"...and the Word became flesh and dwelt with us."...as a child.

This reflection on the ministry of children comes from some recent conversations I've had with some of my colleagues as well as with children and parents. I would like to take a moment and speak of the ministry of children who are readers in worship.

Reading from Scripture is one of the many ways that children help to lead worship. As children learn to read in school, reading in worship is often a way to connect what they're learning outside of Church with their faith. In school, there is a great deal of time and emphasis placed on reading. From learning to identify and pronounce words on a page, to reading in public, to reading comprehension, many different skills are developed with respect to written language.

In the Church, we also place a lot of emphasis on the Word. The Word for us is both the Holy Writings found in the Bible and the Word incarnate who is Jesus Christ. The children who read in worship help us all to make these connections. When children, especially young children read in worship they share with the community some of the skills which are most important to them. This reading is an event and an important accomplishment for them; this reminds us of its importance in our worship and our lives. A parent once told me that her child was so eager to begin practicing their reading for worship that they had asked repeatedly whether this parent had received the reading yet. It was a very important opportunity to this child.

Part of this importance is conveyed simply by how much preparation children do before each time they read. Many would come in to the Church during the week before and work with me on their reading. They would also spend time practicing at home with parents.

There are many children who have a special talent for sharing the Word of God in worship, though this is not recognized by every worshiping community since there are some who question whether children are able to do this, or even if they can, whether they should. I believe people of all ages should be invited to read the Word of God both for themselves and in worship - because it is for all of us.