Two weeks ago, I posted about a little interview I did with my nine-year old daughter. I asked her questions about God, about following Jesus, and about what it’s like for her to be in church and in worship. Here is the second part of what she said, along with a little bit of commentary from me.

Note that the picture above is not of my daughter, but she would like it because she loves the beach so much. The pictures in the article are of my church, Christ Church.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Do things that are kind or do things that are like Jesus, not like be unkind, or like lying about something, or like doing things that might hurt other people’s feelings.

What things do you notice in the church building? (her: what do you mean?) What things stand out to you in the place we pray?

The stained glass. The cross, because it’s gold and gets my attention. When daddy says his sermon.

(we have a large cross hanging at the transept. It is bronze, not gold, but it definitely gets your attention!)

What do you look at when I give my sermon?

I look at you. Or I look at the thing that I’m coloring and listen.

(always let children color in the pew. They’re still listening, even when they’re drawing or coloring!)

Why do you like hearing my sermons?

Because it’s about kind things, and there’s nice things. Your sermons are about good things to do or funny times you had, or true things about you sometimes.

(I wanted to go further into this last comment “true things about you,” but she stuck with her answer. I can only speculate on what she meant, but it sounds really interesting)

Would you like to hear sermons from other people?

Yeah, I’d like to hear what they would say, like, about God or Communion or other things.

What parts of Mass do you remember the most?

I usually remember Communion the most. I don’t remember your sermon by the next day, because I don’t think about it (me: haha, thanks). I think about when we first get our seat and are getting ready for church. I remember mostly the music.

Do you sing? (she shakes her head) You just listen?

Mm-hmm. And sometimes I go through the music books and I look for my favorite songs (which is in our supplement hymnal, Wonder Love & Praise)

How do you feel when you receive Communion?

I usually feel happy, because it tastes yummy. I like getting Communion.

(we bake our own bread at Christ Church, and she’s right. It’s pretty good. And, I think, it should be! It’s the Body of our Lord!)

What do you see adults doing during church?

At the very beginning, I see them find their seat, then Mommy says they’re usually praying. And during church, Mommy says that they’re praying. Sometimes they pray and sometimes they listen. Sometimes they just sit.

(if you ever wondered, apparently children are always watching us pray!)

How do you know that someone is praying?

They lean down and put their forehead on their fists like this (she mimics this). Or they bow for a little while, and then they stop bowing when they want to. Then they do it again. They can really do it whenever.

What else do you see people doing at church besides praying?

I see people talking to each other.

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I really like these answers. My daughter was a little shy, but she was also very interested in being asked these kinds of questions. I think that we should ask children more often what they think of church. I think my daughter did a bit of reflecting while she was thinking about her answers, which is very good and very healthy.

I remember a professor of mine in seminary used to take his son (especially when he was being rowdy), and sit somewhere out of the way and ask him to describe what he saw. “What is the priest doing now?” he would ask. Or “What do you see that’s important?” These are great questions, and they not only train children to be interested liturgical participants (what an official-sounding phrase!) but also just plain curious about the world around them. They’re given permission to ask questions, even about things like our liturgy, which we often think of as too sacrosanct to question.

I hope that this little exercise with my daughter will encourage you to talk to the young people in your church or in your life about what they see and notice at church.