You and Your Children are Welcome Here!
Once, when Jesus was teaching some adults about God's kingdom, some kids—you know how kids are—pushed their way to the front of the crowd and reached Jesus. Now his friends thought this was a little unseemly, and they tried to send the children back to their parents, probably complaining about "kids these days." But Jesus would have none of it. "Allow the children to come to me," Jesus said, "Don't stop them! The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children." Then Jesus blessed the children and went away. (Matt. 19:13-15).
Like Jesus, part of the ministry of the church is to welcome all children, to provide opportunities for them to play and laugh and learn and talk about the things of faith. Our church is committed in both facility and staff to provide such ministries. This page details a bit more about children and worship.
Like Jesus, part of the ministry of the church is to welcome all children, to provide opportunities for them to play and laugh and learn and talk about the things of faith. Our church is committed in both facility and staff to provide such ministries. This page details a bit more about children and worship.
Children and the Worship Service
We welcome all children and their parents to our Sunday worship service! We encourage parents to bring their little disciples to the service at 10:30 and sit with them for the first fifteen minutes of worship. They'll get to see the sights and smells of our sanctuary, hear the church bells rung, participate in the liturgy of the service, share in the Passing the Peace, and join in the singing of hymns and songs. After we pass the peace of Christ to one another, we'll have a Children's Message, led by our pastor which is aimed at the smallest of ears. Then children will be dismissed either to our Nursery, to the pews to sit quietly with their parents, or to the Prayground - a place where they can quietly work on their activity bulletins while still participating in worship. You can find out more about these programs and options below. This way we all participate in the worship service - including Sacrament at the table together on Communion Sundays- and through this, children learn how to "do" church by watching, listening, and participating!
Nursery Care - For Our Smallest Disciples
Aimed at our smallest disciples, our nursery care is led by our fabulous coordinators. We have a wonderful assortment of hands-on toys available and should those fail, we always have bubbles.
Prayground - For our Elementary-Aged Disciples (Pre-K - 3rd Grade)
At the conclusion of the Children's Message during service, the children are given their "special" bulletin - full of age-appropriate activities that center around the Scripture reading for the day. Children in 4th and 5th grade are invited to return to their seats with their families, and children in 3rd grade or lower are invited to move to the "Prayground." The Prayground is set in the back of the sanctuary, where a trusted adult in our congregation will sit at table with our youngest disciples. This is a place where they can work on their activity bulletins, and do other quiet activities. The children are still in the worship service - still listening, observing, absorbing, and learning. The adult sitting with the children is also able to participate in worship.
Surviving the Worship Service - when children stay upstairs
We get it. It's hard sometimes making it through a church service with a squirmy two-year old. We can't promise that it will be easy or that your child won't contribute to the service loudly during moment of silence. It happens. But we love you, we love your children, and we WANT you to stay, screams and cries and all. During morning worship, your children are invited to sit, stand, or dance with you as we sing and pray, or, they are welcome to sit and color or play with stickers. We have prepared some "busy bags" that may occupy your child's attention for a bit in the pews, but you should feel comfortable to bring a quiet activity or snack for your child to enjoy while they sit. We would ask, however, that you refrain from bringing iPads or video games into the worship service. Use the opportunity to sit with your child and teach them about what is going on around them.