Nursery and Sunday School
If you have very small children or school age children, we have nursery care all year round and Sunday School from mid-September through the end of May. The nursery and Sunday school rooms are located on the second floor of our parish hall. The entrance is located at the bottom of the stairs between the main church sanctuary and the parish hall. Please ask the greeter or any member for help getting your children to the nursery and they will be more than happy to assist you and your children.
Nursery Availability
8:45 a.m. —Exchange of Peace during middle of service
The Nursery attendant is on duty Sunday mornings beginning at 8:45a.m., year-round. Parents with young children can leave their children in the nursery and attend adult Bible study which takes place during the program year from 9:00a.m. to 9:45a.m..
Children’s Sunday School Classes and Times
Journey To Adulthood (J2A) Youth Group
9:00 a.m. —9:45 a.m.
K— 5th Grades
9:00 a.m. — 9:45 a.m.
Toddler — PreK
9:00 a.m. —Exchange of Peace during middle of service
This youngest group of children meets through the first half of the Eucharist service and joins the congregation at the Exchange of Peace and the children’s sermon.
Children in Worship
Children Participating in Worship Services
As you can see from the schedule above, during most of the year, the youngest children are either in the nursery or in a Sunday school class through the first half of the service. If you feel that your children would rather be with you during the entire service on your first visit or subsequent visits, that is quite acceptable. We are a very children-friendly church, and we encourage our children to be involved in the worship as they are able through being Acolytes, Candle Snuffers, Greeters, and Offertory (taking up the collection), and singing in the choir. The children also offer special programs during worship the Sunday following Vacation Bible School and a Christmas Pageant on the Sunday prior to Christmas Day.
Children’s Activity Bags
Thanks to the love and craft-skill of a parishioner, we offer activity bags for young children to use while they are in the church during worship. The activity bags contain crayons and weekly children’s activity pages and coloring pages.
Children and Holy Communion
We believe that once a person is baptized, even infants and young children, they are full members of the body of Christ and are qualified to receive Holy Communion. We use small, flat, bread wafers and wine for our Communion. Our church is equipped with a Communion rail and members typically come forward to the rail, kneel at the rail with hands open to receive the wafer. Then, they either eat it and drink the cup of wine when it comes to them, or wait with the wafer in hand and dip it gently into the wine. You and your children are not obligated to partake of the wine. If you or your child are not baptized or do not wish to partake of the Communion elements, you can still come forward, kneel at the rail, and fold your hands across your chest. This signals the priest that you wish to receive a blessing prayer instead of the Communion elements.
Children’s Sermon
After the Exchange of Peace and the priest discusses the weekly announcements, the children are invited to come forward to hear a special children’s sermon. The children sit on the floor as the priest presents a creative, child-friendly version of Holy Scripture with some form of life application of the Scripture for the children. The adults also enjoy hearing these unique children’s sermons.
Children’s Safety
The safety of our children is of great importance to us. Many of our church leaders and members are trained in the Episcopal Church’s Safeguarding God’s Children Program. We try our best to keep eyes on our children at all times while they are on church property. We also have several safety features in the classrooms and in the hallway of the Education wing of the parish hall.
Hospitality For Children
Our “Coffee Hour” or hospitality time after the morning service typically offers a variety of drinks and foods that are child-friendly and healthy. We also have a special children’s table in the parish hall, so that little children can sit with other children and chat and eat.
Children With a Servant’s Heart
We are a church that feels called as disciples of Christ to serve the needs of our community. To instill a servant heart in our children we work to get our children involved in many of our outreach service projects and often get their input on what interests them in making our world a better place to live; the Kingdom of God on earth. This goes beyond just having the children assist in the worship services on Sunday morning.
