Faith Formation for Children in Progressive Churches

Reimagining the Path Post-COVID

by Samantha Barrett
Minister of Education and Youth
Immanuel United Church of Christ
Louisville KY

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches across the globe have had to rethink nearly every aspect of community life, and children’s faith formation has been no exception. For many of our churches, which often emphasize inclusion, justice, curiosity, and creativity in spiritual development, this has become both a challenge and an invitation.

The pandemic disrupted many longstanding models: Sunday School classrooms sat empty, gatherings were paused, and the hands-on, relational nature of spiritual growth for children had to find new forms. But now, as we emerge from those isolating years, we find ourselves asking not how do we return to what we were doing before? but rather, what new paths can we walk together?

Before the pandemic, faith formation for children in many churches relied on age-segregated programming. Today, many congregations are leaning away from traditional classroom models and toward intergenerational, experiential learning. Instead of a fixed curriculum tucked into a Sunday morning hour, faith formation looks like or is in the process of becoming:

• Children are integrated into worship — reading scripture, singing, offering their own prayers and reflections, and prayergrounds.
• Families engaging in service together, from packing food to planting community gardens, where faith is taught by doing.
• Outdoor church and nature-based experiences that embrace wonder, stewardship, and creation as sacred text.
• Intentional Intergentrational activities, from small group studies to envisioning a new way of confirmation not based on age. 
• Sacramental teaching in new ways to prepare children & adults for spiritual traditions like baptism, communion, and confirmation in an intergenerational format.

Churches are asking: What if formation isn’t confined to Sunday? What if it’s in the shared life of the community?

• OWL (Our Whole Lives, human sexuality) classes for our churches and the community.
• Collaborating with local organizations that focus on immigration, LGBTIA+ youth, food deserts, injustices in our communities, and have similar missions as the local church.

Progressive theology often encourages questions over answers, and that value is shaping the way children are invited into spiritual growth. Post-pandemic, children’s ministry leaders have begun:

• Creating “PrayerGrounds” in sanctuaries — sacred play spaces where children can engage their senses while participating in worship.
• Offering art-based spirituality — where children explore scripture through collage, painting, and storytelling.
• Focusing on spiritual practices like breath prayer, gratitude journaling, labyrinth walks, and mindful listening.
• Telling stories, not only telling the stories of our ancestors, but creating spaces for the children to tell their stories.

The goal isn’t just to “teach the Bible” but to nurture spiritual awareness, resilience, and imagination in children as they grow in their faith, not someone else’s faith, but walk with them as they develop their own relationship with God.

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