Research Articles

Is there a place for young children in the modern-day UK church? Investigating approaches to faith nurture in the early years

We’re excited to tell you that a new paper has been published investigating whether there is a place for young children in the modern-day UK church. This was co-written by Sarah Holmes, Emma Olorenshaw and Ann Casson.

Here are the key findings:

• It was very clear that families with young children do wish to engage with their local church and wider Christian community, but often find existing approaches unsupportive and unhelpful.
• Significant adjustments are therefore required by churches to adjust the ethos and approaches to faith nurture to better serve the needs of young children.
• We recommend more flexibility and inclusivity within the church environment, enhanced partnership with parents, and greater church focus on co-constructing faith nurturing pathways within the home and church context to align more with relationships within the child’s microsystem.

Read the paper in full if you want to think about this more in-depth and see some of the data collected as part of this project.