Children's Time in Worship

Bibliography

         The following are books of children's message ideas which I have used over the years. Some have provided more help than others. I have my definite favorites, marked by an asterisk(*). But they all have given grist to the regular task of connecting children to God, scripture, and the congregation in worship, whether I have followed the general flow of a suggestion (I rarely take an idea without adapting it), or have been captivated by an element of it and taken off in a different direction. When I ask others to step into this task, it's nice to hand them a resource such as the below. For those nooks without indexes, I have added my own scripture index in the back of each. About half the time, I come up with idea of my own (but who is to say I didn't first read it here a while back and not remember the source?).

*Baker, Brant D., Welcoming the Children: Experiential Children's Sermons, ©1995,
                        Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.     [for a sample, see "Ruach"]

Baltrum, Kristen, et.al., The Humongous Book of Children's Messages, ©2004,
                        Group Publishing, Loveland, CO.

Bennett, E. Lansing, Fifty Object Talks for your Junior Congregation, ©1952,
                        Fleming H. Revell Co., Westwood, NJ.
                                     (just as sermons used to be much longer, so were children's talks!)

Bragg, Joseph H. jr., ed., Moments with Children in Worship through the Church year,
                        ©1989, CBP Press, St. Louis.
                                                    [for a sample, see "Learning to love"]

Cook, Walter L., Object Worship Stories for Children, ©1987,
                        The Pilgrim Press, New York.

*Dann, Bucky, Creating Children's Sermons, ©1981, Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
                                                    [for a sample, see "A great strength"]

                Better Children's Sermons, ©1983, Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
                                                    [for a sample, see "The Easter Balloon"]

                More Children's Sermons, ©1993, Westminster/John Knox Press, Philadelphia.
                                                    [for a sample, see "Reading the Instructions"]

Bucky Dann writes in a 9/9/02 email:
         "I have a new book that was released by Abingdon Press last week. This book, however, is not about children's sermons. It's about addiction (it's title is "Addiction") and is written to help pastors and church leaders better understand drug/alcohol abuse and minister to people more effectively. I now work in the field of substance abuse, as the Executive Director of a small agency for adolescents." (Pahl Programs, Troy, NY)
          If I'm not mistaken, I think he now lives and teaches in western North Carolina

Deming, Diane E.,  A Time with our Children: Stories for Use in Worship, Year A,
                            ©1992, The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland.
                                        [for a sample, see "Getting a Clear Picture"]

                A Time with our Children: Stories for Use in Worship, Year B,
                            ©1993, 1999, The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland.

               A Time with our Children: Stories for Use in Worship, Year C,
                            ©1991, The Pilgrim Press, New York.

Franzen, Lavern G., Good News from Luke: Visual Messages for Children,
                                                   ©1976, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis.

                Good News from Matthew: Visual Messages for Children,
                            ©1977, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis.

*Gilmore, Ruth, Barefoot in the Snow (Special times & topics),
                            ©2001, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

                Saving the Ants (Matthew/ year A), ©2001, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

                Scolding the Snakes (Luke/ year C), ©2000, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

                Sitting on the Rainbow (Mark/ year B), ©2002, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

Jordan, Jerry M., The Brown Bag, ©1978, The Pilgrim Press, New York.
            [There are a whole series of these. Unfortunately, they are not indexed, nor are they
            connected to particular scriptures, which makes them less accessible - in my experience.]

Moore, Harvey D. & Patsie S, The Droopy Flower Mystery,
                            ©1979, Abingdon Press, Nashville.

                The Mysterious, Marvelous Snowflake, ©1981, Abingdon Press, Nashville.

Nussmann, Ernest, Small Packages: Worship Stories for Children,
                            ©1988, CCS Publishing Co., Lima, OH.

Raney, Deborah, and Miller, Vicky, Children's Sermons to Go,
                            ©1998, Abingdon Press, Nashville.

*Rhodes, Donna McKee, Little Stories for Little Children,
                            ©1995, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA.
                                                    [for a sample, see "Children have power"]

                More Little Stories for Little Children, ©1997, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA.
                                                    [for a sample, see "A great strength"]

                Even More Little Stories for Little Children,
                            ©2000, Herald Press, Scottdale, PA.
                                                    [for a sample, see "Prayer - anytime, anywhere"]

*Steindam, Harold, Growing Together: Sermons for Children,
                            ©1989, The Pilgrim Press, New York.

                Bearing Fruit: Sermons for Children, ©1994, United Church Press, Cleveland.

Uhl, Harold J., Good News from John: Visual Messages for Children,
                            ©1979, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis.
                                                    [for a sample, see "As natural as swallowing"]

Weisheit, Eldon, 61 Worship Talks for Children,
                            ©1968, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.

                61 Gospel Talks for Children, ©1969, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.

                The Gospel for Little Kids (ages 3-6), ©1980,
                            Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.

                The Psalms for Children (year B), ©1984, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis.
                            (out-of-print, limited availability)     [for a sample, see "Jesus helps you be you"]

Peter L. Haynes

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