Category: Christian Music

Worship For Kids – Music Your Kids Will Love

Parents, the most precious resource you have is your kids. They are a gift from God and, with that gift, comes great responsibility.

You have the best intentions, right?

You want your kids to be respectful of others, to do well in school, and hopefully have a family of their own someday. But, what about their relationship with Jesus – the most important relationship of all?

In a world full of distractions, keeping this next generation of Christians engaged in worship is not an easy task. Even worse, some kids claim they don’t even like church and would rather sleep late or spend their day playing a video game.

Churches have a big responsibility to keep their youngest members excited about Jesus.

Unfortunately, merely having a Children’s Ministry is not a guarantee of success. Sometimes, it’s budgetary restrictions that hamper the programs and, at other times, a church’s primary focus is on adult worship.

Why It’s Important to Invest in Kids

I would love to share some thoughts on this from a new friend of mine.

If churches took a cue from Disney, they would realize that the secret to reaching families is their kids.

Investing in kids is the biggest growing harvest anywhere, no matter which town you visit or country you explore! – 

Jill Anderson, WorshipForKids.com.

It’s Time to Start Harvesting

How can you reach kids for Jesus in a fun and interactive way?

Two dynamic worship leaders, Jill Anderson and her husband, Craig, have an answer for you.

Observing a lack of kid’s worship music in churches, they created their own called Worship For Kids. Jill shared some of the exciting details with me.

Jill – whose idea was “Worship for Kids”?

This was a fusion of Craig’s writing kid’s music and my looking for kid’s worship music. Craig was No. 4 in a family of 10 kids. He knew about kids! He had some kid’s songs that he would sing in concerts for fun. The kids responded to his few songs. Then I realized after looking for music for our kid’s worship time, Craig needed to write kid’s music because the need was far greater than for adult worship. So, it was God opening my eyes, telling Craig what I saw, and then the two of us began the journey of engaging kids in their relationship with Jesus through music. We’ve been doing Worship For Kids for over 15 years now.

The Anderson’s passion to impact young lives didn’t just pop up overnight. For over ten years, they served as adult worship leaders until they realized that God had something else in store.

I love how God works, don’t you? Creative juices start to flow and then a recognized need fuses together in God’s perfect timing. After that, great things start to happen.

Fun and Faith Go Together With Worship For Kids

This might surprise some people, but fun and faith do go together. Sadly, there are many negative headlines right now that capture our attention. Even so, as Christians, God wants us to walk in this world, to reflect His love, and pierce through the darkness with His shining light. Kids hear about the negatives in the world, probably every day. They need the peace of Christ just as much as adults do, so why not show them that worship music isn’t boring?

We can have fun while we engage with God! I don’t think the average kid is looking for a quiet, contemplative session with God. They go in with their eyes wide open, wondering what is going to happen next? They are ready to get into it!

 – Jill Anderson, WorshipForKids.com.

 

The WorshipForKids.com website has a lot to offer to parents and church leaders. I encourage you to explore the many resources, including CDs, videos, and worship kits. Trust me; the kids love the music. In fact, the Andersons’ biggest hit, “Wonderful Books of the Bible,” had over 1 million hits on YouTube from all over the world. That’s quite an achievement.

I wanted to share a short video with you so you can see how kids enthusiastically respond to the music.

Jill – Can you recall a moment when you and Craig knew that you were making a difference in the lives of young people?

Actually from the very beginning the kids ate up the interaction, fun in worship, and eye-to-eye contact. I realized that singing with them and to them was a “God Grammy” because of the investment in their lives while they were in their own development. I was hooked. Every time I am with kids, they blow me away with their truthfulness, sincerity, and honesty to God. The raw investment in kids hit me one Sunday when I asked for prayer requests. A little boy about eight years old stood up in the middle of our large group of about 60 and said, “Miss Jill, my family needs prayer. My dad left us last night, and we are a real mess….” We stopped and prayed right then, as he looked to God for his help.

The power of the Holy Spirit blew me away at a camp in the Los Angeles Mountains. We had been singing a song in the worship time called “I WANNA BE LIKE YOU.” We had only sung it 1 or 2 times. That night on the hay ride the kids started singing it while they were riding and having fun with each other. It hit me that the gift of songs TO God will stay with them for a lifetime.

A Better Alternative to Video Games

For parents, the music available from WorshipForKids.com can be a lifesaver. There are so many uses.

How about entertaining your kids with a sing-a-long on an otherwise boring car ride? Or, for kids who have trouble sleeping at night, the music might help calm them down.

And sometimes, kids just wanna dance! Parents too 😉

Worship For Kids music is typically for preschool ages up to about 5th grade, depending on the particular church.

Does your church know about this ministry yet?

Kids are just too much fun and such an incredible investment. The impact for their lives is HUGE, from birth through their developmental years.

 – Jill Anderson, WorshipForKids.com.

Live Concerts? You Bet!

The Andersons offer live events. They’ve traveled from the East to the West Coast, and even internationally to Canada and England. Depending on a church’s needs, they can do a one-time concert or even a one week camp, complete with music and Bible stories.

Their enthusiasm has now expanded into another important ministry and that’s engaging and showing appreciation for children’s pastors and leaders.

Jill – What is REFRESH and how does it relate to “Worship for Kids?”

REFRESH is an event for Children’s Pastors who minister to kids through church, school, and leadership events. These precious people put in hours of selfless commitment and dedication to plan weekly Church activities, special events, and help to provide the church with childcare needs for events. REFRESH connects Children’s Pastors and Leaders by engaging with them, equipping them for ministry, and encouraging them to continue the good work and not get discouraged.

Conservatively the average number of kids and families influenced by one Children’s Pastor is about 100. When 15 – 20 Children’s Pastors come to a REFRESH, the lives of an estimated 1500-2000 are affected by the encouragement these leaders receive. After interviewing a group of Children’s Pastors, we found out that what they miss most is uninterrupted worship time. So, during REFRESH, we have a time of worship music and scripture, devotion, interaction and then a catered lunch. We then send them home with gifts that are simply fun and let them know that they’re appreciated for all that they do.

A Thank You

Many thanks to the Andersons for sharing information with me about their Worship For Kids ministry and growing REFRESH events. I pray that God will continue to bless their outreach as they record new music and strive to create more online resources for parents and church leaders.

Meet the Andersons

Craig and Jill graduated from Liberty University. Craig has a degree in Youth Ministries and a minor in Counseling. Jill has a degree in Public Relations and a minor in Spanish. Married for thirty years, they are blessed with four children, ages 14-25.