They are considered one of the hardest things to organise. Some churches avoid them all together. Personally, I think that All Age Services have their part to play in the life of the church and can be very useful if done well.
There are two helpful aspects to a all age worship. They help afults to see what the children experience in their groups whilst it gives children a bit more of a feel for what it is like to be part of the whole church gathering.
Here’s what one of all age services tends to look like.
Welcome
We usually have two people hosting and they will introduce the meeting through conversation. They will explain what is going to happen and introduce the theme.
One of us will then pray.
Memory Verse
We think that learning and memorising Scripture is helpful so we introduce a verse to learn. There are lots of fun ways to do this, from dropping words out gradually through to having codes to crack.
Sung/corporate worship
We try to include a few songs that are simpler and more accessible for young children. Also, we take time to explain what we are doing and why at an accessible level for children.
Bible story time
We get the children to come and sit at the front on the floor. One of us will get down to their level and tell them about a Bible event which links to the theme. Whilst some people make use of videos and visuals, I prefer to keep things low tech. I don’t think you can beat having a known, friendly face tell the story simply and engagingly.
Bible discussion
We then get everyone into small groups. We encourage families to cluster together. Someone reads the main Bible passage and then we give the groups 3 or 4 questions to look at. These are observational questions to help them discover what the text says. We include a meaning/digging deeper style question for those who complete the main questions. People then feedback on the observational questions.
Summing Up
Instead of a longer exposition, someone will bring everything together. They may take a few minutes to answer the digging deeper question bit they will focus on one main application and help show how this applies to different ages and contexts.
What next
This is where we tend to do notices in this type of service. We explain how visditors can follow up, remind about life groups and invite people back for next Sunday with an explanation about how the usual kids groups work.
We usually have a bring and share lunch so we then encourage people to stay, give practical notices about how it will work and say grace.
Faithroots 