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 Sermon, led by our pastor which is aimed at the smallest of ears. Then children will be dismissed either to our Nursery, the Children's Worship Center, or to the pews to sit quietly with their parents. You can find out more about these programs and options below.
On Communion Sundays, the whole church family - children included - stay in worship. This way we all participate in the Sacrament at the table together, and through this, children learn how to "do" church by watching, listening, and participating!
On Communion Sundays, the whole church family - children included - stay in worship. This way we all participate in the Sacrament at the table together, 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.
Children's Worship Center - For our Elementary-Aged Disciples
Our Children's Worship Center is designed around a Montessori-based program called Young Children & Worship. During the morning worship service, the children will be dismissed to the Worship Center by the minister following the children's sermon. Young Children & Worship is multi-sensory, story-driven, and introduces the children to the basic outline of the worship service complete with sign language, singing, arts, and quiet space. The children learn how to pray, how to feast (with GF pretzels and water), and, most importantly, how much they are loved by God. Our trained storytellers and helpers are there to help nurture your child's young faith and introduce them to stories from the Bible.
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.
