Do you think for some churches it is daunting to engage in children's work?
I think it can be but I don't think it has to be. There are examples where elderly congregations have revitalised the life and work of the church by focusing on children's work. One example is of a church that felt it needed to put their energy and enthusiasm into running a parent toddler group and through that developed relations with the parents and the toddlers.
I think where churches feel that they have to run a full all-singing all-dancing children's programme they struggle. So instead of that, they focus on a particular need in their community, for example parent toddler groups or praying for local schools - because that in itself is children's work. Sunday is not the only day to do children's work and Sunday school is not the only way.
Did you ever sense a lack of interest on the part of the children in not coming to church?
Well, that's an interesting question. Peter Brierley did some research on tweenagers - those between the ages of 10 and 13 - and many in that age group were leaving because they felt they had grown out of church, although they still were very warm to the Christian faith and Christian beliefs. So, it's not that they'd grown out of believing in God but that they felt church was childish and they were no longer finding their needs met.
So the Baptist Church is trying to answer that?
Yes, we are encouraging churches to take children discipleship seriously. What we do for them isn't just giving them a picture of a letter to colour in on a Sunday - to caricature what we have done in the past! But we want churches to actually take seriously the way Jesus treated children and their faith and helping them to understand how God's word applies to them in their context, what following Jesus means rather than just filling them up with the knowledge of what the Bible says.
Have you noticed any positive changes since last year's On Our Knees?
We have actually seen an increase of 5,000 children, which is fantastic. It is no cause for complacency but it is a sign of hope that God has been hearing our prayers and helping us to be part of the answer to our prayers.
I am curious about the choice of title for the day, On Our Knees. It seems almost like a posture of repentance. Is that an accurate interpretation?
There are several reasons why we called it On Our Knees. Firstly, it was about getting on our knees in prayer, and all the aspects of prayer, like lament, petition, intercession.
But also if you want to see things from a child's perspective you have to get down on your knees, and, thirdly, if you want to listen to children you have to get down to their level and speak to them face to face.
On our Knees again seemed to resonate with the fact that it is a continuous process and not just a once off thing that we've done.
For more about On Our Knees Again go to http://www.baptist.org.uk/training_events/onourkneesagain.html
