For approximately ten Sundays in the fall and ten in the
early spring, young children are invited to participate in a time of
worship geared specifically to those age four through second grade.
Young Children in Worship meets during the congregation’s Sunday
morning worship. Children are dismissed early in the service and led to
their own time of worship in the Chapel.
Young Children in Worship:
1. Helps children build a relationship with God at their level of understanding.
• Models for them the love, forgiveness and grace of God.
• Encourages children to ask questions about God and their own emerging faith.
• Creates anticipation of God's movement.
• Leads them to share their gifts of art, money and self in response to God.
• Fosters a love, appreciation and respect for the stories of the Bible.
2. Introduces children to the historic and Anabaptist patterns of Christian worship.
• Invites and welcomes children to worship.
• Proclaims the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
• Remembers the wonderful things God has done and continues to do for the children of
God.
• Sends children into their world with a blessing, to be a blessing.
• Initiates children into an understanding of the rites of baptism, the Lord's supper, and
footwashing.
3. Trains children to become active worshippers in the Christian community.
• Fosters a reverence for their Creator.
• Models a Christ-centered spirituality that challenges and influences daily life.
• Encourages openness to the Holy Spirit.
• Nurtures their capacity for prayer and sharing in a corporate setting.
• Involves children in the flow of the seasons of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Lent,
Easter and Pentecost.
• Prepares children to join the larger congregation in worship.
4. Blends and integrates both "adult" and "children's" worship styles and patterns.
5. Leaves room for the child's sense of wonder, the mystery of God's
kingdom and the miracle of God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ.
Young Children in Worship:
3. Trains children to become active worshippers in the Christian community.