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We Welcome Children to Participate in Worship!

SERMON STORIES

Children, ages 4 through Grade 2, are invited to exit the 11:00 a.m. worship service following the Children’s Message for Sermon Stories.  Sermon Stories meets in Room 102B where children will engage in activities that explore a Bible story or church season.

At the conclusion of the sermon, children will return to the sanctuary and their parents for the end of the service.  Sermon Stories will not meet on Messy Church Sundays (the third Sunday of every month), when the children are invited to participate with their families in this alternative family worship event.

Other Services for Children:

Lewinsville enthusiastically welcomes your growing family and we recognize that God put the wiggle in children.  So we have the options listed below to help you enjoy the church experience:

  • Nursery – Our professionally-staffed nursery is on the lower level of Heritage Hall for children, birth through age 3. Your infants and toddlers are also welcome to stay with you in worship if you prefer.
  • Narthex Center with puzzles, games and toys.  Parents can hear and see the service from the Narthex while their children play in the narthex area, however the center is located in the cloak room.
  • Children’s Bulletins received from the ushers which contain puzzles and activities for children to do at their seats in the pews
  • Wiggles Worship Bags are located in the bins in the Narthex. Children are invited to use the contents while in worship. Please return the bags to the bins at the end of the service.
  • For the Children’s Meditation, children are invited to come to the chancel area for a brief talk with the pastor.  This focus with our children occurs on Sundays when communion is not served.  Immediately following the children’s meditation, children are invited to attend Sermon Stories.
  • Sermon Stories (at the 11:00 am service, and sometimes 10:00 am during the summer) for children age 4 through grade 2 (see below).  Note that on Messy Church Sundays (the third Sunday of every month), the children are invited to participate with their families in this alternative family worship event. CLICK HERE for more info about Messy Church.

Suggestions for Parents and Other Worshipers

Relax! Your family is important here, and children are important participants in worship. God put the wiggle in children. Don’t feel you have to suppress it in God’s house.

  • Sit in a place where it will be easy for the children to see and to hear.
  • Introduce your child to people sitting nearby.
  • Let your children use the floor and pew as their own area. Kneeling on the floor allows children to use the pew as a desk. Standing on the pew allows children to see what’s going on.
  • Use gentle touch: an arm around your child’s shoulder, your hands in his/hers to give childreninworshipreassurance and appropriate attention.
  • Explain parts of the service (quietly). Use their questions as opportunities to teach them about faith, and how we live it out in worship.
  • Help your child find the pages in the Hymnal and the Bible. (Don’t be distressed if they don’t find the proper page).
  • Sing the hymns, and encourage your child to sing as well. It’s less important that they’re singing correctly, and more important that they’re singing and participating.
  • Encourage your children to stand when the congregation stands, even if they can’t read or don’t yet know the responses.
  • Pray and voice the responses. Children learn liturgical behavior by copying yours.
  • Baptized children are welcome to receive the Lord’s Supper. Continue to nurture and instruct them in the significance of the Lord’s Supper and the meaning of their response.
  • Encourage your child to participate in the Children’s Meditation. If he or she is reluctant to go forward then go forward with your child.
  • Younger children sometimes have particular difficulty participating in the entire worship service. Feel free to leave the sanctuary to care for your child if he or she becomes disruptive. A nursery is available downstairs for infants/toddlers and there is a volunteer staffed classroom for preschool/kindergarten age children.
  • In addition, you may accompany your child to the Narthex to make use of the toys put there for them.  The sound system broadcasts the sanctuary sound into the Narthex.
  • Always remember that the way we welcome children in church directly affects the way they respond to church, God and Christ. Let them know that they are at home in worship at Lewinsville!