Evangelicals Now
<< March 1997 >>

Children in Renewal

The involvement of children in the use of the gifts of the Spirit

Children in Renewal
By Alan Price
Hodder & Stoughton
207 pages. £6.99
ISBN 0 340 65160 1

Children in Renewal explores just what its title suggests - involving children in the use of some of the gifts of the Spirit. It is not about how to set up a children's programme. It is not a study of child development. It is a plea, from Alan Price, that we not only allow, but actively encourage the moving of the Holy Spirit for themselves, as defined in charismatic practice.
The author has read widely in the area of children's ministry and quotes from many sources. It would certainly seem that he has thought through his position carefully.
I suspect that much of the content of Children in Renewal will be controversial in some Christian settings. While I am fully committed to the principle of children growing in discipleship and learning to walk in the Spirit, I would not be fully comfortable with the practical approach outlined in the book. The emphasis seems weighted on the side of the more 'spectacular' gifts of the Spirit, such as tongues, prophecy and healing etc. I would have been more at ease if the author had talked about children manifesting other gifts as well, such as pastoral care, hospitality and evangelism.
However, a good bit of controversy is no reason to dismiss a book! I found much to challenge me, and to shape my thinking as one who has some influence in worship and children's work within my church. Alan Price (a captain in the Church Army) notes: 'Many adults do not expect God to do much with children, especially, it seems, in charismatic churches! All too often the children's ministry is given a low priority and is seen as a kind of 'holding operation' until ... they can become 'proper' Christians ...' (p. 19). Good food for thought - even for discussion! There is also helpful material to stimulate our thinking about children and worship in chapters 10 and 11.
Although I would not feel able to adopt Captain Price's style for myself, I did come away from this book encouraged and challenged again to see my own children, and the children in my church, nurtured more carefully into growing maturity and Christian experience now, rather than later.

Janet Gaukroger