If you want to change the world, start a toddler group!

Misunderstood and underutilised

I have become more and more convinced that the toddler group is the most misunderstood and underutilised activity in the life of the Church. It has immense value in transforming the lives of entire families and holds the potential to begin lifelong discipleship journeys. Gavin Calver, CEO of the Evangelical Alliance, formally of Youth for Christ, is well known for saying: “If you want to change the world, start a youth group, it’s what Jesus did.” I don’t disagree with Gavin, I love youth groups, I’ve been around youth groups for longer than I can remember. But if I’m really honest, I want to go back even earlier than where Gavin starts. I say, if you want to change the world, start a toddler group.

Quick confession, I haven’t always felt this way, in fact I went to extraordinary lengths to avoid any involvement with early years, not least opting to complete a teaching practice in a school placed in special measures, rather than accept a transfer to an early-year setting! There was something rather terrifying about the prospect of working with under-fives, perhaps best illustrated by Buzz and Woody and Co’s trip to Sunnyside Daycare in Toy Story 3. More worrying, perhaps, than misplaced anxiety about crowds of screaming infants, is the misunderstandings we hold about this age group and their God-connections – their ability to have a relationship with God.

This is illustrated in a conversation I once had with a church leader: “We don’t want a toddler group, we want a youth group; we want them to at least be old enough to understand and make a response to God.” This so utterly ignores what the Bible tells us about God’s relationship with the youngest members of our community: “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies” (Psalm 8:2).