About 35 children and their families gathered before the altar at Holy Trinity Church last month, some sitting on the floor, to learn about adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before they had an opportunity to try it themselves.
“Take a calming breath,” Kris Schmitt, the parish’s director of Catholic life, instructed the children. “Let’s get our bodies ready for church.”
During exposition, the children — the parish’s “Saints in Training” — held clipboards and pencils. Schmitt had instructed them to “draw what you see.”
The family-oriented night of praise and worship, called “Teach Me To Pray,” provided a space for families to sit in prayer together, without worry if the children made noise or needed to move around.
The evening began with dinner, followed by a “holy-half-hour” led by Holy Trinity’s associate pastor Father Mark Hamilton. The event was the last in a 10-month extension of last summer’s Vacation Bible School. Called “Saints in Training,” it’s designed to keep children and families more involved in learning about Scripture, prayer and parish life beyond the week-long Vacation Bible School, noted Chris Allison, Holy Trinity’s director of faith formation.
A flyer for the program spoke directly to parents: “Worried your kids won’t sit still in church? That’s okay — this night is for them too. … This gentle time of adoration is designed for families of all ages to learn how to be with the Lord together.”
The evening allows “kids to be up close,” noted Schmitt.
‘It’s a great way for my boys to learn about prayer and faith other than just in the classroom.’
— Rodney Vallejo, Holy Trinity Church parishioner
Families and children alike are responding well to the program, said Allison. One parent told her they gave their son the choice between soccer practice and adoration that evening.
“He chose adoration, and that decision affected his parents and siblings, too,” said Allison.
Parishioner Rodney Vallejo said after the prayer service that he tries to bring his family every month.
“It’s a great way for my boys to learn about prayer and faith other than just in the classroom,” he said.
Instead of feeling forced to pray, his kids “choose to come and see their friends,” noted Vallejo, gesturing as his sons played in the narthex with their friends.
The program, though in its early stages, is just as streamlined as it is lax. While there are expectations, they’re tailored to the family unit. Instead of shushing — the universal parenting tactic during Mass — parents had the opportunity to explain why it’s not okay to run around in church.
Following Benediction, the children, many of whom were too young and too short to reach the holy water font, practiced the sign of the cross with their parents on the way out. One toddler dropped their pacifier into the font, which prompted a chuckle from Father Hamilton.
“Now that’s what being a parent is all about,” Father Hamilton added, as the child’s father fished it out.
