H7 Story: Engaging More With Our Kids
By Wendi Kitsteiner
At First Christian Church, we regularly encourage everyone to practice H1: “Engage in Worship”. However, as our church body transitions to one service on Sundays, we have begun to brainstorm and collaborate on some creative ideas which we hope will ultimately help our Kids Min volunteers be involved with worship despite the fact that we are no longer having two services each Sunday morning.
As mentioned previously, beginning on December 29, we will be transitioning to one 10a service. This change was implemented with the goal being to lessen the stress on our volunteers now that we are spread across three campuses. Kids Min volunteers will no longer have the opportunity to “Worship One, Serve One” and we wanted to make sure they still had the opportunity to participate in worship regularly.
Due to this significant change in our Sunday morning plan, we are going to be having Kids Min volunteers only serve two Sundays a month. This will allow them to serve half the month and attend service on the other two Sundays. However, we have decided to implement a second change that will help them be even more present in our services while simultaneously helping our elementary-aged children as well. Starting December 29, our kindergarten to fifth grade students will now attend “big church” with their parents for half the service. They will participate in worship and communion before leaving the sanctuary to attend their own classes.
It is the hope that these changes will do two things. One, this will allow our Elementary Kids Min volunteers to attend at least part of service on the weeks they are volunteering. Secondly, our children will be able to worship with their parents and siblings! Think of the impact it makes when kids watch their parents sing God’s praises and see the gospel displayed in the Lord’s Supper!
Super mom of four young children, Cara Trantham had the opportunity to talk to her two girls about this change. While her two youngest children are not yet in kindergarten, Eden and Callie Rae are school-aged and will be now attending the first half of the service with their Dad and Mom. Cara said that the girls are excited about the change. “They are looking forward to being in the service for the singing! Eden has already started making a list of things that she’ll need to take for the service.”
But it wasn’t just her girls who were excited. “I am looking forward to engaging more with our kids in the service. I love singing with my kids, watching them memorize the words and belt them out, unashamed. I like the idea of a blended worship service, where the kids can participate and feel like part of the body as a whole.” However, like most parents, Cara admitted that she was excited the kids will get to go to leave during the sermon so that the parents can focus a bit more while they get to learn at an age-appropriate level.
Fellow mom Ashleigh Reaves echoed Cara’s sentiments. “My kids love being in worship with me and I love hearing their little voices sing along praising God and Jesus,” she explained. “Eli May loves to break down songs to understand what she is singing and it is another great way for our kids to learn and grow.”
Crista Larsen serves as the Financial Director for our church body and even though her three children are in their teenage years now, she faithfully serves as an Elementary Small Group Leader for K-2nd grade kiddos. She shared, “As we count down the days until the transition to One Service Everywhere, I am anticipating a greater sense of church unity as those involved in Kids Ministry – parents, elementary kids, and volunteers alike – will be participating in the music and communion portions of the worship service together. What an exciting gift it will be for our elementary kids to witness their parents participating in the Body of Christ and singing praises to the Lord!”
We all agree Crista! Getting to see everyone’s children and families sitting together is fun for everyone, and we hope all of these changes do even more to help grow our church and the faith of every member of our family.
As mentioned previously, beginning on December 29, we will be transitioning to one 10a service. This change was implemented with the goal being to lessen the stress on our volunteers now that we are spread across three campuses. Kids Min volunteers will no longer have the opportunity to “Worship One, Serve One” and we wanted to make sure they still had the opportunity to participate in worship regularly.
Due to this significant change in our Sunday morning plan, we are going to be having Kids Min volunteers only serve two Sundays a month. This will allow them to serve half the month and attend service on the other two Sundays. However, we have decided to implement a second change that will help them be even more present in our services while simultaneously helping our elementary-aged children as well. Starting December 29, our kindergarten to fifth grade students will now attend “big church” with their parents for half the service. They will participate in worship and communion before leaving the sanctuary to attend their own classes.
It is the hope that these changes will do two things. One, this will allow our Elementary Kids Min volunteers to attend at least part of service on the weeks they are volunteering. Secondly, our children will be able to worship with their parents and siblings! Think of the impact it makes when kids watch their parents sing God’s praises and see the gospel displayed in the Lord’s Supper!
Super mom of four young children, Cara Trantham had the opportunity to talk to her two girls about this change. While her two youngest children are not yet in kindergarten, Eden and Callie Rae are school-aged and will be now attending the first half of the service with their Dad and Mom. Cara said that the girls are excited about the change. “They are looking forward to being in the service for the singing! Eden has already started making a list of things that she’ll need to take for the service.”
But it wasn’t just her girls who were excited. “I am looking forward to engaging more with our kids in the service. I love singing with my kids, watching them memorize the words and belt them out, unashamed. I like the idea of a blended worship service, where the kids can participate and feel like part of the body as a whole.” However, like most parents, Cara admitted that she was excited the kids will get to go to leave during the sermon so that the parents can focus a bit more while they get to learn at an age-appropriate level.
Fellow mom Ashleigh Reaves echoed Cara’s sentiments. “My kids love being in worship with me and I love hearing their little voices sing along praising God and Jesus,” she explained. “Eli May loves to break down songs to understand what she is singing and it is another great way for our kids to learn and grow.”
Crista Larsen serves as the Financial Director for our church body and even though her three children are in their teenage years now, she faithfully serves as an Elementary Small Group Leader for K-2nd grade kiddos. She shared, “As we count down the days until the transition to One Service Everywhere, I am anticipating a greater sense of church unity as those involved in Kids Ministry – parents, elementary kids, and volunteers alike – will be participating in the music and communion portions of the worship service together. What an exciting gift it will be for our elementary kids to witness their parents participating in the Body of Christ and singing praises to the Lord!”
We all agree Crista! Getting to see everyone’s children and families sitting together is fun for everyone, and we hope all of these changes do even more to help grow our church and the faith of every member of our family.
