Books for Children’s Spirituality
Dear Abbey Friends,
When we welcome children to church I have one goal that they feel loved. I want them to feel safe, welcomed and beloved. I do not want them to feel forced to memorize, quizzed for right answers or pressured into learning strange vocabulary. At the Abbey our faith is centered around practice and practice takes time and we learn by doing. Our young people learn by singing in worship with others, learn by helping in worship and service, they learn by taking communion that God’s love is nourishing in every way.
Most importantly, I don’t want them to pick up baggage they will have to let go of later, when they have or need a more grown up faith. The greatest gift grown ups can offer kids is a safe place for questions and honest and age appropriate responses. This requires personal reflection and spiritual formation, the more comfortable you are the more comfortable they feel in the conversation.
The gift is we don’t have to do this work alone and we don’t have to do it without any tools. We have tools and great authors that can support us. Also, the landscape of Christian Publishing is not great, to put it nicely the stories we inherit are full of violence and harm. Below you will find a list of great resources for children that I trust to share with my own daughter.
Blessings from your friendly, local Abbot,
Rev. Debra
Children’s Bible
Children’s Spirituality Books
We have looked for resources that present loving images and practical age appropriate ways to explore faith, spirituality, God’s image and name, Jesus’ life and how we might embody our faith. We look for books that talk about God as Mother and not just father. We look for books with people represented in the fullness of God’s beautiful diverse world. We look for something simple and profound in one book. Books for Teaching Meditation, Centering and Prayer
Teaching children to pray is an important practice and sometimes can give the impression that God is a really big vending machine, deciding if you get what you want or don’t want. So what happens if God doesn’t intervene when a child asks for help? What happens if a child feels unworthy or takes in a sense that must earn love from God? What happens if God seems more like a big Santa Claus in the Sky?Teaching kids how to breathe deep, practice gratitude, and center in prayer and meditation matters. There might be simple and beautiful ways that an adult and child can pray together. Consider some of these spiritual practices with your child.