How to Disciple Children Beyond Sunday School: Building a Mature Faith
How do we get the child from Sunday school to develop and sustain a mature faith?
Explore how churches and parents can disciple children to know Jesus and live out their faith beyond Sunday.
If the church has one job today, I believe it's this: Building the bridge between Sunday school and mature faith. When we consider how pews are emptying, that whole generations are missing from the church, and the rise of secularism, it becomes evident that there's a gap somewhere. This article ponders what we can do to bridge the divide.
I grew up in the church, yet my faith was never my own until it was suddenly tested at the age of 18. I fell through the cracks of church, but found my way back by the grace of God. Now I devote my days to finding ways to build the bridge I needed.
This article is part of a series on helping churches disciple younger generations: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Church: 7 Reasons and What We Can Do
May you find space here to pause, reflect, and abide.
Vine Creative Studio holds a collection of what I like to call 'encounter tools', resources connecting hearts with Jesus. You're welcome to try one out with my free Workbook on Living as a Wholehearted Follower.
"We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done." - Psalm 78:4
Identifying the divide we need to cross
Where the bridge is needed:
On the one side, we have Sunday school. In some churches, this side also extends into youth group or even a young adult gathering. Such age-specific ministries cater to the needs of a child at a specific age with a certain model of faith. The toddler does a craft, the primary school kid hears a Bible story, the teenager does Bible trivia, etc.
Way over on the other side, we have mature faith or let's say "grown up church". Here, everybody else - whole families, individuals, working-age people, and retired folks - sits in pews and (mostly) listens. The message is brought primarily through long theological discussion or inspirational words.
Yet somewhere between those two is a missing link. The child who heard the David and Goliath Bible lesson was never guided to do church this way - sit still, listen up, stay awake, don't scroll, don't move.
But the problem isn't simply that children aren't taught how to sit through an adult service. They aren't taught how to practise a faith that doesn't depend on an age-specific programme.
After Sunday school ends, the tween or teen is left behind, uncertain about how to get to the other side.
The role of church in the believer's life
If church was just a thing we do on Sundays, this wouldn't matter much. But we believe church is so much more, right?
The church is God's chosen method for building His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
It is the fellowship of believers, the place of accountability, the community of belonging.
Church is the family, the body, and the co-laborers in God's field (the world).
Youth need to understand that church is not just something we do because we do it. They often raise a lot of questions, which are misunderstood as doubts. But children are not necessarily being malicious when they want to know 'why?' we do church.
Children are not only "the future of the church", but in a very real sense, we need to teach them how to do church when they are grown up. Faith is not a solo journey. Church matters. We need to help them get there.
Building a bridge between Sunday school and mature faith
In recent years, the church has become a little bit obsessed with what can be done to get youth to return. Do we need better coffee, a few candles, or a more 'hip' worship team? Will a social media presence or recording our sermons make a difference?
Here's an unpopular opinion on how we get the missing generation back: What if we don't need another master plan? What if the answer we seek is not found in yet another seminar, bestselling book, or even a theological deep-dive into Scripture? What if we don't reinvent the wheel?
To move Sunday school into mature faith, something else is needed - or rather someone.
The bridge needed to cross the divide is discipleship of children.
J.T. English: “Success in ministry is not found in building programs but in building disciples.”
There are at least two important pillars to this discipleship bridge that are needed beyond Sunday school: Jesus and the parent. (And then there is the person walking across the bridge.)
church equips → parents model → child learns to personally follow Jesus
Discipleship is the personal aspect of faith. It moves faith beyond an ancient book into the relational realm and makes it more... tangible.
To disciple children means to walk alongside them and teach them about Jesus. You live out your faith so that they can see how it's really done. Not only in church; in traffic, on a hike, around the breakfast table.
And - children are discipled by Jesus (not really by you). You don't talk about Him, you lead them to Him. It's not spoon-feeding, but teaching them how to do it. He is their rabbi and they learn directly from Him.
Sunday school alone isn't enough. Children need to be discipled into a personal relationship with Jesus, and parents need to be equipped to continue that discipleship at home.
Help Children Develop a Personal Relationship With Jesus
As someone who worked in Kids ministry, I quickly started feeling... helpless. What can I possibly do in a one-hour session once a week to truly impact a child's life? How can I help them see that this is so much more than just a story; it is living water that will sustain them? Could I ever lead them to taste and see for themselves just how good the Lord is?
We were warned a lot in our seminary training that faith formation is not only experiential and event-focused. It is not a moment with God, but a lifelong thing. Yet, I've found the opposite is more dangerous. It's dangerous when they see the Bible as a storybook instead of a place of encounter.
If a child's faith depends on the Sunday-school environment to sustain it, then we've taught them to participate in faith, rather than practise faith.
This is where the church can still play a vital role - but it is not the church's job to merely point the child to Jesus, it is to take their hand and walk them over and then connect their hand with His. Too often, our lessons in Sunday school have been ABOUT God - rather than teaching the children that He's in the room with them.
When Peter was walking on the water, there was one thing that kept him afloat: keeping his eyes on Jesus. As the teenager walks from Sunday school towards church, across the tricky divide, it will be the pierced hands of Christ that will hold them up.
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. -Isaiah 35:8
How the church can help disciple kids to connect with Jesus (to get them across the divide):
Move Kids ministry away from entertainment and towards true faith formation.
Focus on the experiential side of faith: encounters with God and sensory elements.
Welcome exploration, questions, and even doubts - these encourage mature faith.
Jesus Himself is the One who gives a teenager or young adult the desire to be in church. A personal relationship abiding in Him and spending time in His Word is what will get them across the bridge.
Equip Parents to Disciple Their Children at Home
Sunday school does not end for the first time when a child graduates from it. It ends every Monday. I think the way this happens on a weekly basis gives a glimpse of how it will happen after the teenager's very last Sunday school lesson...
There is only so much that can be done on a Sunday. Important seeds can be planted, values can be instilled, and ideas can be generated. But those seeds need to be watered on Monday or they will dry out.
Faith is a whole-week thing. It's discipleship.
Discipleship can not be handed over or delegated to an institution or a place - because it is always deeply personal. In the life and faith formation of a child, the person who can best fulfil that role is the parent.
"Impress [My commands] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." - Deuteronomy 6:7
As someone who's about to become a parent for the first time, I feel genuinely stirred in my Spirit. How do I help this child develop a healthy identity of who they are in Christ? What can my husband and I do to ensure this child stays close to God forevermore? For years, I've thought about this question from the perspective of a kids-ministry worker. Now I'm beginning to think about it from the other side of the bridge too: what does it mean to be the parent who has to live this out on an ordinary Tuesday morning?
What can parents do to disciple their children at home?
Pray together (Our Father, pray a family prayer before meals, as a response to something that happens)
Be intentional to make a home that encourages time with God
Make Scripture practical, declare God-given identity over little ones
If you're looking for practical ways to continue faith conversations at home, Vine Creative Studio creates encounter tools designed to help families move from simply learning about faith to practising it together.
"Parenting is a commission to do all we can to raise our children to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ." - Chap Bettis
It is the Christian parent who is standing on the other side of that divide. They are the person who sent the child to Sunday school and they are the one beckoning now.
How the church can help Christian parents disciple kids across the divide:
If you're leading a Sunday school or kids church, partner with parents in doing so. Welcome their input, ask their advice, support what they're doing at home (or equip them to do it).
Address the elephant in the room: what to do if their teenager doesn't want to come to church. Help parents understand that this is not something to be ashamed of (or to ignore) and take their hands.
The child walking across the bridge
Whether it's knowing Jesus or learning from parents - these 2 pillars of the bridge have something important in common. They hold the tension in place, but the child is the one who has to walk across.
We need to invite agency, empower them, and teach them how to "own" their faith. We need to affirm their human dignity and ask them questions, allowing them the opportunity to truly see themselves in it.
For my thesis project, I interviewed young adults who fell away from their churches of origin. Through listening to their experiences, I learned something valuable: They didn't need more Bible lessons or complex programs. They needed to be allowed the space to abide in Christ - just be with Him, enjoy His presence, and learn to know His voice.
"God's Word is not a brick to throw at people; it's bread to feed people."
You cannot survive on second-hand manna. You need a personal, fresh revelation from above. You need daily bread from the Father. Not somebody else's handed-down leftovers.
Bread does not fulfil its role when someone's just watching you eat it or even if you pass them bits like a mama bird.
Children need to learn to encounter God for themselves. No one can do it for them - not Sunday school and not parents. Even if they grow up hearing about Him, if they don't know Him, they will still die of hunger.
We need to teach them how to pick it up, ask "manna" (what is this?), digest it, understand it, and apply it.
I hold a physical Bible and I invite them to touch the book or read from it. I ask them to live themselves into the story. I ask more questions than I teach. I don't pray over them, they pray on their own. I let them sit in silence and talk to God.
What does a child actually need to learn to do when nobody is running the programme for them anymore?
Mature faith isn't simply knowing more theology or attending adult church. It's being able to follow Jesus when the programme, teacher and parent aren't standing beside you.
They need to learn:
how to read Scripture for themselves
how to pray
how to ask questions
how to discern what Scripture means
how to make decisions based on their faith
how to worship outside of a church service
how to recognise God's presence
how to deal with doubt
how to seek Christian community
how to practise their faith when nobody is making them
What happens to faith between childhood and adulthood?
Young adulthood and the teenage years are marked by decisions. While kids go to Sunday school when they attend church with their parents, the divide becomes apparent as soon as they get to make a choice for themselves.
Summary: What happens to faith between childhood and adulthood?
What a church can do:
Let Sunday school truly lead kids to know Jesus
Equip parents to disciple kids during the week
Empower children and give them agency to walk across the bridge
When our Sunday school programs can truly disciple children to know Jesus as their rabbi, to abide in Him, to read His Word, and to apply it to their lives - the end of Sunday school does not have to be the end of the road. It can be the start of something beautiful.
When whole families come around children in their walk with Jesus, showing them what it means to live with Him, tell the world about Him - that bridge takes shape.
When a child's faith moves from "My teacher says..." or "My dad says..." to "This is what I believe..." - something amazing can happen. But first they need agency.
Remember that God is faithful. He can be trusted to finish the good work He started in each child's heart. We don't have to reinvent the wheel; but we might have to strip it back to the basics instead.
Where to next?
If you've read this post and feel a beckoning within to go even deeper, you might be interested in the following resources about making disciples of younger generations:
P.S. Want to be the first to discover more resources for helping younger generations grow into faithful followers of Jesus?
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