Spirituality of Children
The Spirituality of Children was the focus of December’s Circles of Ministry gathering. Mary Ann Christie Burnside, Ed.D. of Hearts and Minds, LLC spoke about the changing spiritual needs and capacities of children as they grow through early and later childhood and pass through adolescence.
She suggested three dimensions to spiritually nurturing children and adolescents: provide experiences that deepen the child’s loving relationship with God; support a child’s participation in the community of the church; and help the child cultivate a practice of prayer.
Dr. Burnside’s particular interest is in helping children nourish their spirituality by the practice of mindfulness. She defines spirituality as something that gives meaning and purpose to life. Mindfulness is a practice of intentionally paying attention to the current moment, without judgment or censure. Mindfulness contributes to prayer, which she understands to be the conscious recognition of the sacred, inside and outside ourselves. Teaching children about the practices of mindfulness and prayer give them ways to cultivate meaning and purpose in life.
A theme underlying the evening was that adults can be richly nourished through their involvement in the spiritual development of children. Participants were invited to reflect on the beginnings of their own relationship with God. They talked about how they view children, in general and in COS specifically. Each person identified key values they wanted to shape their efforts to help the young members of COS deepen their relationship with God. It was a nourishing evening for all involved-and there was pizza, too!
