Ask that question out loud and it sounds almost silly. Of course children matter to God. But look at how many churches actually operate, and you'll find a different answer built into the schedule: not yet. Kids get childcare while the "real" spiritual work happens down the hall.
For any church to be effective in children's ministry, that church must first possess a theology of spirituality that leaves room for the fact that children are, in fact, spiritual. I believe Moses would contend that children are spiritual and that they deserve ministry designed to disciple them where they are:
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Notice what Moses assumes. He doesn't say to wait until a child can fully articulate the faith. He instructs us to take advantage of the beauty that they can absorb even what they cannot articulate. That's how God designed formation to work. Paul emphasizes this truth when he charges us to be imitators. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Without this conviction, it is very difficult to create a children's ministry that's anything more than a worship daycare center. Children need more than a place to go during worship; they need a place to grow. The challenge is discerning an age-appropriate view of spiritual formation for the age group you're working with. Two-year-olds and four-year-olds are not spiritual in the same way. They are in different developmental stages and have different needs in regard to their Christian education and spiritual formation.
So how does spiritual formation actually take place with our youngest children?
Infants: Formation Through Feeling
Long before a child can say the word "God," she is already answering a spiritual question: Can I trust the ones who care for me? Is this world safe or scary?
In the first two years of life, children learn through their senses and relationships. Every warm embrace, every cry answered, every familiar face that keeps showing up is answering the trust question. This matters for children's ministry because it will be the foundation upon which that child will develop a sense of trust for God and the people of God. A child in a safe, trustworthy environment at this stage will have an easier time accepting the truth that God is love.
That means the nursery is not a holding room. It's a theology classroom where the lessons are taught without a single word.
What this looks like in practice: keep caregivers consistent so babies see familiar faces, respond to distress promptly and tenderly, fill the room with songs and spoken words about God's love, and treat safety and warmth as your curriculum.
Preschoolers: Formation Through Doing and Repeating
Somewhere around age three, everything changes. Preschoolers are on the move, bursting with imagination, and eager to do things themselves. They now think in symbols and pictures, they have a firm (if simple) sense of right and wrong, and they learn best through repetition and imitation. What they don't have yet is the ability to handle abstract ideas. Their thinking is very literal.
Because they think in pictures, tell them concrete stories: Noah building, David facing the giant, Jesus welcoming children onto His lap. Because they learn through repetition, don't shy away from singing the same songs and praying the same simple prayers week after week. Repetition isn't boredom to a preschooler; it's how they learn truths. Because they're driven to do, let them participate: acting out the story, folding hands to pray, carrying the offering basket. A preschooler who helps is a preschooler who's learning that faith is something you live, not just something you hear about.
And because they're literal, choose your words with care. "God is with you when you're scared" lands. Keep it short, simple, and to the point. Most of all, set a good example before them. Again, they are absorbing even the things they cannot yet articulate.
Different, Not Lesser
Children relate to God at a different level than adults. But different is not lesser. The infant learning that love can be trusted and the preschooler acting out the story of Jesus are both being formed, as surely as any adult in a small group.
So if you serve in children's ministry, settle this in your heart: you are not filling time, and you are not babysitting. You are doing spiritual formation at the very stage where the foundation gets poured. Children are spiritual, and they deserve a ministry designed like it.