by Judy Jarvis

I dream of a church where love and people are more important than stone and steeple. I dream of a church with an open door where no one is privileged except the poor.

I dream of a church where milk and honey will flow more freely than power and money. I dream of a church where young and old will be inspired to change their world. I dream of a church that will make my dreams come true.

The twentieth century can be seen as a period of decline for children in the church in Britain. At the beginning of the century sending your child to Sunday School was a national way of life (though the drop in attendance began then and continued at about 5% per year for the rest of the century). By the 1950's, though much reduced, the Sunday Schools were still a force to be reckoned with, complete with star cards, prizes for attendance and Sunday School anniversaries. They were still a great comfort to the church members - out of sight (often out of mind) but, patently, the church of tomorrow.

But change was in the air, in society and in the church. Increasingly questions were being asked about the ability of children to be people of faith and their capacity for worship. This led to a re-thinking of the aims of Christian education, and a questioning of the appropriateness of the almost total separation of the Sunday School from the worshipping community. This, in turn, led to the beginning of a more experiential approach within the Sunday School (as in the day schools) and also to the development of "Family worship". Children were no longer "the church of tomorrow" but were beginning to be seen as "the church of today".

By the 1990's an ecumenical group, appointed by the churches to prepare training material for those working with children could agree that:

Children and adults are loved unconditionally by God. They are affirmed in the life and ministry of Jesus. God's love is made real through human life and relationships. The implications for the Christian community are:

• Children and adults are of equal value.
• All need to experience what it means to belong.
• All need to contribute and all need to receive.
• Children need recognition as people of faith.
• Worship and celebration are key elements in the growth of faith.
• All need to be changed by the love of Christ and to share the good news in the wider community.
• Christian nurture and growth are for all and are the responsibility of all.
• All Christian communities belong to the universal Church and need to share, support and learn from each other in serving the world.

(From Kaleidoscope, by members of The Consultative Group on Ministry among Children, National Christian Education Council 1993).

So, from certain points of view, the twentieth century can be seen as a time when children, at last, began to take their rightful place in the life of the church, or at least in some churches. They were in greatly reduced numbers (as were the adults), but for the children who were in the church much was changed. They were no longer sent to church - families came together. In many churches they no longer watched or were kept out while their parents took Communion - they shared the sacrament together. No longer was it appropriate to treat services when all ages were together as entertainment, for all worshipped together - all had the capacity to experience the numinous. Even, in some churches, there were the first steps towards more than token listening to children - children were being allowed to influence the thinking and action of the whole church community, to have a vote in their own right.

At the beginning of this century we see few children in our churches on Sundays (with some notable exceptions, particularly among the Black community), and most of these are "nurture groups", the children of church members. What lies in the future for children in the church? Where do we go from here?

It is quite easy to sketch out a "worst-case" scenario. At the present rate of decline the church as we know it in Britain could cease to exist - for both adults and children. The report All God's Children (from the Anglican General Synod Board of Education and Board of Mission 1991) showed that one of the influences of the Sunday School was that it familiarised children to a certain extent with the church. Though few transferred from the Sunday School into the church, some, at a later stage in life, found it easier to come back into the life of the church because they felt some sense of belonging. A recent survey taken among young people revealed that 75% had never been inside a church. What chance is there of these young people feeling confident and welcome enough to take the risk of entering the average church on a Sunday morning? What is the likelihood of them wanting to be married in church? What is the chance of them bringing their children for Baptism, traditionally one of the moments of opportunity for the church? Are we about to witness the death of the Church as we know it?

All of us who are Christians are aware of our responsibility - and our passion - to "keep alive the rumour of God". How are we going to approach this, for ourselves, and, more particularly, for our children? Let us return to the poem read by the boy from Brixton:

I dream of a church
where love and people
are more important
than stone and steeple.

Children are very aware of the nature of the world in which we live. We should not forget that the events of September 11th are part of the immediate experience of our children. They, more than any children who have come before them, are aware of the presence in our society of people of other faiths. In many parts of Britain they meet them everyday. It is vital that our children see the worshipping community not as a bigoted, unthinking group of people, out of touch with the society in which we live, but as a caring, loving community, wanting to understand the needs a viewpoints of others and to work with them, not against them.

I dream of a Church
with an open door
where no one is privileged
except the poor.

At the beginning of the 1980's a nine-year-old child wrote. "When we gave our 1% appeal money so that people in poor countries could grow food I thought it was like sharing communion. When bread and wine are shared I think of sharing in the world." The world view that came naturally to this nine-year-old is much more elusive in the life of the church. In a lecture to the Methodist Conference, Professor John Hull, professor in Christian Education in the University of Birmingham, argued for the importance of the church becoming a more action (love)-orientated movement. He quoted the Apostles' Creed, "I believe in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate…" He remarked that the whole of the life and ministry of Jesus disappears down a comma in the Apostles' Creed! Children, as they enter into the life of the church, and as they take part in the liturgy, ask deeply disturbing questions about the life and practice of the church. Too often what they see is an inward-looking, self-centred community, concerned with its own salvation, rather than a community that acts out daily the example set by Jesus.

I dream of a Church
where milk and honey
will flow more freely
than power or money.

The church remains a place where the power is held in a few hands and where money is a constant pre-occupation. Again, the question must be asked, what impression does this give to our children? Is this a "club" to which it would be good to belong?

I dream of a Church
where young and old
will be inspired
to change the world.

The six-year-old son of a friend of mine was waiting for the service to begin. An elderly lady, sitting in front of him, turned round and asked, "Are you going to be good?" - "Are you?" he replied. At this the elderly lady smiled, "You're quite right," she said, "I find it boring sometimes too!" How does the church meet this challenge - to inspire both young and old and to enable them to see that it is possible for them to make a difference?

Another important area needs to be mentioned, that is the problem of belief. It has become clear that, though Christian nurture is important, it must be matched by a strong emphasis on helping children to think critically about faith. They, and the adults around them, need to do this to cope with the pressures of everyday life and the scepticism they encounter towards their faith. Many studies have shown that children are innately spiritual, but they can also see that many people live apparently happy and fulfilled lives without any evident belief in God. Why, then should they bother? This poses a particular problem for the church. Where are the adults who have thought critically about their faith and who are able to help our children? Too often they themselves have left a church which has proved unable to meet the challenge of their probing questions.

This article could have focussed on some of the practical ways of approaching the future: more holiday clubs, more out-of-school activities, Wednesday Sunday School, closer relationships with schools; but unless the deeper issues are addressed it feels like "fiddling while Rome burns". It is not acceptable, however, to pose all the problems without offering some hope for the future. John Sutcliffe suggests such a way forward in the recently published Tuesday's Child, A Reader for Christian Education:

…a renewed understanding of oikoumene could be a beginning point…. It holds in a united whole the physical world and all its people; it gives individuals and communities - local and world-wide - identity; it points to living with an acceptance of diversity and plurality; it demands seeking the end of exploitation and violence; it suggests meaning and a mega-story in which everyone is respected and has a part to play; it is a concept of vision and hope and love which supersedes all lesser loyalties.

I dream of a Church
that will make my dreams come true.

Judy Jarvis is Children's Secretary in the Connexional Team of the Methodist Church in Great Britain.
Previously a teacher and headteacher, she is a former moderator of the Consultative Group on Ministry among Children, a network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and has chaired the European Conference in Christian Education. She travels widely, in Britain and Europe. She has a particular interest in all age worship and in story-telling. She has contributed to a number of publications as writer and editor. She is, at present, working with two major ecumenical groups; one to produce Roots - new materials for worship and learning in the church; the second, to set up the Churches' Agency for Safeguarding.