Nurturing Children Through Worship & Prayer Initiative
Shaping Young Worshipers through Transformative Music Ministry
The primary purpose for Shaping Young Worshipers is as follows:
- To connect scholars and practitioners through reflection on spiritual formation of children through prayer and music in the context of church music ministry
- To create inclusive resources, both scholarly and practical, for holistic and transformative music ministries that integrate children into the liturgical life of the congregation
- To train leaders to shape young worshipers by designing and implementing interdisciplinary curricula and musical activities that nurture worship and prayer in all children.
To accomplish these purposes, Shaping Young Worshipers contains activities which foster collaboration and dynamic discussion. Using both pre-existing and new relationships, the CCMS will gather four regional Learning Communities made of experienced practitioners, practitioner-writers and academic writers. The CCMS will use existing platforms to create opportunities for the three groups to present their ideas, dialogue, and write. In the third and fourth year of the grant, a Children’s Summit will bring together academic and practitioner writers to hear and learn from one another before publishing. The planned activities will result in two publications, a resource library, and an updated curriculum which will train leaders who shape young worshippers.