New Kids' Church service format
- Brad Evangelista
- Sep 24, 2010
We are making a slight change with Kids' Church, our Sunday morning worship service for children in 1st–5th grades. Up to now, the elementary-aged children have joined the main worship gathering for a few songs followed by dismissal to their service. Starting this Sunday, 1st–5th graders will start church in the Kids' Church room which is at the end of the children's hallway. While we value having the kids with us for singing and the opportunity to collectively pray for them, our concern is that with their new check-in system and the increased number of visitors our old way of doing things presents more challenges than benefits.
There are certainly pros and cons. On the positive side, our children's ministry team will have more time to teach our kids. Also, having them start the service in their room gives us better security and control in such a large building. Finally, having all children start and finish church in their respective rooms is less confusing to visitors as they check in and navigate through a new environment.
Of course, will miss the weekly opportunity to model congregational worship to our children, so our plan is to have the elementary-aged children join us at least quarterly for the entire service. Yes, they may wiggle and get bored sitting through my long sermons, but that's okay. It will be good for them to join us periodically.
Finally, our high school and middle school space is spectacular! And, it is a kid-magnet! We really want all kids, not just teens, but elementary kids as well to enjoy this space before church. As you can imagine, it can get crazy without adult supervision. So, we need some parents or folks that love kids to chaperone this space for a block of time before and after church. If you're interested in helping, please e-mail Karan Anne Hawk.
Grace & Peace!
Brad
