Children and Giving

If Christian stewardship was a film it would not be rated 18 - unsuitable for children - but PG; suitable but requiring parental guidance and learning within the church family. Discussion of the involvement of children and young people takes place at the third meeting of the planning group. The all age materials in Preach Exodus! are a rich resource and attention is drawn especially to the creative Godly Play resource materials. The planning group should support and consult with the leaders of children's ministries using the document Money Matters to Children as the basis for discussion.

A decision not to involve children should arise from careful discussion not an administrative oversight or an unspoken assumption that money is the wrong subject for children. Giving is one element in the wider subject of financial capability and is a formative part of discipleship. It should not be passed over because of adult anxieties about money while some of our current practices in church send out all the wrong signals:

• The practice of giving children a few pence as the offering plate comes around communicates that giving is a rather casual, last minute and financially insignificant issue.
• Routine practices such as making collections in Smartie tubes send out the wrong signals about the value we attach to giving. Of course, a one off activity such as giving up chocolate in Lent is appropriate.
• Collections are often made in Sunday Schools with no clear reason, teaching or connection with the offertory in worship.
• Holding Sunday School collections in separate bank accounts or treating them as restricted funds reinforces the separation of children's giving from the worship of the church.
• Worse still, Sunday School collections may be saved for the annual Sunday school trip or to provide teaching resources for the children which should properly be provided by the church as it supports this important ministry.

We want children to make formative connections between giving and following Jesus and support for their local church. We neither want nor expect them to be part of the solution to the church's financial problems.