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Prayers and Preteens
Defining Spirituality in the Middle Grades
By Jennifer M. Paquette
Their bodies are changing, along with their clothes, friends, taste in music and study habits – so why are preteens stuck with the same-old, same-old when it comes to Sunday school?
According to Lissie Browder, a Sunday school teacher at Trinity United Methodist Church in Wichita Falls, Kan., our preteens are asking, but institutions aren't paying attention. "Unfortunately, my church spends less time and money on these kids than any other group in the church," she says. "I believe it's like that at most churches."
What kinds of questions are on these young minds? "[They] ask the same questions mankind has always asked: Who is God? What does it take to go to heaven? Why is 'little me' significant?" Bowder says.
Rabbi Glenn Black, director of regional programming for National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), agrees. "They're dealing with the same issues we're grappling with," he says.
Jewish preteens, even if they attend religious day schools, have other questions. "Kids want to know what distinguishes them as a Jew: What's different between them and other people? Why should they follow the Jewish religion?" he says.
Current events also matter. "Israel is a big issue: How do we respond? Who's right, who's wrong?" Rabbi Black says.
Browder believes this type of real-world tie-in can actually help keep kids interested in religion. "There has to be a relevance to their lives," she says. Churches are experiencing the same problems as schools: "Our children are constantly bombarded with electronic media ... then we expect them to get excited over paper and pencil tasks," she says. "This may be fine for young kids, but not when you have savvy, sophisticated preteens."