I met Brandon when he was a 6th-grader. He and his parents attended the church I pastored in Southern California. Brandon came into the world with Down Syndrome. I learned at the Monday morning ministry team meeting that several older boys had ganged up on Brandon in the schoolyard the Friday before. Almost a half hour passed before one of the yard attendants noticed him lying on the ground in the fetal position. If there were ever a person that least deserved that kind of treatment, it was Brandon. He did not have an evil bone in his body.
Brandon always greeted me at church with hug and a smile, shouting, “Hi, Pastor Chuck!” After a few months, Brandon asked if he could join me on the front row where I always sat before delivering my sermon. I said, “Of course you can, Brandon! I’d love that.” I remember the experience I am about to share with you as if it were yesterday.
The worship leader at our church had an amazing ability to draw the congregation into God’s presence. She would begin the service with songs and reflections that had a primarily “horizontal focus.” We began by “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” As the worship unfolded, however, she would steadily guide our attention more and more heavenward. Before we knew it, we were no longer talking and singing to each other about God, we were in the very presence of God, falling down before him in adoration. As worship leaders go, she was, in a word, anointed. I have not experienced corporate worship like that since then. But I say this to set the stage for my experience with Brandon.
The worship service had reached its high point. Brandon and I were standing at the front row. We were both singing with our eyes closed. I was half thinking about the words of the song and half thinking of the opening lines of my sermon – when I felt an abrupt bump on my left arm. I quickly glanced over to see if somebody was trying to get my attention. What I saw instead was the purest, most authentic expression of worship that I have ever seen. It was 12-year-old Brandon. His eyes were closed. He was swaying back and forth with his hands lifted to Heaven. His face was literally aglow, like an angel. He was oblivious to anyone or anything around him. He was in that moment the incarnation of “worship in Spirit and truth.”
I was overcome with the realization that I was standing on holy ground. Brandon, a boy who some would say had a disability, had become his pastor’s teacher. The freedom and authenticity with which he worshiped, revealed the absence of the same in me. I would not have known that such worship even existed had I not seen it in Brandon. I pray that I will some day experience what Brandon experienced the day he worshiped with his pastor. I have a feeling, however, that it will have to wait until I stand with the heavenly choir in eternal glory.
Join the Conversation
Have you had an experience of watching a child worship that brought you in touch with the reality of heaven?
Is God inviting you to childlike worship today?
For another excellent article on the gifts kids like Brandon bring to us, please read To Cade and the Other Eight Percent by Gabe Lyons.
 Chuck Conniry is Vice President and Dean of George Fox Evangelical Seminary, a graduate school of George Fox University, in Newberg, Oregon. Chuck holds several degrees, including the PhD in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and MDiv from Bethel Seminary, San Diego. He is married to Dianne and together they have three children and one daughter-in-law: Krystal, Matthew (and his wife, Ashley), and Nathan. Chuck loves to write, swim, and ride his Harley. He and his family reside in Sherwood, Oregon.
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When I sing or play in our church’s music ministry, my favorite thing to look out for is expressions of childlike worship. The most moving thing so far is when I saw a person worshipping in sign language and kind of dancing at the same time. She didn’t just sign with her hands but worshipped with her whole body. And her voice, too. And her face, everything. Now when I am on worship team, I always look for her, for she helps me “lead worship.”