In her book, Young Children in Worship, Sonja Stewart says "[young children] need to know how to find the quiet place within, which enables them to get ready to worship 'all by themselves' rather than sit in church in an imposed silence." p. 14.
At Artisan one of our values is to recapture our awe of God. Another goal is to engage culture - a loud, fast moving, entertainment/fun oriented culture. Traditionally worship was always a place for retreat, reverence, quiet, awe.
Although our contemporary music and worship styles capture worship elements of the Psalms that were often lost in older forms of worship (and easier elements for kids - ie making a loud joyful noise) it sometimes runs against that still quiet place - a place where we meditate on God with the scriptures, and listening, quietly ponder in His presence.
YCIW takes kids away from grown-up worship to a child-imposed voluntary stillness. Somehow my list of wonder questions sounds loud and fast to me probably because a list doesn't allow for the time and the quiet to ponder each question. I don't know about you, but it's alot of work to make my heart and mind perfectly still.
But if a child can do it...
From the Psalms, "Be still and know that I am God". That passage is somewhere at the heart of wondering.
As we're looking to create ways for children and adults to worship the Lord of the universe together, we're finding that there are a number of elements to consider... Quiet awe is only one.
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