Simple Home Church Service Resources and Ideas for Families with Young Children

Over the past few months we’ve been developing our home church practice after Wisconsin’s weather made outdoor church services no longer possible. And while we miss church a lot, especially the eucharist, it’s been a sweet thing to do church together in a way that’s meaningful for each member of the family. I think it’ll be a gift that we take with us beyond this pandemic year.

Our kids are 5 and 2, so still pretty little, and we keep our home church service short and sweet: 15-30 minutes at the most. And it works best for our family usually to do church on Sunday afternoons after naptime and before dinner.

I have found that three is a pretty good number for all things home church: 3 songs, 3 Bible readings, and 3 prayers. That gives you room to have some silly, fun, short Sunday school ones and some more serious, more substantial (but still fairly short!) traditional ones.

Sometimes if we are doing well, we’ll add another song or prayer at the end, but on the weeks where we’re not doing well, it also means we can end things when attention spans fizzle out, and the kids start trying to do gymnastics off the couch, and still feel like we’ve had a complete service.

In addition to our three songs, Bible readings, and prayers, we usually start out with a special beginning or call to worship: walk into the living room singing a song and carrying a cross, a candle, and an icon of Jesus. Then, we have a special ending or closing to finish: a blessing, sending, and recessional song when we walk our cross and icon back out of the living room.

So a typical worship service usually looks something like

1. Call to Worship
2. Song #1
3. Bible Reading #1 (a short psalm)
4. Song #2
5. Bible Reading #2 (a story about Jesus)
6. Either Reflections on Bible Reading #2 OR Bible Story #3 (a parable of Jesus)
7. [Apostles’ Creed with hand motions]
8. Song #3
9. Prayer #1 (A.C.T.S.: I love you/I’m sorry/Thank you/Please)
10. Prayer #2 (5-Finger Prayers of the People)
11. Prayer #3 (The Lord’s Prayer)
12. Blessings & Sending

While you could definitely do a service with only an adult Bible, our kids love to pick out stories and songs from illustrated kids’ books of songs, Bible stories, and prayers. There are a lot of good options (many of which are listed below) but if I had to pick my top three books for family church they would be:

1. “My First Hymnal: Seventy-Five Favorite Bible Songs and What They Mean” by Hensley, Davis, and Dennis.
2. Favorite Parables from the Bible: Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth & Mick Inkpen.
3. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Illustrated by Jago.

I’ll walk you through what we do, and what you could do. I love finding these kinds of books and pulling together these resources in one place! In high school and college I was a Christian camp counselor, mostly at a Lutheran camp, and we put together fun worship services with these components for kids all summer long. It’s fun to pull out some of my campy skills for my kids. There are a lot of ideas here–many more than you’d want for one service, but I hope it inspires you to lead your family in worship when and if you can’t be together at church. And if you are able to go to church all the time, these resources are great for crafting bedtime routines and devotional times too!

1. Call to Worship

• silence (20 to 30 seconds)
• procession (bring in a Bible, cross, and or candle while singing)
• light a candle
• make the sign of the cross
• read verse from the Psalms
• pray a short prayer

At its core, the call to worship is the beginning. It’s a way to transition to sacred time, and help everyone get ready to worship. It can be done by lighting a candle, a period of silence (20 seconds is probably enough), a prayer, a song, a procession, or a verse from the Bible.

Our kids love to process into the living room carrying a cross and an icon while singing a song. Then we set the cross and the icon on a table in the living room, next to a candle. Our favorite candle is this simple beeswax pillar. We light the candle (carefully!) and then sit down on the carpet in front of our little oratory.

Our church loves to play the hymn “Lift High the Cross” so sometimes we sing that one, or sometimes we go with a simple children’s song “The Lord is My Shepherd.” One verse of a longer hymn or twice through a very short song is usually enough. For Advent we sang “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” and “Joy to the World” for Christmastide, and we’ll likely sing “Create in Me a Clean Heart” for Lent.

Really any chorus or hymn that your kids like will probably be appropriate, but if you need more ideas here are two lists. Or you can always go with the chorus of the 1999 hit “Here I am to Worship” by Tim Hughes, or one of my favorites “Come Ye Sinners.”

At the end of the procession you could add (or just do by itself if processing in is too much) a simple and traditional way of opening a service: a Scripture verse said by one person or as a call and response:

O Lord, open my lips,*

And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Psalm 51:15

Or you might want Psalm 8:2 : Out of the mouths of infants and children * your majesty is praised above the heaven.

2. Songs of Praise

We’re big fans of singing around here. Our kids love to sing songs at church, or at least to listen to them even if they don’t sing along. I sing to the kids all the time, and Lily at age 2 especially loves kids books with songs and pictures in them. The kids LOVE to take turns picking out songs for our home church.

Our favorite kids hymnal is “My First Hymnal: Seventy-Five Favorite Bible Songs and What They Mean” by Hensley, Davis, and Dennis.

It’s a companion to the first 1997 edition of The Beginners Bible, which I think it might be out of print, but is fairly easy to pick up reasonably priced and used. I like it because it has fun little cartoons on each page which the kids love, fun kid songs and classic hymns, some familiar and some unusual, and some for the church year. Each song has one verse of the hymn below the musical notation for the melody, so we can sit down at the piano and figure out new-to-us songs. (Also YouTube is great for doing that if you don’t have or don’t play a piano).

If you need a board book, a simple one with six classic songs is : Jesus Loves Me Songs Board Book for Kids by Stephanie Peterson Jones.

There are a number of other kids hymnals. I think that Wee Sing Bible Songs by Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp, The Just for Kids Hymnal by Stephen Elkins, Favorite Sacred Songs for Children: Bible Stories & Songs of Praise by Anna Laura Page and Jean Anne Shafferman would probably be good as well.

For our home church service, we often just let everyone in the family pick a hymn from the book.

The kids flip through and know the hymn by the pictures. Lily will always pick her favorite, number 14, “The B-I-B-L-E.” Honestly, that’s not the song I’d pick for home church, but I’m delighted by her delight in the song, so we all sing it with gusto.

If I were picking four songs for home church I might pick four of my favorite hymns #62 “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, (lyrics)” #64 “Holy, Holy, Holy, (lyrics)” #65 “This is My Father’s World, (lyrics)” and #67 “Fairest Lord Jesus (lyrics).” (Again, only the first verse!). We just sing the songs simply, without any accompaniment or anything.

If you don’t have an illustrated kids hymnal, or any hymnal at home, there are a lot of resources for music and lyrics for hymns online. Hymnary.org has compiled a lot of hymnals and is an almost exhaustive place to find the words and notes to hymns. There is the beautiful Happy Hymnody’s Hymn of the Month project that each month adds a free downloadable hymn to their collection. You could print off a few you like, slap a couple of stickers on them or print a picture to color on the back, and make your own fun kids hymnal. Of course there are lots of beautiful hymns on YouTube. We love our friend Wendell Kimbrough‘s work, both older hymns and his own work setting Psalms to music.

I’d encourage you for small kids to keep things short and sweet, meaning just one verse, maybe two at the most. Also pro tip: have the kids go first in picking songs so if attention spans run out then you can just end everything early without a melt down about kids missing out on the great joy of picking a hymn for everyone to sing.

3. Scripture Passages from the Bible

• a short Psalm
• a parable Jesus told
• a story from Jesus’ life
• a devotional reflection

For Scripture Readings, I have found that a Psalm, a parable, and a story from Jesus’ ministry generally work well for a family service, especially if you want to read them from a full-text adult Bible.

Many of these parables and stories are found in illustrated children’s Bibles or stand alone collections. During ordinary time, we tend to use them rather than just reading the text from an adult Bible, because the kids like the pictures and the fleshed out story. But during Advent and Christmastide we read about 20 verses from Luke each Sunday and then used our nativity set and some peg people to act out the scenes (a combination of classic flannel graph Sunday school and Godly Play) first as the other parent read, and then again retelling the story and asking reflection or “wondering” questions.

Psalm Books for Children

There are such a wide range of Psalms, encompassing the whole experience of humanity. I tend to be drawn towards the happy praise Psalms for kids, but of course all the Psalms are wonderful and have been a core part of worship for thousands of years, so any of the 150 would work. Below is a list to get you started.

Short & Joyful Psalms: Psalm 8 // Psalm 23 // Psalm 63 // Psalm 93 // Psalm 100 // Psalm 113 // Psalm 117 // Psalm 131 // Psalm 133 // Psalm 134 // Psalm 139 // Psalm 150

For Epiphany we’ve choosen Psalm 134

1 Behold now, praise the LORD, * all you servants of the LORD,

2 You that stand by night in the house of the LORD, * even in the courts of the house of our God.

3 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary * and sing praises unto the LORD.

4 The LORD who made heaven and earth * give you blessing out of Zion.

Psalm 134: Ecce nunc – ACNA BCP 2019 Psalter

Psalms of Praise: A Movement Primer by Danielle Hitchen and Illustrated by Jessica Blanchard. This has a collection of physical actions (run! lift your hands! kneel!) from various Psalm verses that are fun to read and act out together.

Psalm 23 Illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson (or Found: Psalm 23 a paraphrase version by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Illustrated by Jago). I love this Psalm and this Narnia inspired board book illustration so much. It’s my favorite gift to new parents.

Near: Psalm 139 by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago . I’m a big fan of Sally Lloyd-Jones and this is my all-time favorite Psalm, so obviously I love this book. No matter where you go, God is there.

Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise by Tomie DePaola. This is a beautifully illustrated piece inspired both by the poetry from the book of Daniel and Psalm 148. Tomie DePaola’s art is so wonderful for both the very young and adults.

Snuggle Time Psalms by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Cee Biscoe. This takes a Psalm verse and expands it into prayers and promises. It’s in the style of Psalms for Little Hearts: 25 Psalms for Joy, Hope and Praise by Dandi Daley Mackall , Psalms for Young Children by Marie-Helene Delval or the longer and more complex reflections in Together We Pray: A Prayer Book for Families by J. Bradley Wigger. (In that book there aren’t any pictures, but it’s such a lovely little prayer book based on Psalms.) Also Wonderful Word: Illustrated Psalms and Scripture by Dani Ambuel. This is a great resource to have for reading Psalms and encouraging kids to make their own drawings.

Parables of Jesus for Children

For one of the Bible readings, I think a short parable of Jesus works really well. If you are reading them from a full text Bible here are 10 to get you started.

Shorter Parables of Jesus from the Gospels of Matthew & Luke:

• The Lamp – Matthew 5:14-16
• The Speck and The Log – Matthew 7:1-5
• The Mustard Seed – Matthew 13:31-32
• The Leaven – Matthew 13:33-34 
• Hidden Treasure – Matthew 13:44 
• Pearl of Great Price – Matthew 13:45-46
• The Lost Sheep – Matthew 18:10-14
• The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:29-37 
• The Friend at Midnight – Luke 11:5-13 
• The Lost Coin – Luke 15:8-10 
• (Slightly longer Parables of Jesus) : The Persistent Widow – Luke 18:1-8  //  The Pharisee and The Tax Collector – Luke 18:9-14  //  The Unforgiving Servant – Matthew 18:23-35  //  Laborers in the Vineyard – Matthew 20:1-16

Parable Books for Children

Favorite Parables from the Bible: Stories Jesus Told by Nick Butterworth & Mick Inkpen. I think this is one of my kids’ very favorite books in general. It’s funny and sweet with just enough interpretation to help you understand the story. I especially love the one about the camel and the eye of the needle.

The Parables of Jesus by Tomie dePaola. Another great Tomie dePaola book with skillful retellings of the parables. I also think Stories Jesus Told Us by Su Box and Simona Sanfilippo as well as Stories Jesus Told by Tim Ladwig would work as well.

Stories about Jesus for Children

Short Stories from Jesus’ Ministry.

Of course learning all of the Bible is important to children, but a great place to start and continue to return to is stories about Jesus. The church year often has some suggestions on what part of the Jesus story to focus on, but for thousands of years Christian worship has held that a reading from the Gospels of Jesus was an essential part of worship. Here are a list to get you started.

• Jesus in the Temple at 12 Years Old – Luke 2:40-52
• John Baptizes Jesus – Mark 1:4-11
• Jesus Calls First Disciples – John 1:35-51
• The Wedding In Cana – John 2:1-11
• Jesus Heals the Nobleman’s Son – John 4:45-54
• Four Fishermen Follow Jesus – Luke 5:1-11
• Matthew the Tax Collector Becomes a Disciple – Matt. 9:9-13
• Jesus Heals a Cripple and a Man with a Withered Hand – Luke 6:1-12
• Jesus Heals a Leprous Man – Mark 1:40-45
• Jesus Heals the Roman Centurion’s Servant – Matt. 8:5-13
• Jesus Heals A Paralytic Man – Mark 2:1-12
• Jesus Raises A Widow’s Son from The Dead – Luke 7:11-17
• Jesus Calms the Sea – Luke 8:22-25
• Jesus Raises Jairus’ Daughter from The Dead – Luke 8:41-51
• Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand – Matt. 14:13-21
• Jesus Walks on Water – Matt. 14:23-33
• Jesus Blesses the Children – Mark 10:13-16
• Blind Bartimaeus Healed – Mark 10:46-52
• Zacchaeus and Jesus – Luke 19:1-28

Animal Tales by Nick Butterworth & Mick Inkpen. Four stories about Jesus told from an animal’s perspective: The Birth of Jesus, The Wedding at Cana, Zacchaeus and Jesus, Jesus Calms the Storm,

Read-Aloud Bible Stories by Ella K. Lindvall and illustrated by H. Kent Puckett. These are classics with large illustrations perfect for reading to a big group of kids. We only have the first one, but there are many volumes to collect.

Jesus Heals: An Anatomy Primer by Daniel Hitchen and illustrated by Jessica Blanchard. In this beautiful board book, we walk through the different body parts that Jesus healed for various people (blind people’s eyes healed, lame people’s legs healed.) I think it’s so powerful to read all these verses next to one another.

The Miracles of Jesus by Tomie dePaola. Similar to his parable collection, but with different art than his lovely Tomie dePaola’s Book of Bible Stories with NIV excerpts, this book has beautiful art and retellings of the miracles of Jesus.

Jesus Story Book Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago (These are wonderful, but long for a 2 year old. I would only read one and make the other things you read short! Other good children’s Bibles that we use more for reading through the Bible at night time, but you could use for family church: Beginner’s Bible, Spark Story Bible, Every Day with God. And this might be an obvious thing to point out, but many public libraries carry copies of children’s Bibles, so you can check some of them out before you buy them.

Devotional Reflections

We do two main things for Reflection time in family worship. We retell the story using a set of castle blocks, wooden peg people and play silks (in the style of Godly Play or Catechesis of the Good Shepherd), usually if we’ve read the story from a big picture-less, full- adult translation.

I’ll first move the peg people around while Evan reads the story aloud, and then after he’s done I’ll retell it (again moving the peg people around) pausing to ask the kids a few questions. The kids are bananas about this part, and we usually have to have several reminders to sit back and not touch things mid-lesson.

Or if peg people is too much, or we’ve done more illustrated-kid-book parables, then we’ll read a devotional from Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago. These are short and have that amazing power of Sally Lloyd-Jones to be both completely engaging and understandable to small children and true, challenging, and deeply encouraging to adults. She’s the best, and Jago’s illustrations are so great.

4. Prayers

• the Apostles’ Creed
• a prayer of adoration
• a prayer of confession
• a prayer of thanksgiving
• a prayer of supplication (prayers of the people)
• the Lord’s prayer

Home church is a great opportunity to work on helping your kids become more confident in spontaneous out-loud prayers and learning the traditional prayers by heart. I think it’s helpful to make sure your service has both a liturgical prayer and a time for practicing spontaneous praying out loud.

Often Christian prayer is divided into four major types: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. (A.C.T.S.) Some traditional prayers, like the Lord’s Prayer, pretty much have all four in one, where others focus on one aspect: the Creeds focus on who God is (a prayer of adoration), the Confession of sins (a prayer of confession), the General Thanksgivings (a prayer of thanksgiving), and the Prayers of the People (a prayer of supplication). Each week we pick a FEW of these types of prayers for the second half of our service.

The Apostles’ Creed

This summer we had the opportunity to have family outdoor Sunday school where we worked on the Apostles’ Creed. Our sweet teacher taught us hand motions for the phrase of the week and then we’d talk about it, explore it in an activity, and sing a song. I would have never thought a 2 year old was ready for the Apostles’ Creed, but Lily did great and loved the hand motions. (Particular saying “Mighty God!”). This video is not exactly the hand motions we learned, but it’s close enough to give you an idea.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

To walk your family through the Apostles’ Creed, you could use the beautiful cards made by Catechesis Books. Or you might want to use the slightly longer Nicene Creed and use Nicene Creed: Illustrated and Instructed for Kids by Joey Fitzgerald.

Another way to have a prayer that focuses on who God is would be to sing the “My God is So Great” or a prayer of Adoration like the one by George William Conder in First Prayers illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church.

“All things praise Thee Lord most high! Heaven and earth and sea and sky! Time and space are praising Thee! All things praise thee; Lord may we! ”

George William Conder (1821-1874) from First Prayers p. 29

Prayers of Confession for Children

Traditional confessions are totally something that children can memorize, so if that is most meaningful to your family, I’d encourage you to do that.

Our favorite form of confession is an adaptation of a A.C.T.S. (Adoration / Confession / Thanksgiving / Supplication) simplified into to preschool language: ” I love you. I’m sorry. Thank you. Please.” Those are all things we encourage our toddlers to say everyday! We have come to use this prayer at bedtime as well as kneeling down in our home church service. It’s one of our very favorites.

Dear Jesus,

I love you.

I’m sorry for my bad choices, please change my heart so I only want good things.

Thank you for always being with me and thank you for (insert something good and beautiful from the day).

Please help (insert something you want for yourself or someone else.)

Amen.

Another way to lead children in a time of confession would be to sing “Create in Me a Clean Heart” or read a prayer of confession from Lucado Treasury of Bedtime Prayers: Prayers for bedtime and every time of day! by Max and Denalyn Lucado

Sometimes I mess up. I say mean words. I disobey my parents. I get mad and walk away. I am sorry. Please forgive me.

By Max & Denalyn from Lucado Treasury of Bedtime Prayers p. 108

Prayers of Thanksgiving for Children

I have found that prayers of thanksgiving are the easiest for children to create and the most abundant prayers created for children. Most children love to list the things they love and how thankful they are to God for making them: the sky! Christmas trees! apples! socks! My favorite children’s thanksgiving prayers are from Thank You, God by J. Bradley Wigger and illustrated by Jago.

Thank you God for the new words I learned today, for stories shared, for songs sung, and for love whispered.

From Thank You God by J. Bradley Wigger p. 10

Prayers of Supplication/ Prayers of the People for Children

Traditionally, the Anglican Prayers of the People during a church service is the main prayer of supplication for the service. These prayers have several forms and invite the congregation to pray for the church as a whole, its leaders and laity, local government as well as the suffering and vulnerable, often with the congregational response: “Lord Hear Our Prayer.”

We like to use a simplified version for children that uses each finger as a prompt to remember each group. The thumb is for those closest to me (my family), the pointer finger is for those who point the way (pastors and teachers), the tallest finger is for church and secular leaders, the weakest finger is for the poor and needy, and the smallest finger is for myself. Sometimes, we just pray simply for each group in the words below, and sometimes we add more.

One of our favorite new things to do is to briefly pray for each member of the family for their upcoming week when we get to the pinkie finger. We also tend to use this prayer directly after the “I love you. I’m sorry. Thanks. Please” prayer, so we keep the last bit of that prayer short since we cover lots of “please” prayers with the five finger prayer.

Dear God,

thumb: those closest to you: Thank you for my family, please bless them and care for them.

pointer: those that point you in the right direction: Thank you for my teachers and pastors who teach us to follow you, bless them and help me to listen to them.

middle: tallest finger for those who lead us: Thank you for our bishops, governor, and president. Please bless them and help them listen to you.

ring: weakest: Please be with all the poor and needy and hurting people. Please help them, heal them, and let us be a part of caring for them.

pinkie: smallest: for ourselves and our needs: Thank you that you are always with me and take care of me. I love you. Amen

A quick and beautiful prayer of supplication also comes from A Child’s Book of Prayers illustrated by Honor Ayres.

Loving Father, please look after all who are not well. Comfort those who are in pain, or who are worried or sad. Give peace to those who are old or frightened. Help us to be loving and helpful to our families, kind to everyone we know, and generous to anyone who needs our help. Amen. –

– Rhona Davies from A Child’s Book of Prayers p. 57

The Lord’s Prayer

Finally, learning and saying the Lord’s prayer together is our favorite way to end our prayer time. Sometimes, the kids like to say it, and sometimes they just like to listen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Their favorite is if we can use a board book while we say it.  We like this board book version illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson (it has slightly different wording from the King James Bible), and this one illustrated by by Maite Roche looks gorgeous. There are also two lovely illustrated collections of Catholic prayers that include the Lord’s Prayer that we like: Let Us Pray: A Child’s First Book of Prayers Board Book by Katie Warner and As It is In Heaven: A Collection of Prayers for All Ages illustrated by Eric Puybaret

Also we have and love Sally Lloyd-Jones’ paraphrase from the Jesus Story Book Bible in a stand alone board book called Loved.

Blessings and Sendings

• sing the doxology
• a closing blessing
• recessional song
• hush the candle and put away icon and cross

After the Lord’s Prayer, we keep it simple and the same each week. We sing the doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen.

Another beloved benediction in our family is one from the African Anglican Church: All our problems, We send to the cross of Christ! All our difficulties, We send to the cross of Christ! All the devil’s works, We send to the cross of Christ! All our hopes, We set on the risen Christ!

Then we say a closing blessing: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord! Thanks Be to God! [Alleluia! Alleluia! (as appropriate for the church season)] .

And then we sing whatever song we sang to process for our recessional song and take the cross and the icon back out. (Often, I just leave the candle in the living room, because I don’t want to slosh hot wax all over.) Then I come back and hush (i.e. blow out) the candle and put the icon and the cross back in their usual places. And then we immediately give the kids directions for whatever activity we’re going to do next (usually, one that’s active, because the kids are done sitting still!).

Over the months we’ve been able to slowly add more prayers and the kids get into the rhythm and routine of home church. On the other hand, some weeks the kids are just in a crazy space, and we cut things short. The flexibility to help your kids grow and respond when they need a gracious quick ending is one of the best parts of worshiping at home!

How do you help kids worship outside of a Sunday morning church service?