Who is the Holy Spirit?
Also: What is the Trinity? Why do we say the Holy Ghost sometimes?
How you might answer: The Holy Spirit is another way of understanding God's presence with us, particularly since Jesus left the disciples in the Book of Acts. Jesus tells us in John, and we see in Acts, that the Spirit strengthens us in times of need and serves as our advocate. Paul writes of the "fruits of the spirit": love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - all things that come from the Spirit's help and that help us love together. But we also believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one - what we call the Trinity. It can be very confusing, but God is bigger than our minds can understand sometimes... all we need to know is that we can always ask God's Spirit for help, and we can trust that it will be there.
What might be behind their question: In many churches, particularly Presbyterian ones, the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Trinity. We are comfortable talking about God and about Jesus, but the Spirit is usually only mentioned as bringing gifts and nothing else. Most kids' questions about this will be solely due to their curiosity, particularly if they hear the phrase "Holy Ghost" during the Apostles' Creed, which just adds to the confusion. Feel free to share what you can - including that "ghost" was just a way that the word "spirit" used to be translated in English - but don't try to over explain. The Holy Spirit, like God, is both knowable and unknowable; part of the mysterious paradox that is the Trinity.
How you might answer: The Holy Spirit is another way of understanding God's presence with us, particularly since Jesus left the disciples in the Book of Acts. Jesus tells us in John, and we see in Acts, that the Spirit strengthens us in times of need and serves as our advocate. Paul writes of the "fruits of the spirit": love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - all things that come from the Spirit's help and that help us love together. But we also believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one - what we call the Trinity. It can be very confusing, but God is bigger than our minds can understand sometimes... all we need to know is that we can always ask God's Spirit for help, and we can trust that it will be there.
What might be behind their question: In many churches, particularly Presbyterian ones, the Holy Spirit is the forgotten member of the Trinity. We are comfortable talking about God and about Jesus, but the Spirit is usually only mentioned as bringing gifts and nothing else. Most kids' questions about this will be solely due to their curiosity, particularly if they hear the phrase "Holy Ghost" during the Apostles' Creed, which just adds to the confusion. Feel free to share what you can - including that "ghost" was just a way that the word "spirit" used to be translated in English - but don't try to over explain. The Holy Spirit, like God, is both knowable and unknowable; part of the mysterious paradox that is the Trinity.