Not only does Jesus love children’s messages, He is also a huge fan of announcements in the divine service. I’m not sure He has an opinion on how long or how short, but the church talking about what God is doing among them certainly can’t be bad. That’s what announcements are. At my church, we do them after the benediction and before the final hymn. They are a part of the service.

I used to think that boards and councils, business and organization conversations, were sort of necessary evil to running a church. They are not. They are the life of Church. It is God moving His people to work together to the benefit of each other and their neighborhood. They are holy things and the fruits of the Spirit. Yes, talking about the finances, like scripture’s genealogies, belong in and not outside of the life of Christ. 

The business of the church can be done poorly, like a sermon can be done poorly. The announcements are not clear grace-giving elements like the Word and sacraments. They are not the center of our hope and life in Christ.  But like prayers and offerings, they are good acts of worship and responses to the Gospel.

What better time to talk about what the Lord is doing among us then when the maximum number of God’s people are gathered? To push the envelope further, do the announcements tell the parishioner or visitor that the service is not something to watch and admire? It is something real and engages our real people and their real lives. It’s ok to talk about the mundane before the Lord. That is the life of Christ, the life of the Church. 

This is the true picture of heaven, not just saints gathered around the Lamb, but the saints serving one another. The divine service is heaven on earth, announcements, sharing of the peace, children’s messages, et al.