children’s ministries

 

An important part of the mission of Christ Church is to create an environment in which we can grow in relationship with God, each other, and the world. Christ Church is committed to nurturing children’s innate spirituality and love of neighbor in all of our programs: the Nursery, Children’s Chapel, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School.

Learn more about our programs below. Registration is required for each of these programs:

• The Nursery
• Children’s Chapel
• Sunday School
• Vacation Bible School
• Preparation for Baptism and Communion

To learn more or to register, contact Ann Enkiri, Children’s Minister, at sundayschool@ccpk.org.

The Nursery (up to age 3)

Open to infants, toddlers, PreK-3 children, and any child having a hard day, the Nursery is open and staffed on Sundays year-round, from 9:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. The Nursery is located in a spacious and bright room on the lower level of the church and is equipped for infant care and with nursery school play materials. With expert care, gently supervised play, and the reading of Bible picture books, a qualified caregiver nurtures each child, fostering their sense of safety and belonging. The Nursery also offers parents a relaxed time for worship and to engage with the community afterwards.

Children's Chapel (Pre-K through 4th Grade)

Children’s Chapel is open to children from age three or four through Fourth Grade and runs concurrently with the 10:00 a.m. service on Sundays year-round and provides younger children the opportunity to engage with stories from the Bible and history at age-appropriate levels. The children sing songs and have a special children’s homily that actively engages them, and they are encouraged to ask questions. We respect each child’s individual readiness to both leave the Nursery for Chapel and to leave Chapel for worship with their families.

The Children’s Minister, together with volunteer chapel leaders, begin the service with a child-friendly community-building activity before proceeding to the Chapel altar.

Children’s Chapel concludes with the children’s participation in the offertory procession upstairs to join the 10:00 a.m. service after the scripture readings and sermon. They bring the bread and wine to the altar and then join their families for Communion in the pews, ready to accept the invitation to Communion.

Sunday School (age 3 through 5th Grade)

Sunday School includes thoughtfully planned and lovingly presented classroom programs for children age three through fifth grade that take place in the upper and lower levels of the church’s education wing during the school year.

At the end of the 10:00 a.m. service, at the start of the final hymn, the Children’s Minister and children follow a cross out of the sanctuary and proceed to their classrooms, where volunteer Sunday School teachers await them.

The Sunday School classes reflecting the day’s lesson run from 11:15 a.m. to noon. First, a light snack is served at the start of class during the children’s social time.

The curricula are designed and the volunteer teachers are trained to respectfully welcome each child and honor each one’s thoughts, ideas, and understanding. We strive to form small communities of young learners who feel comfortable exploring Bible stories, Christian traditions of prayer and belief, and ways to love and serve God, ourselves, and others.

In “Godly Play,” the acclaimed Montessori-style approach to learning, children age three through First Grade use beautiful materials to learn the stories and then respond to their meanings through arts and crafts.

Our “Living the Good News for Grades Two and Three” program shares the featured Sunday reading from the Bible in age-friendly language. Individual learning styles are addressed as children enjoy drama, art, crafts, Lego-building, and other responses to the day’s lesson.

Children in grades four and five use “Living the Good News” to learn how to locate that Sunday’s featured scripture reading in the Bible. Children engage with a variety of interactive and creative activities to figure out how they can apply the lesson to their daily lives.

Following Sunday School, children wait in their classrooms to be picked up by parents or other pre-authorized adults promptly at noon.

Vacation (Summer) Bible School (age 3 through 5th Grade)

Vacation Bible School welcomes all children and youth from Christ Church and the wider community. Designed to share the joy of learning about Jesus with children from pre-K4 through grades four/five, Vacation Bible School helps children explore Bible stories through games, drama, song, and special supervised cooking activities.

Each July, Christ Church offers a week-long Vacation Bible School for children ages 4 through 10. From 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the children explore Old and New Testament stories through “Godly Play,” dramatic storytelling, and fun activities such as: exploring habitats in God’s glorious garden through Bible stories, creative play, and arts and crafts. The children develop friendships and have a great time, supervised by youth leaders and adult volunteers.