Our Vision for Children’s Ministry
That our children would know, trust, and love their savior,
and grow to serve the church and their community to the glory of God.
Philosophy of ministry
Our primary goals are that our children:
- Love the Savior - Our greatest prayer is that our children are true converts - that they see their sin, understand Christ’s sacrifice, receive His righteousness, and love him with their whole hearts.
- Love His Church - As the church is Christ’s bride, our children should love the church and its people. Through the body of Christ they receive the means of grace—the sacraments, worshipping together, praying together, and studying the Word together.
- Love His Story - True conversion produces converters. We pray that our children will love to tell others about Jesus, both in the church and to the world around them.
- Love His World - We pray that our children’s love for their Savior will overflow into the world He created by serving their neighbors and their community and seeking in all areas to help renew the fallen world by improving it. Titus 3:3-8, Jeremiah 29:4-7
Our primary means to achieve this vision are:
- Teaching the Word - We pour the Word of God into our children’s hearts as mind, as we know that is “sharper than any two-edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 78:4
- Praying with and for our children - We pray diligently and earnestly that the Spirit would work in their hearts and wait with expectation for Him to bring them to Himself. Matthew 19:13-15
- Equipping parents to shepherd their children - We come alongside our parents as the covenantal body to equip them spiritually, emotionally, and physically to raise their children. Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Psalm 103:17
Our primary avenues to achieve this vision are:
- Sunday school
- Sunday morning worship
- Sunday morning kids’ worship (3-6 year olds)
- Churchwide, multi-generational events
OUR CORE VALUES ARE:
God is at work so we expect growth.
We expect to see our children growing in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Every person is unique and complex.
Our children are at different ages and stages of development, they have different challenges and gifts, and we try to reach them where they are. God made us fearfully and wonderfully, and all different. We strive to address different learning styles with various teaching formats and have age-appropriate materials and activities to better reach our children. Ps. 139:13-16
God works covenantally through relationships and families.
We want to come alongside parents as they raise their children by providing with physical, emotional, and spiritual support. As we care for families, we hope to see relationships evolve across generations at church so that we can be aiding one another on our journey of sanctification. 2 Timothy 1:5
God works through corporate worship, so we emphasize having our children in worship.
We welcome our children in the service at the beginning of every service, while also providing a nursery. We want our children to be worshiping and learning together with the adults and to train them by exposure and example.
Westminster Standards
We have a fixed theology that is non-negotiable. We use these standards as we evaluate curriculum for our children’s ministry, and this is the theology that we teach in and out of the classroom. We do not adopt a curriculum or program just because it is popular or “worked” at another church.
We take our responsibility to protect our children very seriously. Read our Children's Protective Policy here.