Children’s liturgy learning

Archdiocesan workshops on liturgy for children

Sue Ryan
9 November 2011

Workshops on children’s liturgy in the archdiocese this year have attracted a great deal of interest among those who work with children at Mass but struggle to understand the Church’s thinking.

In the 1963 Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy (14) the Bishops of the Second Vatican Council named the primary goal of the liturgical renewal as the full, conscious and active participation of all the faithful in the liturgy.

In 1973 the Congregation for Divine Worship issued the Directory for Children’s Masses to promote the participation of young children in the liturgy. This gives permission (#17) to celebrate the Liturgy of the Word with children during Sunday Mass.

This year the Archdiocesan Pastoral Services Unit has run four workshops where those involved in the Children’s Liturgy have been able to learn more about the role of the Liturgy of the Word in the development of children’s spirituality.

The workshops also show how the signs, symbols and actions of the Mass can be used to speak to the senses, so that children can experience the Mass more fully.

The workshop resources are interactive to support children’s experience of prayer, of listening to the scriptures and of understanding more fully the messages from the gospels. Liturgy of the Word enables children to experience the true nature of liturgy because they have an opportunity to speak and act out, the links they see between the gospel story and the events and relationships that are part of their lives.

Workshops, for those involved in the Ministry of Children’s Liturgy of the Word, will be held throughout 2012, before each liturgical season.

Images: Right: Noel De Luna from Titahi Bay, Cecilia Ross and Gillian Dudfield-Hendren from Mt Victoria.
Above: Pamela Gibbs from Levin, Pat Gee from Karori and Diana Evans from Waiwhetu.