Children's Ministry
Our vision is to spread God’s fame by making disciples of Jesus Christ through imparting a Godly legacy to the next generation. We desire to tell the coming generation about our mighty God and of the glorious deeds and wonders that He has done so that they would set their hope in Christ and not forget His works but keep His commandments. Furthermore, our desire is that in adulthood they would arise and tell them to their children.
To fulfill our vision we purpose to:
- Model the Walk of a disciple of Christ to children
- Teach the Word of God to children
- Equip and Partner with parents, acknowledging them as the primary disciple makers
We pursue this passion for our children not only with our words, but also with the curriculum we use, the way we recruit and train our teachers, and to the very way we design our programs for children and their families.
Partnering with Parents
We belief disciple-making primarily takes place within the family and we will do all that we can to help parents pass on a Godly legacy to their children. In order to do this well, we believe that children should not constantly be separated into age groupings away from their family. Children are a part of the fabric of our church life and we want them to be included in church activities with regular frequency. This allows them to see their parents and others model the walk of a disciple of Christ. Having children around also provides opportunity for teachable moments.
For Nursery to Preschool
We have Sunday Servers who can provide care for your children who are not yet in Kindergarten during the corporate worship service. We also have classes these children can participate in while you attend the Core classes that follow corporate worship.
You can go to the Children’s Check-In Desk when you arrive or between corporate worship and Core classes to check them in.
For Kindergarten and Up
Children in Kindergarten and older join the rest of the church body for the entire corporate worship service. This provides a wonderful opportunity for you as parents and us as a church family to teach and model what happens during corporate worship and how they can be a part of it.
We also have Connections classes for children that take place during our adult Core classes. This allows children to learn about God in age-specific ways as well as develop relationships with other children in the church.
Tips for Enjoying Sunday Morning with Your Children
God-centered and Christ-exalting worship is something we treasure at Grace Fellowship and we believe that the family experiencing this together is extremely valuable. Therefore, children of all ages are welcome and encouraged to be in our Sunday morning worship service. We are glad to have them as part of the fabric of our church and desire to teach and model for them how we can corporately worship God as a church family. The cumulative effect of 624 potential worship services spent with parent(s) between the ages of 5-17 is incalculable.
Sometimes for children, the difference between enduring Sunday morning worship and enjoying Sunday morning worship is simply a matter of preparation and training. It is our heartfelt prayer that your child will come as a participant in the service to worship our great God. To that end, we have prepared a few suggestions that might help you lead your child in worship.
Sunday morning is a continuation of the worship we are doing all week long. Having Family Worship time throughout the week will enrich the life of your child as well as the corporate worship time on Sunday morning. Also, Sunday morning starts Saturday night. Lay out clothes, find all shoes, get offerings ready, rehearse memory verses, and gather everything you need to bring with you before Sunday morning. Keep Sunday simple. Make a simple breakfast and leave the house with time to spare. Remind your child of your expectations of his behavior during the church service.
Start your morning with a positive attitude, a cheerful tone, a spirit of anticipation and enthusiasm, and a heart for worship.
Talk about what will be happening in the service. If there is something special happening that day, explain what will be happening. If it is Lord’s Supper, talk about that. You may also want to pray with your child before the service starts.
By teaching your child songs and choruses at home he will be able to participate in the service. If he cannot learn the whole song, teach him the refrain and signal to him when it is time to sing the part he knows. Encourage your child to sit and to stand at the appropriate times, to clap when appropriate, etc. Have your child bring an offering and place it in the offering box.
If you have Spotify you can search GF Top 40 to listen to songs that might be heard on Sunday mornings. These are also posted on our website.
Help your child use the Just For Kids bulletin provided each week to help them participate in listening and paying attention to what is going on during the service. If your child is very young and has a hard time sitting for a long time, after they have listened to the sermon for a while, you may want to let your child look at small (non-distracting) Bible storybooks, or draw and color other pages.
Keep a special Sunday church bag that can be used each week during the service. Items such as Bible, crayons, paper, and Bible Storybooks will be helpful to have on hand.
One way to help your child is by having he/she to practice listening to sermons at home: start by having child sit 5 minutes while listening to a sermon (online from Grace Fellowship for example) and then as child improves increase the time interval by 5 minutes until you reach a 30-40 minute range.
Speak positively with your child about the service, and ask him if he has any questions. Use the Just for Kids bulletin to encourage your child to share about what they heard and learned during the service.
Teaching Curriculum
We use the Children Desiring God curriculum (note: CDG has changed their named to Truth:78, based on Psalm 78) for our Children’s and Student Ministry. It was designed to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things so that the next generation may know and cherish Jesus Christ as the only One who saves and satisfies the desires of the heart.
Specific Curriculum by Age & Grade
This nursery provides care for infants. It offers nap areas, infant swings, age-appropriate toys, and safe spaces for exploration. Teachers cuddle, rock, and play with children. Worship music is played and sung. Monthly prayer themes are used as a guide for teachers to pray for your child.
The morning activities include quiet supervised play, singing, cuddling, reading books, and large/small muscle activity. The teachers model praying by praying for your children. Age appropriate worship music is played. Lesson time consists of repeating biblical truths and talking about our great God.
This class begins with supervised free play which consists of activities like puzzles, blocks, coloring, play dough and even playing outside on the playground! Lessons are presented to the children in group format. Parents receive a weekly lesson handout. Children are introduced to scripture memory as they are given one verse per month to memorize. Teachers pray for and with your children each week.
The children in these classes begin the morning with supervised free play. A music teacher comes into the classroom to lead the children in worship through song. The lessons are presented in large group and small group format. Parents receive weekly lesson handouts to go over with their children throughout the week. The lesson is also reinforced with a weekly coloring page and the children receive one verse a week to memorize. The Old and New Testaments are alternated each year.
We were created to enjoy the glory of God. But as sinners we fail to treasure Him as we should. We are horribly sick in heart and stand in need of a Savior. This chronological study on redemption explores the incomparable greatness and worth of God, the desperate condition of helpless sinners, and the all-sufficient work of Jesus Christ to redeem sinful people.
Right thinking about God is essential for the life of faith. Using the alphabet as a framework for teaching the attributes of God, this study explores the delight that God has in Himself as the source, means, and purpose of all things. Each lesson asks and answers three key questions, “Who is God?”, “What is He like?”, and “How should I act toward Him?” as it presents a theology of God for children.
God’s promises are gifts to the believer. The challenge of the Christian life is not to simply know the promises of God, but to place unshakable confidence in them. This study teaches children that God’s character is trustworthy; therefore, His promises are true and reliable.
The Bible is one complete true story. It progressively reveals God’s redemptive plan, which comes to complete fulfillment in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. In the Beginning…Jesus begins with a historical mystery—Jesus’ death on the cross—and asks In the Beginning…Jesus the questions: “What really happened here?”, “Why did Jesus die?”, and “Who did it?” To find the answers, the study goes to the beginning of the Bible narrative in Genesis and then moves chronologically through the Old Testament text as students search for clues that foreshadow the coming of Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross. Special emphasis is given to show that the Bible is God’s story from beginning to end and that Jesus is the key to understanding the story.
What is salvation? How does someone become a Christian? What does it mean to become like Jesus? This curriculum helps answer these important questions by explaining elements of the Gospel message, its purpose, and promise. A major portion of this study focuses on the doctrine of sanctification – the process by which a Christian becomes more and more conformed to the likeness of Jesus.
God is present and active in the world, orchestrating all things to serve His eternal purposes. All His purposes are good and right, and are accomplished with perfection. As the Sovereign Creator of the world (and everything in it!) God has the right, power, wisdom, and righteousness to rule the universe. The goal of My Purpose Will Stand is to so reveal God and His glorious work of providence that through the Holy Spirit’s work in the teaching of His Word, students would respond to God in faith as they look for God’s providence in all things—meditating on His works, seeing the big picture of God’s work in the world, and seeing the hand and heart of Jesus in all circumstances of their lives.
The names of God in the Bible are a reflection of His character, which is so glorious that He cannot be described by a single name. His character is communicated in hundreds of names progressively revealed in the Bible. But the focus of How Majestic Is Your Name is not the many names, titles and references to God. These are merely the structure to show the greatness of our God. Each lesson presents glorious truths about God and encourages students to see and rejoice in His goodness and greatness.
The goal of this study is that, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the authoritative Truth of the Bible might be understood and embraced so students may see and interpret all of life through the Truth of Scripture.
Our hope is that students would not be conformed to the thinking of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of their minds, that by testing they might discern what is good and acceptable (Romans 12:2). Finally, as the students grow in their own love and delight of the Truth, we want to encourage and equip them to stand firm in an increasingly hostile culture, boldly and humbly proclaiming the triumphant Truth of the Gospel.
Sick Policy
It is the goal of Grace Fellowship to provide an environment for children that is clean and healthy. What should you do if your child is sick? Click below to learn more!