May 12
1
Hello Church,
I’m writing you to inform you about a change that will be taking place with our Children’s Ministry schedule. One Sunday out of the month there will be no Sunday school classes for the kindergarten through 5th grade children. There are a couple of reasons why believe this is a healthy decision.
First, we believe that one of the responsibilities of parenthood is to teach our children how to worship the Lord. We believe that having our children experience a whole worship service will begin to teach them what it means to worship God through music, listening, and reading God’s Word.
Second, many churches today exclude children and teenagers from the main worship service and then they wonder why the transition into worshiping with the adults once they graduate high school is so difficult. The fact that many college age adults are absent from the church service is something that needs to be addressed and corrected. I strongly believe that if we effectively teach our children how to worship with adults at a young age we are preparing them to be active participants in the family of God for a lifetime.
This is something new for many if not all of us. I encourage all of you to be patient and understanding with our families and children as they are faced with the challenge of learning how to “parent from the pew.”
Church, please be praying for our families, asking God to give wisdom to our parents, as this can be a difficult task. Parents, I encourage you to begin teaching your children and explaining to them what you expect of them during the service before you arrive at church. I think it is important for me to say that it is perfectly ok if there is some noise and talking. Use this time to help instruct and engage your child in how to worship the Lord.
Some things to think about:
- K-5th grade students will remain in the whole worship service on the first Sunday of the month (Starting May 6th). This is our communion Sunday therefore, I would encourage each family to determine whether or not the children will take communion before they arrive at church. Our view is that it is a good thing for our children to take communion even if they are too young to have professed Christ. We should raise our children as if they are believers until it becomes evident that they are not.
- There will still be childcare for children ages 0-4 each Sunday.
- I would strongly encourage that children sit with their parents instead of with their friends during this service. This will help keep distractions to a minimum, as parents will be able to help teach their children worship and keep them engaged.
I’m looking forward to beginning this process and seeing the fruit the Lord produces. It is my goal to continue to provide various resources and ideas on how to help our parents teach and develop a love in our children to worship the Lord in the whole community of faith.
God Bless,
Phil
