Grant will support nurturing children’s faith through worship

Children’s choir members sing during the 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music at Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, Neb., in 2024. The LCMS has received a grant for nurturing the faith of young people through worship. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) has received a $750,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support efforts of member congregations to nurture the faith of young people through worship. The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, a national initiative designed to help Christian congregations more fully and intentionally engage children in intergenerational corporate worship and prayer practices.

The LCMS mission “vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities and the world” is carried out through its mission priorities. The LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM) is responsible for the support and resources of 22 domestic ministry areas that especially serve congregations and schools of all 35 LCMS districts. Under the leadership of the ONM, LCMS Worship advocates for and supports Word and Sacrament ministry, which is the beating heart of God’s mission in every congregation as God’s people seek to “let the word of Christ dwell … richly” in their midst (Col. 3:16).

Under the direction of LCMS Worship, the goal of this grant program is to equip and empower LCMS congregations to think intentionally about nurturing the faith of children through their direct, active participation in corporate worship and to grow in their appreciation of this powerful, inclusive and rich Christian context. This project will engage the diverse insights of children, parents, theologians and trained educators in the LCMS to develop in-context resources and training materials, working with the Synod’s districts and congregations to multiply skills and knowledge to impact their front-line ministry.

As the program proceeds, expanding cohorts of worship practitioners will explore, develop and refine in-context, intergenerational pilot projects around three multi-sensory focal centers of Lutheran worship practice: 1) Hearing and singing in the balcony and pew; 2) Care through beauty and touch from the sacristy; and 3) Movement and ritual in the chancel.

Woven throughout these efforts will be a focus on gathering knowledge, sharing skills and exploring strategies not only to engage children of all abilities in vibrant corporate worship, but especially to recognize corporate worship and multi-sensory service as opportunities for spiritual care, growth in discipleship and leadership development in congregations. Worship practitioners from the project will gather to inspire and share with others at the 2027 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music as session and service leaders, inviting others to join. The knowledge and approaches garnered will be developed into training materials and attendant resources to be made widely available. The program will also lift up the agency of children in worship at the Synod’s conventions.

The LCMS is one of 91 organizations receiving funding through the latest round of the initiative, including Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. The organizations represent and serve congregations in a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, including Catholic, mainline Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Anabaptist and Pentecostal faith communities. Several organizations are rooted in Black, Hispanic and Asian American Christian traditions.

“Congregational worship and prayer play a critical role in the spiritual growth of children and offer settings for children to acquire the language of faith, learn their faith traditions and experience the love of God as part of a supportive community,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice-president for religion. “These programs will help congregations give greater attention to children and how they can more intentionally nurture the faith of children, as well as adults, through worship and prayer.”

The Rev. Sean Daenzer, director of LCMS Worship, said, “Christ creates saving and living faith even in infants through Holy Baptism and His Word. Our Lutheran Divine Service is already, by its nature, thoroughly participatory, and many congregations also include children in musical or ritual leadership. I’m excited through this initiative to focus the experience and wisdom of our musicians, lay leaders and pastors for the good of the wider church. ‘Involvement’ is only the tip of the iceberg. These are opportunities to strengthen relationships in the Body of Christ, form children in their faith, and stimulate their maturity in Christian truth and love for a future as adult Christians, parents and even church workers.”

Read press release.

Posted Feb. 3, 2025