CHILDREN IN THE CHURCH

Children in the Church

Children in the Church

Introduction

For 20 years the leaders within the Catholic Church and the Church of England/Wales have repeatedly stated that they will respond appropriately to reports of child sexual abuse, and numerous safeguarding/child protection procedures have been put in place. Despite these assurances and procedures produced there have been repeated court cases in which clergy and religious have been convicted of multiple child sexual offences often dating back and continuing for decades and involving a number of children. And repeatedly the prosecutions have revealed that Church authorities covered up past reports of child abuse and allowed clergy and religious to remain in ministry despite allegations and in some cases past convictions for child sexual offences. In many reported cases further child abuse took place (The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009). The James Robinson case in 2010 involving the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, the recent convictions of monks and priests at Ealing Abbey, Buckfast Abbey and Downside and the subsequent Inquiries now being carried out, and the Cotton & Pritchard case in 2008 and subsequent Cof E Diocese of Chichester Inquiries (2010, 2011 and ongoing 2012) are the latest examples .

Children in the Church

Over the past 3 years I've observed 30 children in our church. Of these children 2/3 are 'church children' meaning their parents bring them to church, and 1/3 are 'bus children', meaning their parents do not come to church. The children range in age from 5 to 11. To date, 21 of the 30 children have accepted Jesus into their lives, 8 church children and 13 bus children. I have been privileged to witness the salvation of 12 of these children! Of the 21 saved, 12 have been baptized over the last 3 years. 3 of the 30 children have only a basic awareness of the Gospel, one is a church child, and two are bus children. All three of these children are 5 years old. These children are our greatest challenge! My goal is for every child to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Through searching of scripture and observations made during 10 years of work, I Believe that after the age of 5 a child can have a basic understanding of a Relationship with Jesus. I also believe that while it is important to have Christian parents, it is not absolutely necessary. A child can lead a Christian life, with non-Christian parents- as long as they have a strong support system of Christian fellowship. That's where the church comes in! We need children's ministries that are alive! I believe a child living in a Christian home has more opportunity to become a Christian than a child in a non- Christian home. But I also believe that if the church is willing to bring children in, then those children will also have the same opportunity to accept Jesus into their hearts. This is the call of God in Mark 16:15 'He said to them, “Go into ...