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WHEN JESUS pointed at the children whom the disciples were excluding, and said that the Kingdom of God belonged to such as these, he did not have the Lambeth Conference immediately in mind. But the implication, nevertheless, is that the youngest among us have a key part to play in shaping our corporate life.
Although things are getting better, the Church’s record of involving children has not been an excellent one. Sitting in Anglican churches week in, week out, since my childhood — and now with my own children — I have been continually struck by how the liturgies, traditions, and practices have been developed without children at their heart.
The noise of the youngest has been considered a nuisance. The older ones have been removed to their Sunday schools for specialist treatment. Even the occasional “all-age worship” reinforces the point. The majority of services are not “all age”. The exclusion from the main “corporate” meeting is routine and institutionalised across all ages. And, if done on the basis of race, gender, or sexual orientation, no one would stand for it.
The reason is that children have also been conspicuous by their absence in consultation and decision-making. And it is a crying shame, because children can often ask the most simple, but also the most profound, questions that adults are afraid to ask.
It is often argued that children do not know enough, or that involving them is impracticable. But it is not a matter of co-opting them into the robust argument of their elders. Rather, we need to let them speak as children to the adult agenda — and for their voices to be heard.
Certainly, it may require a change, but breaking discussions down into terms that are accessible to the over-tens, for example, is a discipline that everyone benefits from. It is not just good practice, but it brings accountability with the values of differing positions laid bare for all to see. And for the very youngest, consultations can be devised that ascertain their feelings. Businesses do this routinely with their market testing — and with great success.
Youth Parliaments and similar initiatives are already addressing the ageism that exists in society. In the wider Church it is happening, too. As the United Reformed Church held its General Assembly last week (11-14 July) a Children’s Assembly ran alongside the main meeting. Young people from 11 upwards discussed some of the same church business, and mechanisms were put in place so that the adults can take account of what they say.
There is no reason why those of even younger ages should not also have a voice. One might speculate about what they might say. Would they ask why some in the Church, who tell them about Jesus’s teachings to love their enemies, seem to spend all their time arguing with their brothers and sisters? Perhaps they would question why the church appears to be spending so much time on matters that mean so little to them, and not talking about the children like them who die every day in Africa, or the environmental damage which threatens the world around them — things that they have learned about in their children’s television programmes from the age of five.
Their questioning would reflect the feelings of the many who are outside the life of the Church looking in. It would also point to some simple but profound truths which can be so easily eclipsed in process and procedure.
We need our children at the heart of all parts of our church life. And, as with our church services, sometimes it is good to experience the discomfort of a little noise.
Jonathan Bartley is director of the theological think tank Ekklesia.
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