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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 7/9/2008 2:38:16 PM
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| In my church we let the kids from 2nd-5th grade sit in the Main service during the worship and offering before being excused to Kidz Church. Years ago I came across a list of ideas that helped kids who were in the adult service engage in the events around them. For example I remember one or two... 1-Don't pass the offering plate over your little one's head. Give them some change and let them see in side the plate and participate in giving. 2-Another one I remember encouraged parents to let their kids stand on the pew during singing so the kids can see the stage and musicians.... things like this. Does anyone have a list like this, or perhaps we can build one here? Thanks!
Mark Jones
Children's Pastor
The Word
Williamstown NJ
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Forum Guru
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children can get a bulletin for themselves and follow along. some like to see the order of service to see if we're near the beginning or the end
our church has a biblical coloring page for kids to color or do word searches.
in our church children go up for communion and receive a blessing from the pastor. they also get to see the wine and the wafers.
we also have our children go up to the altar to hear the children's sermon.
the children also sign our red bk. which let us know who was present in church and whether they are members or visitors.
if the pastor gives a sermon that calls for us to respond either in responsive reading or wants to engage the congregation by shouting out something, the kids can join in...
the children also get to greet others during the service.
these are just a few i came up with, let me know what your list finally looks like
jackie
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 9/11/2008 11:25:58 AM
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| Occassionaly we have children and their parents do the Sunday readings together in frnt of the church. Mom and daughter or Dad and daughter or son. the kids love that!
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We try to have an activity WEEKLY that engages children of all ages (0-100) in our congregation. We want to encourage families to worship together and share their faith stories with one another.
Pictures taken on vacation at Lake Junaluska, NC.
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Junior Member
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| This comes a whole later than the initial posts, but... We are doing a worship emphasis this summer in which the kids entering grade 2 and up stay in the service; ages 4 through entering grade 2 may stay or may participate in a sermon-time option. We are doing this as part of our emphasis on parent responsibility for spiritual nurture, and because we believe a key link of youth to the church needs to be worship. When they move out of mom and dad's, there may not be Sunday school or a youth program, but there will always be worship. We hope they will come to value it by making it part of their lives early-on. For those who stay, we provide an "Observation and listening guide"--2 pages to do during the service (simple questions about what they are doing and seeing and hearing); the back page is for family follow-up. There are also Bible story coloring pages and plain paper and crayons on small clipboards available (all these are available regularly). Another option is a note-taking form for the sermon of the day. Some of the kids have already outgrown the observation guide and are ready for this next level. We have encouraged parents to keep the kdis involved during the first part of the service--standing (on the pew if necessary) for singing, appropriate posture for prayer, atttentive during other talk, etc. Before the younger ones leave, there is a "Window to the Message"--essentially a childrens sermon, but we are hoping a different title helps keep the age groups more integrated. The content is directly related to the sermon. The 30- minute Kids Korner for the younger ones has a lesson and craft also tied to the sermon, plus a simple, unrelated snack. The challenge for me, in preparing the note-taking ouline,the lesson and craft, and "Window" talk, is getting enough information from the preacher to do it in something other than the very last minute! We have had our first week and it was great. Carolyn Caufman
Duluth, MN
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