Our desire at Apostles is to explore God’s love and the promises He has for each of us. The Children’s Ministry team strives to communicate God’s love to our kids and to show them the beauty of exploring His word. We believe that building relationships with our children is the best way to show them the love of the Father.
Our purpose is to provide a time for children to hear God’s word and learn to apply it to their lives, as well as to prepare them to participate in worship by using prayer, praise, and instruction.
Nursery
For our nursery age children, we focus on showing God’s love by caring and nurturing. We sing songs, read stories and play with our youngest members of the parish.
Preschool
Our preschool age children enjoy a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that include art, games, dramatic play, nature, and block center play as well as listening to bible stories, singing and focusing n God’s word and His love for us. By exploring God’s creation through fun activities the children can grasp the concepts of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Children’s Christian Formation
Children’s Christian Formation takes place from 9:30 – 10:15 am. We have a curriculum that encompasses our preschool and elementary students through grade 5 in one classroom. The lesson is the same, however, the degree of content and level of activities are age-appropriate for both groups. The children will use Bible study along with numerous engaging activities ranging from puppet skits, snacks, games, and crafts. Our upper elementary children will participate as junior leaders.
Children’s Church
Children’s Church is designed for children ages Kindergarten through grade 5. Before the parents listen to the sermon, the children are dismissed from church (normally at 11:15am) to their own worship service. We sing, pray, read scripture, and hear a lesson using the same text as the lessons from the Bible readings for the day. The children’s service concludes shortly after the sermon’s ending, and children rejoin their parents for the remainder of the service so that each family may receive communion together.
Children and Communion
All baptized persons of any age are welcome to the Lord’s Table, and young children are encouraged to come forward with their parents when Communion is distributed. Parents are encouraged to prayerfully discern when their child is ready to receive the sacrament, and our priests are available to answer any questions that parents may have concerning Communion. Some parents lead their children to receive the Eucharist soon after the infant’s baptism. Other parents prefer that their child receive the bread only in preschool years, allowing them to dip the bread in the chalice when they are older. Some parents prefer that their children refrain from receiving Communion for some time, requesting a priestly blessing instead. Each of these decisions are honorable choices by parents and the Apostles clergy desires to assist parents in this prayerful decision.
Throughout the year the Apostles clergy and ministry staff will teach the children about the gift of sacraments. For those families that desire a traditional First Communion experience, we will prepare children with sacramental teaching so that they may receive their first communion on Pentecost. In 2011, Pentecost Sunday will be celebrated on June 12.
Our Commitment to a Safe Environment for Children and Students
Apostles is committed to providing a safe environment where our children and students may grow in their faith and experience the love of Christ in a caring church. To ensure that safe environment, we have over 40 volunteers and 4 part-time nursery attendants who shepherd the flock. All these leaders are required to attend training to work with the youngest members of the body of Christ. This training is provided for all Anglican Mission congregations, and we believe this thorough preparation equips our volunteers for ministry and preserves a safe environment for the children in our parish.
Play Dates
We get together on a monthly basis for a play date. This may range from meeting at a local park to meeting at someone’s house. Some of the play dates we have done this past year include: going to Ijams Park, Northshore Park, Concord Park, West Hills Park, going to houses for a Harvest party, Thanksgiving feast, and we also went ice skating at Market Square during the holidays. There is no agenda other than having fun and getting to know each other, both children and adults.
You can find out about our upcoming events by sending Kaye Freels, katybird09@aol.com, your email address. I will add you to my communications to the parents about anything that concerns the children. You can also check the Sunday bulletin or the calendar on the website.
