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Editor's Note:

Some Rotation Sunday Schools have a "worship gathering" prior to the start of workshops.

Some create a "Worship Workshop" where they combine song, games, reflection, and movement to conduct worship with the Rotation's Bible story as the central scripture and message.

Other churches that hold adult worship at the same time as children's Sunday School have a need to get kids into worship and learn how to worship. So what they've been experimenting with "rotating" one group of kids per week into the worship service with the teacher.  This will often include special preparation. 

This topic is discussing that experiment of rotating a group a week into adult worship.

 

If your Sunday School and Worship Service are held at the same time, could doing some worship education and then taking a class back into to 'adult' worship be one of your workshops?   

That would make this "workshop" not part of the Rotation's story, but more of a worship education class. A worthy idea.


 

Carol Posted:

I would like to hear from those of you that are using "attending worship" as a weekly Workshop.

We have 6 groups of kids (1st through 6th grade) and offer 6 workshops each week. Our Rotations are 4 weeks long. (Groups miss various workshops each month but it has worked out ok.) Our biggest group - 1st grade - runs around 20 kids - 20 very active kids! We need to split the group, thus creating 7 groups of kids.

Big problem: no room to add a 7th workshop every week.

Potential solution - the 7th workshop is attend church service with your family.

We can see a lot of good in this idea but tell me about how it's worked for you. What are the potential logistical, or other, problems.
---Carol

Last edited by Neil MacQueen
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Carol -- I think could be a good solution -- what a great idea.

Perhaps you could "task" them with seeing if the readings/gospel/sermon tie in somehow with your rotation topic. Since they're little, this would have to be quite simple. Perhaps they could write or draw have they learned in church that day, and then talk about it when they're in Sunday School the next week.

Perhaps, as a group, they could be given a small way to be included in the worship service -- carry the communion bread up to the altar, lead a prayer, etc. Whatever works for your church.

I have a similar issue with my 1st & 2nd grade class -- let me know if this works for you! Hope it does -- it's a great idea!
Debbie - just to clarify: we would rotate all groups through the worship "workshop". So one week 6th graders would be in worship and one week 3rd, etc.
As we have started to float this idea to parents, some are immediately horrified of the idea, but feel better when they realize it would only be one of their children at a time. We have also had the question - what if the parents are helping in the classrooms (and thus can't be in the sanctuary with their kids)?
We have a lot of logistics to think about! I didn't dream up this idea - I've read about it here on this exchange so someone must be doing this already - tell me how it works!
--Carol
Carol -- got it -- thanks for the clarification. You're right -- there are a lot of logistics. If all the grades rotate through, then a parent could have a child with them almost every Sunday. That's okay with me, but I suppose some parents might take issue with it (unfortunately; isn't worship what it's all about? sorry ... just my opinion)

ANYWAY, could they sit as a group -- task a parent (or two) to sit with them, or could that be too unruly? That is an issue, what to do with the child whose parent is teaching. Could a shepherd help?

Still think that it's a good idea to give them something to "do" while there, especially the older kids, who can actually understand the readings and the sermon.

Good luck!

I wrote this once, and when I clicked on Post Now, I got an error and lost it. So here it goes again!

We started this fall including worship as one of our six workshops (our rotation ss is K thru 5th). We had skeptical (horrified) parents at first, but it has exceeded our expectations.

The class that rotates into worship (instead of a workshop) on a given week meets with their shepherds in our gathering place at the beginning of the service. They get their nametags and line up. The shepherds lead them to the front pew during the opening hymn, when the congregation is standing and singing (very little distraction or disruption).

I prepare worksheets for the class, to help them focus on the service. Depending on which class it is, they may have word finds, crossword puzzles, circle words from the scripture reading, etc. The younger kids get coloring sheets. The older kids get questions from the sermon or the reading.

All the concerns that were voiced have been calmed. The children sit in the front, so they know their parents can see them, which cuts down on the intentionally naughty behavior. But it turns out that the kids really enjoy being there. Unfortunately, most of them rarely attend worship, since we have Sunday School at the same time. So this is kind of a novelty for them. The pastors will often engage them during the sermon, since they are right there (who can resist all those beaming faces?)

We ask for volunteers from the kindergarten and 1st grade parents, so sit in or near the front pew, just in case. But we have not had any problems with "bad" behavior from any of the classes. They only have "worship" workshop every six weeks, so hopefully the novelty won't wear off.

One week I forgot to make up one of the worksheets, so I instructed the kids to draw a picture of the pastor while he was preaching. That was priceless!

Anyway, I recommend worship as a workshop, especially if you have it at the same time as sunday school.

Last edited by Wormy the Helpful Worm


I rotate all our kids into worship about 2x a year when we have 5th Sundays.

But I have thought about making it a regular rotation workshop with parents receiving material to help a kid process or just to sit through the service.

Lori Tate

Last edited by Neil MacQueen

Hello All!  Hopefully this post bumps this back to the top because I would like to see if anyone has more ideas on this.  We are experiencing great growth over here and need to split to a 7th team also and we are trying to come up with ideas.  I love this one just curious if anyone has anymore feedback??

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