My First Big-Kid Bible: A Family Milestone Experience
by Amy Diller
Parents often keep memory books for their children, especially during their first few years of life. They note special milestones like first words and first steps. With pictures and videos, those moments help mom and dad remember the excitement of every accomplishment.
There are spiritual milestones families can celebrate, too, but they may need some guidance and encouragement to capture these memories. As leaders, we have the opportunity to help parents celebrate some significant steps in their child’s faith story.
To give you an idea of something you could do for the parents and kids you serve, I’d like to share one way our church has helped parents and grandparents actively mark faith milestones with their children.
When I was on staff at our church in children’s ministry, we called our events for parents and children Family Connect. Whether it was a fun night for families with kids of all ages to enjoy spending time together with other families or a milestone event, the goal was to create memory-making moments for parents, grandparents, and their kids. Our focus was always to create wins for moms and dads with their children.
One of my favorite Family Connect experiences was our Third Grade Bible Event. Every year, we would invite parents and grandparents to gather with their third graders during one of our Sunday morning services for a special time to focus on the big story of God’s Word. (We held it at this time so there was a place for other children in the family to learn while parents gave their undivided attention to their third graders.) Third graders are beginning to understand symbolism, moving into abstract thinking, and becoming more independent readers, making it a good age to give them their own “big-kid Bible.”
As families arrived, there were snacks (of course!) and games to play about the books of the Bible and Bible trivia. We played some of the Scripture songs that we used regularly in children’s classes during this gathering time. (Seeds Kids Worship is a wonderful resource for these.) Small prizes were awarded to tables with the most correct answers.
The first thing we shared with families was one of our favorite videos, “The Big Story,” from Lifeway’s The Gospel Project for Kids. It discusses how the entirety of God’s Word is one beautifully connected story of His love for us. Then, we asked the kids to help us demonstrate with hand motions what we had developed as our own condensed version of the gospel message. This part of the event helped to give kids and adults a shared language to use between home and church.
In the next portion, we directed entirely to the kids, inviting them to gather with us at the front of the room. We told them the Bible wasn’t physically like any other book. Where library books had to be kept looking new and definitely couldn’t be written in, the Bible is for us to make notes in, highlight favorite verses, and write down our questions as we learn more about the Lord and what it means to follow Jesus. To illustrate this, we showed them a variety of Bibles belonging to us, our parents, and grandparents, with all of the notes written in the margins and underlined verses. We shared how our Bibles can be a legacy we pass down to future generations for them to see another aspect of our faith stories.
At this point, we dismissed the third graders to another room with their group leaders for a short lesson and to decorate a bag for their new Bible. While the kids were doing this, we turned our attention to parents and grandparents. We would often ask a parent or grandparent with older kids (teens-adults) to share with the third-grade parents about discipling children through reading, talking about, and memorizing God’s Word at home. These special guests were those we knew would present a very realistic and down-to-earth message to encourage and empower parents as the primary faith teachers for their children.
After this short encouragement, parents and grandparents were given a new kids’ Bible and chose highlighters, pens, and bookmarks for their third graders. (We are blessed to be able to purchase these things for parents. If you don’t have a budget for this, consider asking people in your church to sponsor a child or give parents your recommendation for a big-kid Bible and have them bring it to the event.) We encouraged them to highlight one of their favorite verses and write a message inside the cover of the Bible for their child. Then, we stepped aside so the parents could lead the most important part of the event.
When the kids came back from making their bags, parents and grandparents presented the Bibles to them, read the notes they had written, and shared the verses they marked. To end the time, parents prayed over their kids, asking the Lord to instill in them a love for His Word and the understanding to hear His voice every time they read their Bibles. Those moments were some of the most beautifully sacred I had the privilege to observe. We quietly took pictures of each family as they interacted with one another so they would have a keepsake of this precious time.
This is just one example of a way to encourage parents to capture spiritual milestone moments with their children. Creating experiences where you serve as a guide and coach for parents while they lead their kids can help them gain the confidence to do it at home.
I’d love to hear how you partner with parents and encourage them to mark their children’s spiritual growth in meaningful ways. Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/m2pcommunity.