On Sundays, children are often found in the pews next to their families. It’s one of many things that I LOVE about our church. Of course, if I’m being honest, I will admit that there are some days that having children alongside you during worship can be a challenge. Many parents strive to see past these challenges, knowing that the benefits of worshiping WITH your children far outweighs the inconvenience of training them. Thankfully, we have the added benefit of living in an era when resources are at our fingertips and easily shared with one another. (Have you ever thought about what a blessing it is that we can help each other?) Books like Parenting in the Pew: Guiding Your Children into the Joy of Worship, have proven to be a fantastic resource for parents, as well as online printables for the little guys.
How we do church as a family:
I’ve been in a variety of churches over the past 10 years. The first had special kid’s programing for youngsters until age 5, then they were expected to attend the service with their parents. The second church never really transitioned kids into the service, having programming even during the high school years. The church we are in today has programming available through 3rd grade, then children transition into the service with their parents. However, on any given Sunday, you will still find plenty of little ones in the pews with their families. In fact, it’s so prevalent that my 3rd grader chooses to attend the service instead of children’s church! Gotta love positive peer pressure.
When both of my girls began attending worship with me I had some very clear ideas of what I wanted to see. Mostly, I wanted for them to NEVER get the idea that worship was something we HAVE to do or HATE to do. I also wanted to be sure that I didn’t convey the message that pastor’s sermon was boring or that they needed to be entertained during that time. So I set forth a few rules. (I know, I’m a meanie.)
*Sitting in the pews with me was never to be a punishment…it’s a joyful privilege!
*Electronics, coloring books, puzzles, and other distractions were to have no place in the pew with us.
*Full participation would be expected of all of my children. (That means no sleeping, sitting during songs, or flipping through the Bible/Hymnal for fun).
Now, I don’t want anyone to read that and think that I’m a crazy legalist here. None of my rules are intended to be for everyone, nor are they Christian absolutes. This is just what one momma does after a lifetime of meaningless pew-sitting. It’s from my own personal walk that I have developed these ideas for my children.
As a child I felt like church was boring and meaningless and I had to work hard as an adult to change those feelings. After many hard years and some pretty nasty circumstances, I can honestly say that I see church attendance as a wonderful privilege and I can’t wait to get there every time the doors open. While I know that I can’t make my children feel any particular way, I recognize that my behavior toward church is vital to helping them learn what the proper heart inclination should be!
All of that said, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that I was pretty excited when our church made notebooks for the entire congregation. Leah was equally excited to get hers and took copious notes (by copying mine) for many weeks. As time went on, I found that she was struggling a lot to figure out what to write down. My pastor is partially to blame for this as he isn’t much of an outline kinda guy, but even if he was I think she would still have struggled to take notes in the same manner that I was.
One week a friend asked if I could create a similar notebook, but specifically designed for our kids. She showed me a sheet that she had used in the past to take notes, but that her girls had outgrown. I did a little research and it turned out that resources for older elementary students were indeed sparse. So, I created one!
The goal:
To create a sermon notebook page that would help kids focus on the sermon and record the key points.
To create something that would be easily understood (so parents didn’t have to help), but at the same time still hold their interest.
To create something that would excite our children and capitalize on their love of God’s Word.
What is included in the Sermon Notebook—>
*Front cover
*About me page which includes name and testimony. (I thought this could be a precious keepsake for my children.)
*Favorite verses page
*Prayer request page (either for those mentioned in the service or their own).
*Sermon notes page
How to make the Sermon Notebook—>
I wanted the notebook to be pretty much just like the adult one, so I took it to Office Depot. I gave them the sheets and told them what order I wanted them in. I printed the pages on 28lb paper, that’s a little bit thicker than xerox weight paper and keeps the words from bleeding when it’s back to back. I also asked them for a card stock cover and a white coil binding. The whole book was about $9. I made mine with 40 sermon notes pages, which will last us about half of the year (including the evening service). That’s a pretty good deal for me! Of course, you could absolutely print this at home or any other office store!
I hope that your family will be blessed by this notebook and will be praying for you as you seek to diligently train your children as they walk by the way (Deut. 6:7)!
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April Christmas says
This is so great! I have been trying to find something like this for my SS kids I have the 8-12 year olds and I believe they should be learning to sit in services. I also want them to enjoy it and not be entertaining themselves with things. Thanks again for all this!
Kim Sorgius says
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that you can use it.
Jayne Testor says
Thank you Kim for these wonderful sermon notes 😀 surely my 7 yr.old and 15 yr.old will love it. Stay Blessed and continue to inspire others 😀
Kim Sorgius says
You’re welcome!
Chellie says
I have been trying to design something like this for my kiddos. My oldest uses the note outline our pastor has printed on our weekly bulletin, and she helps her brother to fill out the major points, but I have been really trying to figure something out for my two youngest. Thank you so much for giving these away. They are exactly what I am needing. I am so glad to have found your blog and have been very blessed to read it for several months now.
Kim Sorgius says
Aww…you’re so sweet! I’m thrilled that you will be able to use them!
Heatherly says
Thank you for this!
Tonia says
Great ideas! I teach sunday school and once a month or so I keep the kids upstairs and I’m teaching them to take notes during the sermon. Such a good thing for kids to learn.
Danielle says
First, thank you so much for this. I have been trying to figure a way to get my son to pay better attention to the sermons in church! I so appreciate you sharing this! My question though…..What size is the printed version? When I downloaded it, it looked like it was half a page size but I do not get how to assemble it to look right. Can you help? Do I print it double sided? Thanks!
Kim Sorgius says
Yes they are half pages. You can print them double sided and that should work perfectly!
Melanie says
Hi! I tried printing them double sided, and the pages are all out of order when you assemble the booklet. Maybe I’m doing it wrong? Do you mean print it double sided and then fold like a booklet? If so, I think that’s what I did. Do you think you could describe how to put the pages in order to make the booklet? Thanks so much!
Melanie
Kim Sorgius says
I actually didn’t fold them. The main pages are actually super easy. The first few might take a few minutes of positioning to get them just right. One option, if you can’t figure it out is to just print the first few pages without being back-to-back. Then you can do the main pages after that. Hope that helps!
Christi says
Hi! This is such an amazing resource and I am so excited to have found it! However, I am also a little confused on how to put this together. Did you cut the pages in half and staple? It very much looks like it is meant to be a booklet but I can’t seem to get the pages to line up right. What order did you put them in? I would really appreciate any help you could offer. I’m sure I am making this more difficult than it has to be! Ha!
Kim Sorgius says
You should be able to print and fold in the exact order we have them in the file.
Linda says
Wow! My child is getting baptized this weekend, and he struggles with listening to the sermon. He already has a Bible and a worship basket (for personal devotions- contains Bible lesson study papers, ruler for underlining, Bible marking pencils, journal and pen, devotional, & his Bible stays there when it’s not in use), so I was at a loss about what to do for a gift for his baptism. This is it. Thanks so much!
Kim Sorgius says
What a GREAT idea!
Lacy says
Thank you for this. I have been paying my girls to write down the scripture references (1 cent for each reference 5 cents if it is spelled correctly and 10 cents if they write the whole scripture) pastor uses to keep them listening. I love this writing the main points also. I may have to reconfigure the sermon page a little to fit our service but the rest is lovely. Our pastor uses many many scripture references throughout the sermon.
Vivian Brister says
I couldn’t get it to let me enter my information. The fields were there, but no button to submit them. I so want this outline as my son just recently decided to leave the kids class to attend the adult service so he can “learn more”.
Kim Sorgius says
Hmm…that was weird. I fixed it. Please try again!
Karen says
Do you have a notebook for adults to purchase?
Kim Sorgius says
No, unfortunately I don’t. I guess I should consider that, huh? 🙂
vicki says
Hi,
Thanks for this post, it has really helped my husband and I. We have just started ministry in a church w no kids programs, we have been looking for new a creative ideas for our 5 – 11 years olds. We have a total no technology in church or on Sunday just give us all a day off a week. Do you find it difficult talking to other parents that allow technology in church? We find it difficult as our kids gravitate to screens and think we are the bad guys when we ask them to turn away. So good to hear what you have to say.
Kim Sorgius says
At my present church, it’s not a problem. Parents are rather serious about discipling their children, especially in the service. At previous churches, there were many things that I found that I was the “bad guy” on. I just always try to explain to my kids that I am accountable for the decisions in our family and that I have to make decisions based on what I believe God is telling me through His Word. I never make it about other people, but it does naturally point out that others are doing it. The bottom line in this case is that if we are Christians, we should be thirsty for what is going on in the service!
Linda says
I wish I’d have found this before I got my son in the bad habit of taking his iPad mini to service. I can’t wait to start implementing it and having some interesting conversations about what was learned.
Kim Sorgius says
It’s never too late to start over. Whenever I change something like this with my kids (and it happens often enough), I’m usually very honest with them. I just tell them that I messed up and that I should have let them do that. I tell them that it’s my job to parent and I failed them. It’s amazing what this kind of humility does for the situation. Seems like it makes them so much more willing to make the change!
Nikki says
thanks for sharing! I love the “rules”! I think it’s great to set the expectation of participating during service. Great job!
Elaine Driggers says
I would like an adult copy of sermons!
Stacy White says
I gave this to my 7-year-old last Sunday and she LOVED it! The best part was watching her give the completed sheet to our pastor. He got to see evidence of a young child who was enthusiastically and whole-heartedly listening to his sermon. Thank you so much for providing this resource.
Kim Sorgius says
How sweet! I love that.
shannon says
I love this idea and use something much like it for my older daughter. I keep seeing a picture with a pink and lime green “theme” that leads me to this page every time…is that one available for download? I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Thanks for any help!
Julie says
I have been looking for something to use with 11 and 12 year old girls. The youngest is very new to church, but the older has grown up in the church. This is perfect! It is simple without being childish. This is a great beginners guide to worship notes. I plan to print them out and put them in a binder so wet can just add more as needed. Thank you so much for this wonderful resource!
Kim Sorgius says
So glad it’s useful!
Julie says
Thank you so much for making this available not only to families, but to ministries as well!! I’ll be sharing your site with the families here at Wesley UMC so they can look for more resources to meet their needs as well. 🙂
Angela says
God Bless You!! Thank You so much for such a wonderful resource. Our church just launched a Spiritual and Academic Program for our youth. I’ve looked all over trying to find a sermon notebook for the Kids. Again Thank You so much!!! This is AMAZING!!!