(This post was written by Gina McClain, Director of Children’s Ministries)

This is a great question to ask.  In my experience in leading kids ministry, it is highly common that kids in their early elementary years begin asking questions about salvation & baptism.  They’re at a stage in life where they can internalize the gospel message.  Where Jesus’ death on the Cross becomes personal.  Where they understand it’s their sin Jesus died on the cross to erase.  It’s their life Jesus saved.  And this understanding is a process.

This understanding is a process.  The challenge for parents is determining where our kids are in that process.  In my experience with my own kids I’ve found that there is an ongoing conversation we want to have with our kids before and after they are baptized.  Why?  Because there can be a distance between our child’s personal salvation and their own assurance in it.  And we can all agree that our assurance in what God is doing in our lives solidifies when…

• Our willingness to trust Him is evident in every part of our life
• We can articulate our faith (why we believe what we believe)
• Our greatest desire is to share our faith with others

There are a series of simple questions I like to explore with kids when determining whether or not they’re ready for salvation and/or baptism.  We’ve made these questions available on our website here so you (as a parent) can use these tools in your conversations with your child.  There’s a great video for elementary aged kids to watch that unpacks the gospel message, then there are two pdf links below the video.  One is for the Salvation conversation while the other focuses on Baptism.  Neither of them are intended to be a script, however we have provided questions to explore along with the basic responses you are looking for.  My hope is that you can use this more as a guide helping you recognize where your child’s understanding is solid and where to press in a little more.  Each question has a scriptural basis provided in blue so you can do further research if you’d prefer.

Our next step is providing a tool for parents of kids that have made the decision to accept Christ as their Savior but still need a ‘check up’ on occasion to further solidify their understanding of the decision they made.  We’ll let you know when that’s available…