Helping Our Children Grow in Faith

“Helping Our Children Grow in Faith offers a thoughtful, accessible, and practical introduction to the basic building blocks of effective ministries with children. Robert J. Keeley takes seriously children and their spiritual development, challenging congregations to move beyond simplistic approaches that don’t fully engage children. In the process, he invites leaders to transform congregations to become communities where children are included, loved, valued, and nurtured by a whole community of caring Christians.”

Eugene C. Roehlkepartain

“Drawing on his rich experience as a Children’s Ministry Director, Dr. Keeley offers practical suggestions for welcoming children into the faith community as authentic participants. He envisions church as a ‘child-friendly culture,’ an environment healthy for the spiritual growth of children. And he points the way to forming such a community.”

Cathy Stonehouse

“I loved this book! Robert Keeley points us in the right direction for building a ministry strategy with children. It is a delight to find someone with a clear vision of how the entire life of the church needs to be developed if we want our children to have a healthy, growing faith in Jesus Christ. This is a ‘must read’ for every children’s pastor and lay leader who cares about the spiritual nurture of children.”

Dr. Kevin E. Lawson

“Biblical,’ ‘practical,’ and ‘scholarly’ is one way to describe Robert J. Keeley’s book. ‘Warm,’ ‘gentle,’ and ‘encouraging’ are another set of descriptors. Helping Our Children Grow in Faith weaves personal experience with scholarly research and biblical perspectives in offering pastors, parents, and church educators practical wisdom while gently challenging them to consider new ways to offer children a rich, vibrant faith.”

George Brown

“Helping Our Children Grow in Faith is an engaging look at the opportunities and challenges of nurturing children’s faith. Professor Keeley’s clear explanation of faith nurture and thoughtful examination of the role of parents and congregations in the process is a refreshing invitation for the church to reprioritize its children’s ministry.”

Darwin Glassford

“Helping Our Children Grow in Faith is an excellent resource for shoring up children’s growth in faith. It also is an entry point for exploring the burgeoning field of resources available that address the faith and spiritual life of children.”

Scottie May

“Keeley has done us all a great service and made very insightful material available. I’ve always wanted our children to grow in faith, and I’ve worked hard at it. But now I understand better how it happens, what it takes, and how one stage is different from another. Growing their faith won’t happen without growing a church in which they can grow. This book will take you inside the church by taking you inside the process of forming a child’s faith!”

Howard Vanderwell

“Robert Keeley combines biblical grounding, educational research, and much experience to create this down-to-earth guide. Readers will find here not only practical advice but also a wise proposal about changing our congregational cultures in ways that benefit young and old.”

Debra Rienstra

“Though this book includes lots of specific ‘we could do that’ ideas, it is mainly a sweeping vision book. I’d buy it for a parent or committee member who is new to children’s ministry or for one who has ‘done it all’ and needs to remember what it’s all about.”

Carolyn Brown

“Robert Keeley masterfully describes some of the best current ideas for nurturing children’s spiritual development—intentional intergenerationality, the significance of story, the role of wonder—and illustrates them with colorful family stories and incisive vignettes from a variety of church settings.”

Holly Allen

“‘Biblical,’ ‘practical,’ and ‘scholarly’ is one way to describe Robert J. Keeley’s book. ‘Warm,’ ‘gentle,’ and ‘encouraging’ are another set of descriptors. Helping Our Children Grow in Faith weaves personal experience with scholarly research and biblical perspectives in offering pastors, parents, and church educators practical wisdom while gently challenging them to consider new ways to offer children a rich, vibrant faith.”

George Brown Jr.