4 Effective Altar Calls for Your Ministry
There is an age-old tradition in our evangelical services. Altar time. That point at the end of the service when the congregation responds to what they’ve just heard. Usually by coming to the front of the room for prayer.
In kidmin, we’ve adopted the same practice. However, altar time can be especially challenging. You can be busy trying to pray and minister to the kids up front. Meanwhile, other kids are bored or creating distractions.
One year at camp during an especially long altar call, I had to stop one of my seven year olds from doing flips on the pews. He was bored out of his mind. After I got him to stop I began to wonder, “what is the disconnect?” “Why didn’t he respond like the others?” “Why didn’t remain reverent during this holy time?”
For kids, like new Christians, altar time is a foreign concept. No where else other than church are people expected to come to the front of the room, kneel, and pray. Meanwhile, everyone else is to wait reverently for the end. Kids don’t see this at home, at the movies, on TV or at school.
If you want a quality altar time with your kids, then you need to train them. Talk to them about what the altar means. Tell them why you want them to come up front. Show them what’s expected when they respond and when they stay back.
But this is just one way to do altar time. Over the years, I’ve learned that as much as I need to differentiate instruction with games, songs, and sermon helps, I need to change up my altar calls as well. Not every service needs to end with tear-filled prayers at the front of the room to be effective.
With this in mind here are 4 alternatives to the traditional altar call. (Side note: these will work for everyone!)
1. Call and Response
If you’ve been in church for a while, you’ve probably seen this one. We use it frequently when giving a salvation call. The pastor or leader is ending the service and asks everyone to respond by raising their hand. Some leaders get really bold and ask people to stand. Either way, it’s a way for the audience to signify to the leader that they’re ready to take some kind of action.
I’ve used both of these in my own kidmin, with great success. But there is a third way. Instead of just asking kids to raise their hands or stand, I ask them to write. As part of my close, I have my volunteers pass out paper and pencils or crayons. Then I challenge kids to write what they’re thinking. They are to think of ways to act on what they’ve heard and write it down. Or to write a name of a person they know needs Jesus or healing. As the leader in the room, I can take these up or encourage my kids to take the paper home with them. Several times, I’ve had kids attach the requests to a cross as a symbol of laying down our burdens.
No matter what you use, you want as many kids to respond as possible. This is an easy on ramp for kids to think about the applications of what they just heard.
2. Silent Prayer
One spiritual discipline that is lost in today’s culture is silence. Walk into any store or place of business and you’ll see people with an airpod in their ear. We don’t know how to sit in the quiet and listen. However, it is in the silence where we can hear God the most. Silence is one of the spiritual disciplines, and we can teach our kids to hear the voice of God.
Instead of asking all kids to come to the front, I’ll challenge them to sit quietly for 30, 60, or 90 seconds and listen for what God is saying to them. Sometimes I’ll challenge them to write what they’ve heard. The first few times you do this, most kids won’t hear anything. Just getting them to sit quietly for 30 seconds can be difficult. However, as they develop the practice everyone (including you) can begin to hear God speak.
Since prayer is communication, we need to teach our kids to listen to God, not just talk to him.
3. Come to the Altar
I already talked about this one in the introduction. However, if you’re going to use this method, take some time to explain what you expect. Every. Time.
Talk to the kids about coming up to the front and what they can do when they get there. Tell them why you call it an altar and not just the front of the stage. Tell them what they’re steps forward mean. Are they taking a step of faith? Are they committing to action? Are they confessing a sin or weakness? You need to make it crystal clear what they’re responding to. Don’t do a combined call. It muddies the water, and kids (and adults for that matter) will lose what you’re asking them to do.
Similarly, before you begin the call, talk to the kids who won’t respond. Give them something to do. I like to encourage kids to reach out their hands and pray for those who responded. If they don’t want to do that then they can sit quietly and pray. While I will have some volunteers up front, I will have even more in the audience to keep distractions to a minimum.
Going back to the camp altar call and the flipping kid, I realized he needed to be released. I grabbed another volunteer and asked them to take the kids who hadn’t responded outside. This allowed the kids who did respond to do so without distraction and kept the others from getting into trouble.
4. Discuss in group
So far all these calls are centered on the individual response. However, sometimes kids need to talk it out. They need to hear ideas and process what they’ve heard. This is a great use for small groups. I usually have my groups meet at the end of the service. Part of their circle time is to talk about what they’ve heard and respond. They will explore applications of the Word, spend time in prayer, and discuss what they can do.
I encourage my group leaders to use any or all the methods I’ve mentioned above. To help them, I give a quick training as part of my pre-service meeting.
None of these types of altar calls originated with me. I’ve collected them over the year with different curriculums I’ve used. Namely, TruFire, 252 Kids, High Voltage Kids, and Bible Engagement Project. Your curriculum can help you plan an effective altar time that supports the lesson and your overall ministry goals.
Your altar calls don’t have to be difficult, frustrating, monotonous, or confusing. Change things up, set expectations, cast vision, and challenge your kids. As you do, you’ll see them grow in their faith and in Christ. And that’s what ministry is all about.