Alternative Title

An Analysis of Wiggle Church as a Means for United Methodist and other Wesleyan Churches to Share the Good News of Jesus Christ with Those in their Early Learning Centers

Subject Area

Religion, Theology/Religious Education

Abstract

Churches of all stripes, including Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and non-denominational churches, have early childhood learning centers (sometimes called daycares, preschools, or child development centers) as part of their ministry profiles. Many of these churches are missing an important opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ by not intentionally ministering with the children and adults of their early learning centers.

In September 2019, University United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, began a worship gathering specifically designed for the infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and adults of their Child Development Center. While the specifics of University UMC’s decision to begin Wiggle Church are unique, many churches with early childhood learning centers mirror its struggle to welcome new people into the church and to minister with the families of their schools. Because individuals in the transition to parenthood life stage are in a season of openness to faith; young children develop faith through experiences, relationships, and religious encounters; and worship is an effective multi-directional ministry for evangelism, faith formation, and sharing John Wesley’s understanding of God’s means of grace; United Methodist and other Wesleyan churches with early childhood learning centers have a responsibility to provide intergenerational, multi-directional, participatory worship gatherings as their primary ministry for young children and their adults.

Through this dissertation, I will critically reflect on Wiggle Church, University UMC’s worship gathering designed for young children and their adults to worship together in a highly participatory, liturgically-driven service. I will interrogate this worship service to demonstrate the ways in which it aligns with a Wesleyan understanding of worship and provides an evangelistic ministry for worshipers to form and deepen their faith. I will analyze Wiggle Church’s effectiveness in meeting spiritual needs of young children and their adults, its theological integrity as an evangelistic and faith formational ministry, and its grounding in a Wesleyan understanding of worship. This analysis will frame the argument that Wiggle Church and other worship gatherings like it may be replicated effectively for us through the body of Christ.

Degree Date

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

D.Min.

Advisor

Dallas Gingles

Second Advisor

Rebekah Miles

Number of Pages

134

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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