script. If they are pre-literate, they can dictate it to you. 3) Practice it 4) Perform it on Sunday for an authentic performance/publication opportunity. For an added layer of learning, have them contact the pastor for next week’s scriptures, so their performance is aligned with the sermon.
Hot tips for Church at Home
1. Set a routine. Half the battle is getting everyone there and starting whatever it is you are going to start. Setting a time, place, and routine helps that happen more smoothly, especially over time. Some Sunday mornings I even set a timer for my own constantly late self, so I will get myself ready in time…to go down to the basement to join in the live stream.
2. Have a beginning and ending, then stick to it. If you and the kids know there is a beginning and an ending, you can usually all hold it together better! Drawing things out, so your kids get more out of it, sometimes just makes everyone’s patience more thin and fragile.
3. Be willing to change. It’s not working, then change it. Try new things: Writing down a question during the sermon, muting the music and just singing as a family, drawing an on topic picture during the sermon—all of you—then sharing at the end. Your kids seem to be getting hungry and didn’t eat a great breakfast—surprise them with popcorn before the sermon starts.
Be flexible.
Church at Home can be a shifting landscape…which makes sense with the shifting regulations, political attitudes, isolation, and contagion numbers. So be prayerful. Try and see what is really going on with your kiddos and your whole family and be flexible while firmly holding to the faith practice of learning about God together as a family and participating in a larger community of believers.
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