Resources to Keep Young Christians’ Faith Growing

I spent the summer months re-reading our Grow Christians catalog, and wow, it stirred up a lot of feelings. I’m so grateful to have been part of this faithful, honest, vulnerable, creative community all these years. As our site transitions into a static archive of posts, I’m sharing a list of resources for your ongoing ministry of cultivating the faith of children in your are.

Resources from Grow Christians’ Contributors

Growing Christians: Celebrating the Saints and Holy Days at Home – this is the book we wrote together that Forward Movement published in 2020. Entries for each holy day feature a Grow Christians post, the appointed scripture, a responsorial activity to engage children, a prayer, and a bit of history or context on the day itself. This book holds up well and makes a great gift for households looking to stretch Christian formation beyond Sunday morning.

Wiggles & Wonder – Bird Treacy’s Substack that offers progressive Christian formation resources tied to the Revised Common Lectionary. She includes commentary, book suggestions, conversation starters, and sermon illustrations, as well as a Resource Round Up.

Bonnie Smith Whitehouse’s books – I received an ARC of Bonnie’s book Seasons of Wonder to read and review for Grow Christians. It became a staple of our kitchen table home altar for the following year, every Sunday night, opening it up to read the chapter for the coming week. In the past four years, I bought countless copies to give new parents and find myself recommending it all the time.

Coloring Outside the Lines, Again – Cara Meredith’s Substack that features sermons, book suggestions, parenting reflections, and hope.

Friends of Grow Christians

Building Faith’s Home Practices – This is a collection of Building Faith posts that feature ideas and resources to enhance your faith in the context of home, from devotional recommendations to spiritual practices in the kitchen.

Kayla Craig’s Substack – I found Kayla Craig on Instagram years ago through her short prayers for parents. I bought her book Every Season Sacred and can fully recommend it for parents of younger and older children (she offers prayers for both!). And then I bought another book, To Light Their Way: A Collection of Prayers and Liturgies for Parents. Both are available on her website at https://www.kaylacraig.com/books

Traci Smith – Traci is full of insight, wisdom, and creativity, and I recommend all of her resources for ministering to and with children. Treasure Box Tuesday is a weekly email full of usable content for parents and ministry leaders, with both free and paid versions available. This is also available through her Substack. Traci’s book Prayers for Faithful Families offers prayers for every occasion, ordinary and extraordinary, in language children can understand. It’s a small way to recognize everyday moments in our lives as holy. Her Faithful Families book series offers practical ways to incorporate faith practices at home. Our family uses prayers and practices from the Advent and Christmas book every year, and the Lent, Easter, and Resurrection book has added depth to my church offerings. The books are written for younger children; however, they are easily adapted for tweens and teens.

Little Way Chapel – I’ve shared several of Alissa French Case’s posts on Grow Christians through the years. Little Way Chapel’s online shop is full of beautiful, meaningful, printable resources to help families observe Feast Days and holy seasons at home.

The Belonging Workshop – Mariko Clark and Rachel Eleanor, author and illustrator of The Book of Belonging, created this Substack to share contemplative, spiritual resources for grownups and families.

A Good and Joyful Thing – home to so many resources created by Emily Garcia. Bird recommended Emily’s Stations of the Cross for children in Wiggles and Wonder, and I’ve been following along ever since. It’s clear from her liturgies and church feast party plans that Emily truly values making church inviting and accessible to our youngest members.

Roots & Wings – Sarah Bentley Alred is the project director for this Lily endowed initiative designed to help congregations to practice vibrant intergenerational worship. She offers a monthly newsletter featuring ideas for intergen worship, resources, and research findings. You can sign up for the newsletter HERE..