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Creating Space for Spiritual Awareness in the Christian Faith Community
Recognising the Spiritual Nature of Children
Are children spiritual beings, and should the faith community be aware of this? Should churches begin nurturing children's spirituality from an early age, or wait until they are older?
These questions lie at the heart of the growing conversation about how to foster spiritual development during early childhood.
Until recently, the idea of babies or toddlers as spiritual beings was foreign to many. While it may be easier to see adults as capable of spirituality, Dr Lisa Miller (2016:14), a researcher in the field of spirituality and resilience, describes children as being biologically hardwired for spiritual connection. She defines spirituality as
“a sense of a close, personal relationship to God (or nature or the universe or whatever term each person used for a higher power) and a vital source of daily guidance” - (Miller, 2016:15).
All people are born with a natural desire and ability to connect with someone greater than themselves. For Christians, this “someone” is God.
This longing is not a modern phenomenon. It has existed since the creation of the world, yet the role of spirituality in early development has often gone unexplored in church settings.
We frequently make passing comments such as:
- Children are stronger than we think.
- They will bounce back from this crisis.
- Did you see how that little child prayed or worshipped in church last week?
- It was beautiful when two-year-old Taylor shared his sweets with the girl who had none. I wonder what prompted him to do that?
While we admire these acts, we seldom pause to consider where they come from or how they reflect children’s innate spirituality.
Holly Catterton Allen (2023) states,
“Children are born as spiritual beings. They are created in the image of God and they are endowed from birth with the capacity to relate with others, with God, and with themselves.”
She suggests that spirituality is as essential to being human as breathing. Children express their spirituality in the way they engage with their world, through wonder, awe, connection, and compassion.
Yust (2003) affirms that being created in God’s image suggests an innate capacity for spiritual awareness. Toddlers and babies are often filled with curiosity and delight. When nurtured, these qualities can support spiritual development from the earliest days of life.
Young Mothers and Children in the Faith Community
Each Sunday, across South Africa, countless pregnant women and mothers arrive at church with their babies or toddlers. Often, they remain in the service until the child becomes disruptive and then step outside. Rarely are these mothers and young children intentionally welcomed, engaged, or seen as having a meaningful place in the worshipping community.
Some parents, particularly mothers, stop attending services altogether because they feel their young children are not welcome or that managing them during church is too difficult. This experience may stem from the church's lack of awareness regarding children’s spirituality. When a child’s spiritual capacity is not acknowledged, their presence in church may be tolerated rather than celebrated.
Although the home remains the primary space for spiritual formation, the church plays a vital role in supporting and affirming that process. The faith community must become a place where pregnant women, parents, and children are seen, welcomed, and included in shared spiritual life.
“We cannot be a true community of faith if not all are equally welcomed and serving God together.”
The Fruit of Nurturing Children’s Spirituality
One of the outcomes of nurturing spirituality is the formation of faith. John Westerhoff (2012) asks a challenging question:
“Will our children have faith?”
He confronts the faith community with the need to evaluate not only the age at which faith development begins but also the methods we use to guide children into a lasting relationship with God.
Embracing children’s spirituality requires a willingness to reimagine our practices. It demands that churches, caregivers, and ministries take intentional steps to help children become people who love and serve God.
Understanding the Stages of Faith
There is a simple saying:
“First I loved my teacher, then I loved my teacher’s Bible, and then I loved my teacher’s God.”
This illustrates how faith can grow from loving relationships. The first people children love are their parents and caregivers. As they are nurtured with care and consistency, they begin to internalise the values that underlie that care. For Christian families, those values come from a relationship with God.
Only after experiencing love and belonging do children begin to connect with the source of those values: God Himself.
1. Experienced Faith
Westerhoff describes the first stage as experienced faith: faith formed through the senses. Children observe and participate in rituals such as communion, baptism, home groups, or other church gatherings. They may not understand what is happening, but the experience of being present leaves a deep impression.
This type of faith, typically formed in the first decade of life, is shaped by what children see, hear, and feel. Allen (2023) notes that warm, intimate, and continuous expressions of love are essential not just for healthy human development but for Christian community as well.
For young children, inclusion in a Christian community builds belonging and trust, laying the foundation for future faith development.
2. Affiliative Faith
Affiliative faith emerges when a person begins to identify with a Christian community. Typically developing during adolescence, it builds upon experienced faith and cannot emerge without that prior foundation.
In this stage, adolescents often express belonging by saying things like, “Come to my youth group,” or “This is my church.” It is a stage where faith becomes tied to community and shared identity.
When younger children are consistently nurtured in community, the development of affiliative faith becomes a natural next step.
3. Searching Faith
Searching faith is characterised by questioning and internalising what has previously been taught. It often arises in late adolescence or early adulthood. During this stage, young people wrestle with their beliefs and evaluate whether they truly own their faith or merely inherited it.
This process may lead some to temporarily withdraw from the church. For others, it becomes a journey toward deeper commitment. Either way, the journey is necessary. Searching faith must be given space if it is to lead to genuine ownership.
4. Owned Faith
Owned faith is the final stage in Westerhoff’s model. At this point, a person can say with conviction: “This is my faith.” It is no longer their parents’ faith, or something they merely observed. It is a belief and trust they have made their own.
Westerhoff stresses that owned faith cannot be reached without first experiencing and affiliating with a faith community. These earlier stages are essential scaffolding that supports lifelong faith.
Building Faith from the Ground Up
Westerhoff’s model shows that faith development is not instant. It is a layered and often non-linear journey, rooted in early experience.
The responsibility for nurturing a child’s spirituality lies not only with parents and caregivers but also with the faith community. Together, they create the spiritual and emotional infrastructure children need to face life’s challenges with resilience and grace.
By cultivating children’s spirituality from the earliest years, the church prepares them to grow into people who love and serve God wholeheartedly.
Welcoming Children’s Faith: A Shared Responsibility
The early childhood years are not simply a time of physical and emotional development — they are also a sacred window for spiritual growth. Children are born as spiritual beings, created in the image of God, and capable of forming deep connections with others and with Him.
Recognising and nurturing this innate spirituality lays the foundation for lasting faith. Whether through loving relationships, belonging in a faith community, or engaging in shared rituals, every experience contributes to their spiritual formation.
How we support this journey
Petra Institute has trained participants in more than 80 countries. Our approach is rooted in Biblical values, shaped through practical experience, and sustained through long-term partnerships.
We help communities deepen their understanding of God’s heart for children and design strategies to empower parents, leaders, and churches to nurture faith intentionally, starting from conception.
Our course, God, My Baby, and I: The First 1000 Days, helps caregivers and ministry leaders understand how to support a child’s spiritual development from the very beginning.
The Serving God Together: Becoming An Intergenerational Church (course) explores how to cultivate a church culture where faith is shared meaningfully between young and old, strengthening the entire community of believers.
How can we join hands with your church, organisation, or school?
Find out how to partner with us
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Holly Catterton Allen (2008). Nurturing children’s spirituality: Christian perspectives and best practices. Eugene, Or.: Cascade Books.
- Holly Catterton Allen (2021). Forming Resilient Children. InterVarsity Press.
- Holly Catterton Allen, Lawton, C. and Seibel, C.L. (2023). Intergenerational Christian Formation. InterVarsity Press.
- Miller, L. and Barker, T. (2016). The spiritual child: the new science on parenting for health and lifelong thriving. New York: Picador/St. Martin’s Press.
- Westerhoff, J.H. (2012). Will our children have faith? Harrisburg, Pa: Morehouse Pub.
- Yust, K.-M. (2004). Real kids, real faith: practices for nurturing children’s spiritual lives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
