How do we pass on the faith to the next generation? This is not a new question. God’s people have wrestled with it since the time of Abraham. In his debut book, “Keeping Kids Christian” (Baker, 2026), pastor and author Cameron S. Shaffer sparks a new conversation on how the church today can better impact discipleship from nursery through young adulthood. 

In ministry to children, we often see two extremes: the first is that children never attend corporate worship service and instead go directly to their own classes from birth through early adulthood. On the other extreme, children are expected to always be in corporate worship, and church leaders give less thought to age-appropriate children’s ministry. This wide spectrum is represented even in Presbyterian and Reformed churches. As such, Shaffer tackles a challenging subject.

Though he’s a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Shaffer is obviously challenging some of the common children’s ministry practices in influential evangelical churches. In many of these churches, children are out of sight and out of mind when it comes to Sunday morning worship. They have their own programs, buildings, and staff. In this context, it is understandable why Shaffer urges churches to consider making corporate worship inclusive of children. 

Shaffer argues that children are most likely to remain walking with Christ if they are actively included and involved in corporate worship and the greater body of the church. He urges churches to reconsider age-appropriate Bible lessons separate from the worship service and notes that pastors should be wary of being especially program-driven: “Pastors must regularly affirm that while programs like Sunday school, VBS and youth group are helpful tools, they are dispensable when it comes to the church’s life. What is indispensable is a church culture that reinforces the importance of parental influence, intergenerational relationships, and intentional faith formation” (pg. 144). 

Using Scripture, personal anecdotes, and relevant research studies, Shaffer argues that parents are the primary disciplers in a child’s life. He generally discourages set-apart programming, especially that which lacks parental involvement.

Most churches and parents in the Reformed tradition will agree that the primary responsibility of the Christian nurture of a child lies with parents. But as a children’s ministry director, I can’t help but think of the many children I have served over the years who have only one parent coming to church — perhaps a widow, a divorcee, or someone whose spouse is not walking with the Lord. I know other families that have some form of intellectual or physical disability in their home. And then there are neighborhood families who have never entered a church before. How does the church meet these families and help them disciple their children?

In these cases, participation in corporate worship can look different than it does for the average nuclear family where both parents know the Lord and children do not experience unexpected challenges. What does it look like for churches to be prepared to serve such families, to meet them where they are, and to offer them a pathway into robust family discipleship? 

I’m convinced parents are the primary influences in a child’s discipleship, and the local church plays an important supporting role. There is huge value to ministry specifically to children in local churches. I don’t see this as an either-or to participate in the corporate worship service. Rather, I see both complementing each other. 

Children need to experience the corporate worship service with the full congregation. They need to see worship modeled by the covenant family. That said, age-appropriate Bible lessons — whether taught before, after, or during the sermon portion of the service — can be immensely valuable. 

Whatever form children’s ministry takes in the life of a congregation, it should never replace the corporate worship service, but instead tailor to the unique needs of the learner by age and ability so that they might hear the gospel clearly proclaimed. Shaffer, however, puts a larger focus on children participating in the full corporate worship service: “In short, when it comes to faith retention and growth, fellowship hours are more effective than Sunday school or youth group. Kids know and are known by not just their teachers and peers but the family of God” (pg. 129). 

There is a place to ensure children are known, seen, and loved with age-appropriate Bible lessons and an intergenerational rotation of teachers, with parents encouraged to be involved. In other words, Christian education can be part of how the fellowship is facilitated. 

The local church has a beautiful opportunity not to replace the role of parents as the primary discipler in a child’s life, but rather to come alongside the parent and include the parent in doing that as a larger covenant family. 

I hope Shaffer’s book might be used as an evaluation tool for churches to consider the strengths and weaknesses of their current ministry to families from birth through young adulthood. Shaffer challenges the reader well to this end. 

My hope is that through their parents and the ministry of the local church, all children, whatever their home circumstances, may never know a day apart from knowing Christ (Matthew 19:14). 

Saralyn Tyler serves as director of children’s ministry at Christ Church Toronto.