Christian ministry

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In

Age-specific ministry

As churches attempt to meet the needs of their congregations, they often separate their members into groups according to age categories. Age-specific groups meet for religious study including

• Nursery
• Pre-school
• Children, generally
  elementary age
  students
• students
• Young Adults, designed for university-age students
• Adults, which is often broken up into
  senior adults
  .

Advantages and disadvantages

There are several advantages to the concept of age-specific ministries.

• Many
  grade school
  and enjoy the ability to continue a similar format in church.
• These ministries allow churches to provide 'age-appropriate' activities and content to maximize spiritual education and growth as well as peer group
  fellowship
  .
• Ministries often provide fellowship activities outside of the church service that encourage the involvement of non-church going friends and relatives.

Age-specific ministry does have certain disadvantages, mostly stemming from the separation of children from the primary church functions.

• In terms of religious education, the 'socialization' of children into the faith community is one important approach that requires connecting the children and family with the wider congregation.
• These ministries may increase the possibility of child abuse within the church as it does increase the amount of time children spend without the supervision of their particular parent or caretaker or the presence of the congregation at large. It is worth noting, however, that many churches hire certified teachers to fill these positions and most perform background checks on anyone that may come into supervisory contact with children.
• Certain forms of these ministries reduce the role that "family life" plays in the development of children, because of the separation of differing age groups into differently facilitated programs. In some ministries, the children are also placed separate from the rest of the congregation, such as during Sunday school and youth programs. Many of these programs, however, take place at different times from the primary church service, and in many churches, only children of elementary school age and younger are separated from the main service to provide more relevant material to their age group.

Creative and performing arts

Nearly all churches feature some form of

If activities such as these are held at a church but are not organized primarily by its members and do not contain religious overtones, the activity would better be classified as church reordering, rather than ministry.

Sacramental ministry, Catholic Church

Theologians^[