After I finished leading a volunteer training, one of the toddler leaders came up to me and asked how we can teach our toddlers about prayer and invite them to pray and worship when many of them don’t have a full understanding of the gospel and aren’t officially “saved” yet. I gently explained that we absolutely should pray and worship with toddlers.

In fact, we shouldn’t make a full intellectual understanding of the gospel a prerequisite for a child to begin responding to God.

Toddlers may not yet understand sin, salvation, the cross, or the whole story of redemption in the way an older child or adult can. But they can know that God made them and knows them. Young children can experience His presence. They can learn that Jesus loves them. They can also talk to God, listen to Bible stories, sing songs of praise, express thankfulness, and begin to develop a genuine friendship with God—all in ways that make sense for their age and stage.

After that conversation, our nursery ministry rose to the next level, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to walk past the nursery and toddler rooms and see babies smiling and clapping during worship and toddlers opening a storybook Bible and talking about it.

Young children can experience [God’s] presence. They can learn that Jesus loves them.

Casting a vision for the value and importance of ministry for the nursery acknowledges that God can begin forming a child’s faith at any age and makes space to build a faith foundation that babies and toddlers can grow into.

The Ministry of the Nursery Matters

Scripture gives us plenty of reason to take children’s spiritual formation seriously. Psalm 8:2 specifically speaks of praise coming from infants and young children. Jesus welcomed and blessed children rather than treating them as people who needed to wait until they were old enough to understand.

Throughout Scripture, God also works through and speaks to children: Miriam helped protect her baby brother Moses; Samuel heard and responded to God’s voice as a boy; Jeremiah was called by God even before birth; and John the Baptist responded to the presence of Jesus while still in the womb.

And consider the disciples. Jesus called them to follow Him before they fully understood who He was or what He was going to accomplish through His death and resurrection. Their understanding grew as they followed Him. Following Jesus came before complete understanding.

Faith Formation from the Beginning

That’s an important picture for how we can approach faith formation for babies and toddlers. We don’t expect a toddler to have a miniature version of an adult’s theology. I heard someone once pray over kids that one day, they would grow up and become real disciples and followers of Jesus.

But the truth is: They have begun a journey of knowing God and loving Him even at a young age.

Through our nursery ministry, we can help them take the next step they’re capable of taking. A toddler may not be able to explain the gospel, but they can learn, “God made me,” “God knows me,” “Jesus loves me,” “I can talk to God,” and “I can praise God.”

Our goal is to create an environment where they can encounter God’s Word, experience God’s love through caring adults, and practice responding to God in developmentally appropriate ways. We’ll keep building upon the foundation as they grow.

So yes—we pray with toddlers. We should worship with toddlers. We should teach them to talk to God. As leaders, we should give them opportunities to praise, thank, trust, and love Him. We should never underestimate what God can do in a young child’s heart simply because that child cannot yet articulate the full gospel.

Why We Should Pray and Teach

Biblical literacy and spiritual formation begin long before a child can fully understand salvation. We are not waiting for children to become spiritually capable; we are nurturing the spiritual capacity God has already given them, and it can start from the very beginning.

I remember holding my infant in my arms and whispering prayers and Scripture over him. I kept doing it every night, and eventually I added biblical affirmations. He’s now 10 years old, and he says these truths with me.

Babies can experience God’s love through the loving care of the people around them. They can hear God’s Word, hear and engage in songs of worship, experience prayer, and become familiar with the rhythms and language of faith. When we hold a baby while we pray, sing over them, read Scripture to them, or tell them that God loves them, we aren’t pretending they understand every word. We’re surrounding them with the story of who God is.

The nursery is not simply a place to provide childcare during worship services. It’s a ministry environment where the foundations of faith are being laid.

A theology of the nursery recognizes that babies and toddlers are important to God now and that they can experience Him. While they may not yet understand Bible lessons or memorize Scripture, they are already learning the basic truths that will shape how they eventually understand God, themselves, and others.

A theology of the nursery recognizes that babies and toddlers are important to God now and that they can experience Him.

Nursery young girl learning to walk
Credit: Getty Images/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Rawpixel

A Biblical Foundation for Nursery Ministry

Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly calls His people to pass faith from one generation to the next. Psalm 78:4-7 says: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” We’re called to intentionally tell the next generation about Him from the very beginning.

Deuteronomy 6:5–7 provides another important foundation: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength … Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home …” We can bring discipleship into everyday life for children.

For babies and toddlers, faith formation happens through consistent experiences, loving relationships, and simple truths repeated again and again. Toddlers learn best through concrete examples, familiar routines, songs, movement, and stories.

My kids loved the song “My God Is So Big” when they were toddlers. I one day heard my daughter singing it to a friend at the park and telling her friend, “Did you know that they’re His? The mountains! He made them!” She didn’t just remember the song—she learned about God from it.

How They Learn Faith

Babies and Toddlers learn through:

  • Repetition and routine
  • Imitating trusted adults
  • Songs, play, and movement
  • Short Bible stories
  • Positive relationships
  • Sensory experiences

Babies and toddlers might not be able to explain what they believe, but they’re forming powerful impressions about God and His big story.

When a loving nursery volunteer kneels to greet a child, comforts him when he’s upset, and consistently repeats God’s truths, the toddler begins to develop a theological understanding of God’s love.

Use simple, repeatable truths:

  • God made you.
  • God knows you.
  • Jesus loves you.
  • The Holy Spirit leads you.
  • The Bible is God’s big story.
  • The Bible is true.

Read short Bible stories repeatedly. Repetition is a way toddlers and babies learn. Keep lessons brief and interactive.

Give them opportunities to pray and worship. Prayer is one of the simplest ways we can help children develop a friendship with God. And just as a child’s understanding of God grows over time, their prayers can grow with them.

At young ages, they may repeat prayers or pray rhyming prayers, or pray about what they see or are interested in. At age two, my son used to pray, “Dear God. Thank you for my baseball. Thank you for toys. Amen.”

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Practical Nursery Ministry Applications for Churches

If faith formation begins at birth, then nursery ministry is not childcare; it is discipleship.

Redefine the Nursery’s Purpose and Values

Many churches unintentionally communicate that the nursery exists to support adults attending worship services. While providing care is important and is a way to minister to parents, we can cast a vision for a greater mission. Consider your church’s mission statement, your children’s ministry’s mission statement, and your nursery’s purpose.

Here are some examples.

The nursery ministry exists to:

  • Introduce children to the love of God
  • Partner with parents in spiritual formation
  • Create safe and nurturing environments for babies and toddlers
  • Build positive early associations with church where they feel welcomed and loved

Our nursery values:

  • Faith formation begins at birth. We believe children are part of God’s story from their very beginning and are never too young to begin experiencing God’s love.
  • Babies are a part of our church family. We welcome infants (in the nursery and the sanctuary) as valued members of the church family.
  • We nurture the beginnings of faith. Through loving relationships, Scripture, prayer, worship, and age-appropriate experiences, we lay the earliest foundations for a child’s faith.
  • We create experiences that help babies and toddlers encounter God’s love. The youngest children can experience God’s love, hear God’s Word, experience worship, and be a part of prayer.
  • We introduce the language and rhythms of faith. We talk about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; pray over children; sing songs of worship; read Scripture; and celebrate the truths of God’s story.
  • We partner with parents and caregivers. The nursery is one part of a child’s faith formation. We equip and encourage parents to continue nurturing faith through the everyday rhythms of home.
  • Every child is known, loved, and welcomed. From their earliest days, we want children to experience the truth that they are known by God, loved by Jesus, and part of God’s family.

Raise the Bar of Expectation for Volunteers

When your children’s ministry embraces this theology of the nursery, you’ll begin to see every cuddle, every prayer, every song, and every blessing as part of God’s work in forming the faith of the next generation.

Train volunteers to see themselves as “first faith influencers” rather than babysitters. My toddler volunteer who questioned me after the volunteer training became the most excited spiritual leader for the toddlers once she was inspired and encouraged. She would dress up in fun costumes to make the kids laugh, and every time she opened the Bible, the kids could feel and see her excitement and love for it.

Remind your volunteers that every interaction with babies and toddlers can be discipleship. Holding a baby or comforting a crying toddler can be a way for them to experience God’s love and care.

Teach your volunteers to be intentional with playing, singing, and teaching in the nursery. Just because the Bible story only takes 30 seconds to tell, doesn’t mean it’s not important. Remind them that their consistent and welcoming presence matters to babies and toddlers (and parents!). They’re doing more than filling a volunteer slot. They’re helping shape a child’s faith story.

When your children’s ministry embraces this theology of the nursery, you’ll begin to see every cuddle, every prayer, every song, and every blessing as part of God’s work in forming the faith of the next generation.

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