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Famlies and Kids
We welcome families to join with us in worship and the wider life of the parish. We have a number of activities particularly focused on kids and their parents:
Sunday School
Our Sunday School meets at 9am in the Parish House every Sunday during the school year. We use a workshop program, where children spend five to six weeks focusing on one major story from the Bible, exploring it through music, drama, stories, videos, cooking and art. All kids, 3 years and older, are welcome. Parents are encouraged bring their kids to church for the 8 or 10am services, and to join us for coffee at the Mugs Coffee Shop, just a block away on Kings Highway, while the kids are in Sunday School.Teenagers
We have a wonderful teenage program, Journey to Adulthood, that meets in the Rectory on Sunday mornings at 9am during the school year. It's open to teens from 7th grade up.Special Events
We have a number of special events for children. They include children's services on Christmas Eve at 5pm and Good Friday at 10am, and Palm Saturday, a morning of activities focussed around Holy Week (click here to see photos of Palm Saturday 2003!)Worshipping with Children
We are committed to including everyone in our church services, kids as well as adults. To make the worship experience nore accessible to children, we do the following:
• Teach kids the responses from the service during Sunday School time, to help them participate more actively.
• Invite children to come to the front of the church and gather round for the reading of the Gospel.
• Include a song each week which has been taught in Sunday School.
• Provide activity bags at the back of the church. Each bag includes index cards and crayons, and kids are invited to draw or write their prayers on the index cards during the service. They are then put on our "Kid's prayers" board at the back of the church, and summarized in our monthly newsletter, so that we can all join our children in prayer.
• Invite everyone who is baptized - no matter how young - to receive the Eucharist. Young children often find it easier to dip the wafer in the wine, rather than trying to sip from the chalice.
• Encourage kids aged 8 and up to assist in worship by becoming acolytes (see below).
For more ideas for parents on coping with kids in church, see the Faith at Home website, http://www.faith-at-home.com/, which has a useful section on children and worship.
Baptism and Thanksgiving for a Child
Baptism is the means by which God adopts us as his children and by which we are made members of the church. People can be baptized at any age, from tiny infants to full grown adults, and baptisms normally occur at our 10am Sunday services on occasions throughout the year. Baptism is a free gift, the grace of God at work, and we welcome you to contact us if it is something you want for yourself or your child.
A number of promises are made in baptism - by the parents and godparents of a child, and by the person themself if it is an adult. (You may like to read through the Baptism service for yourself). They are promises of commitment to the Christian life, and we take them very seriously. If you or your child are baptized, we expect to see you regularly in church both before and after the baptism, and to welcome you to active participation in our parish.
However, if you feel that these are not promises you are comfortable making at this time, we also offer a service of Thanksgiving for A Child. Once again, please contact us if you are interested in this.Acolytes
Our older children help to lead our worship by participating as acolytes. Acolytes carry torches (processional candles), assist with setting up communion, light and put out the altar candles, and carry the gospel book. The crucifer carries a cross and leads the procession. Contact Tom Matteo on 856.241.0219 if you are interested.