Hi Parkland Foursquare Families!
As all of you know, COVID and transitioning locations have brought many changes to life, including our church. I wanted to take a minute to communicate what kids ministry will look like in the immediate future, and the long term will be planned as we see what we are even working with between COVID and a kid's ministry team. Listen up! There’ll be lots of details below.
First off, kids have been and always will be a priority of our church. Families are at its core-including our own family of sweet little girls!
I am actually super excited about this next season!! Why?! I am excited about simplicity! I think our church is going to grow as a family and support system, with each other, and the community. It feels kind of pioneer or prairie-like, in my mind. I think our kids are going to actually grow deeper in love with Jesus while being present at the “grown-up” service. I think they will soak in tidbits they hear and see during the service, and maybe, like Jesus, able to teach adults at an adolescent age!! I think they will feel the presence of God and witness miracles. We need kids in this world who are radically committed and aware of the truth and in love with their King! That’s who world changers are!
So for now, the fun times for kids will be happening in pews, quietly, so we all can engage as much as possible. But seriously, it can still be fun! So keep reading:
Before service-there will be a kids check-in area, where kids 12 and under, can grab their tote which the church will keep each week. This tote will be a few things for kids to keep their hands and minds quietly busy. We will have some items that will stay in their personalized tote. Also, we will have a kids activity check out system. We will have random sensory items, creative toys, or brain teaser type things for kids to “check out” for that night, and return to our library.
After church, we will have a kid zone in the narthex/entrance, where parents can supervise their kids while kids can play with some toys or do some activity together in a spot of their own.
And finally, some ground rules for families, because we all know it’s not just the kids who get wild and impulsive! :) :) Haha!
There are some basic expectations we will have for families during the service-old fashioned and ordinary to all the baby boomers, and maybe new to us younger folk! I will lay it out in bullet points just to be clear:
KIDS IN SERVICE EXPECTATIONS
-Please do not stand on or crawl under pews
-Please walk in the sanctuary vs running
-Please stay off the stage/alter
-Please sit with your own family in the same pew
-If there are Trinity Church’s bibles or hymnals in the back of the seats, just take care that they are treated kindly and not doodled in :)
-Please participate in the service in the narthex if your child(ren) are not able to be quiet enough that it isn’t a distraction for your neighbor. (We will have speakers outside of the sanctuary because we’d love for every family to be engaged and not left out. I know it’s been over 10 years since I’ve really felt connected to what’s going on with the rest of the church, and we are determined for that to not be the case for parents with wiggly kids or a crying baby.
-After service, please keep kids out of sanctuary unless they are participating in ministry time. The narthex is bigger than all of the classrooms and an open area at our old church! :)
Thank you friends for reading this through to the end, and I truly do mean it- this season is going to be good! Let’s see what fruit will come of it together!
Much Love,
Hillary