Presented September 17, 2001 at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Sacramento, CA, this Children’s Moment is a bit of a production and requires adult volunteers, the more diverse the better. The Speakers can be adapted however you want – the examples here are for illustration. You may want to use this for a celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King or some other special service.
Once the Children are seated, and adult, White male announces “I am a Child of God. All Children of God look like me. They are men, they are White, they are Christian, they are…”
SPEAKER #2 interrupts by standing and saying, “I am a Child of God.” Speaker #1 stops, looks at Speaker #2, and says, “But you are not a man!”
Speaker #2 announces, with persistence, “I AM A CHILD OF GOD.”
Speaker #1: “Then come join me, Sister.” Speaker #1 continues. “We are Children of God. We are adults, we are White, we are Christian…”
SPEAKER #3 (African American) interrupts. “I am a child of God.”
SPEAKER #1: “But you are not White like us.”
Speaker #3: “I AM A CHILD OF GOD!”
SPEAKER #1: “Then come join us, Brother.”
Speaker #3 leaves his pew and joins the others with the Children.
SPEAKER #1: We are Children of God. We speak English, we are adults, we are Christian…”
SPEAKER #4 (a person speaking in a language other than English): (“I am a Child of God”)
SPEAKER #1: But you are not speaking English like us! You are not a Child of God!”
Speaker #4 (first in the international language, then in English): “I AM A CHILD OF GOD!”
SPEAKER #1 says (in int’l language first, then in English): “Then come join us.”
SPEAKER #5 stands up and signs: “I am a Child of God.”
SPEAKER #1: But you can’t even speak God’s words like us! You are not a Child of God!”
SPEAKER #5 emphatically signs: “I AM A CHILD OF GOD!”
SPEAKER #1 speaks and signs: “Then come join us.”
SPEAKER #1 to the Children: “God’s children come in all colors, all ages. We speak different languages, have different skills, and backgrounds. But each one, no matter where they are from or how they act is our neighbor. And what does Jesus tell us to do about neighbor? That’s right – we are to love them.
PRAYER: Thank you God for reminding us that when one neighbor falls, a hundred of your Children will help them stand again. Your loving family will always stand together, in the name of Jesus’ love.