Contact: Kevin Miller, Children’s Ministries Coordinator, 273-5971, kmiller@stpaulsithaca.org
"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." Matthew 19:14
Infants and toddlers are welcome in the Sunday morning worship service, and in age-specific childcare rooms. Childcare is available from 9:30-12:00. Infants are in the room near the restrooms, 1-2 year olds are in the first room to the left after passing the kitchen area.
The Faith Discovery Group class explores Bible stories in the context of some weekly routines that provide a safe, predictable setting for preschoolers. In addition to a Teacher, who is with the class from week to week, the class is visited by a Storyteller who brings the specific story for a given Sunday. Bible stories are presented with hands-on activities that engage the children using a variety of learning styles.
Faith Explorers is the exciting Christian Education program that uses a variety of learning paths to help reinforce Bible stories for our children. They hear storytelling in the Caravan Camp, create art projects in the Carpenter’s Workshop, and view videos in the Oasis Theater. They also visit the Temple, the Mission Well, the Promised Land, and the Our Daily Bread Café for music, drama, nature, and cooking projects that enable them to experience Bible Stories using all of their senses.
This fall the children are learning about Abraham & Sarah. Workshops include a family tree of the four generations from Abraham to Joseph, making a Sarah puppet from a withered apple, baking “Johnny cakes” to experience hospitality, acting in a drama called “Abraham’s Test”, and creating a beautiful prayer blanket to be given to a new baby.
When: Sunday mornings during the 10:30 worship service. Children go to worship with their families, leaving for their classes after the Time with Young Christians (~10:45). On Family Worship Sundays (about every 6 weeks) children remain in the worship service allowing intergenerational worship as a community. Faith Explorers classes end at about 11:45 and the children will be reunited with their parents in the Memorial Rooms, or parents can find their children outside their workshop space in the Bible Village.