This month in the Sunday morning children’s group Saplings, we were thinking of questions we could ask the vicar.
As you can imagine, the questions ranged from the silly to the profound. ‘What is the soul made of?’ ‘How can Jesus be both man and God at the same time?’ ‘Did Jesus have any siblings?’ ‘How old is the church?’
These thoughtful questions were accompanied by more childlike ones including ‘how old are you?’ And, a personal favourite of mine, ‘How many snails would fit in the church?’ I’m glad I don’t have to answer that one, because I have no idea.

Children are like any other group of people in the congregation when it comes to faith development: they all learn in different ways, have different interests, different liturgical preferences and different spiritual gifts. Of course, it makes sense to group them together pastorally since there are clear similarities, but we could also choose to divide the congregation differently: ‘those who love exchanging the sign of the peace’, ‘those who are passionate about mathematics’, ‘those who prefer to be quiet and reflective in church’. They are all in different places and seasons on their journeys of faith, as are we all.

As we approach Allhallowtide this year, I am reflecting on the inclusivity of our approach to children’s ministry, and also of the particularity. We are hosting a child-focused All Saints service for bereaved children to pray and learn about the Christian hope of the resurrection in an age-appropriate setting. But also, the children of the congregation here at St Mary’s are counted amongst the ἀδελφοὶ ἅγιοι: adelphoi hagioi (Hebrews 3:1) that is, our holy siblings in the great family of God.