Intro Letter 4

Hi, Pearce Family!

“What is it going to look like?” This is one question I hear often when discussing family ministries for the fall. What is it going to look like for babies, preschoolers, elementary-aged kids, middle schoolers, and high schoolers? Though the answer is slightly different for each phase, there are three core values that will form every family ministry environment we have: worship, community, and service. By using these three invitations to form our ministries, we will create continuity for your family and give value to every part of our environments. Here’s a snapshot of what these invitations look like, lived out in our ministries:
Worship:

• Journey Kids Jr. (Babies & Preschoolers): At this phase, little ones have an incredible sense of wonder. This wondering about everything gives us the opportunity to point them to the God of the universe. We will do this through songs and rhymes that will keep pointing their wonder back to Jesus, teaching them how to worship.

• Journey Kids (K-5th Grade): Our K-5th graders will begin each Sunday morning worship hour in the Sanctuary with their family for two songs of family worship. They will then be dismissed to Journey Kids, which will begin with one kid-styled worship song. This will allow our kids to both learn the value of corporate worship from the whole church community and discover how they are uniquely wired to express worship to their creator—through song, dance, prayer, art, etc.

• Middle School (5th & 6th Grade): Our middle school environment will help 5th & 6th graders use their newly developing abstract thinking skills. Worship can be a hard thing for kids to grasp when they are concrete thinkers, so we’ll break it down and show kids numerous ways to worship, and help take them deeper than they went in Journey Kids.

• Junior & Senior High (7th-12th Grade): Our Junior and Senior High environment will allow teens to start taking real ownership over the worship portion of our family ministries. We will have a teen-led worship band that will lead the rest of the group in worship and will also incorporate non-musical ways of worship into that portion of the ministry, in order to engage students who worship God in different ways than with music.
Community:

• All: For all of our kids, no matter the phase, we believe community is essential. The truth is, discipleship happens in relationships. For this reason, we are going to place kids age 0-18 in small groups. Every ministry environment will include small group time, where kids will have the opportunity to interact with consistent, godly adults who are dedicated to journeying with them as they grow to look, live, and love like Jesus. Since we know that these kinds of life-changing relationships aren’t built in 30 minutes a week, we will be encouraging our small group leaders to show up both predictably and randomly. A predictable small group leader shows up to small group time when his/her few kids expect him/her to show up. A random small group leader also shows up when it’s unexpected, through a card in the mail, a text message, or on the sidelines of a soccer game or audience of a dance recital. These small groups will also connect your kids with other kids their age, so they can develop strong Christian friendships.

Here’s when these awesome groups will take place:

• Journey Kids Jr. (birth-5-year-olds): Saturday night (includes 6-year-olds), Sunday morning at 9, 10 & 11am

• Journey Kids (K-5th Grade): Sunday morning at 9 & 11am

• Middle School (5th & 6th Grade): Sunday nights from 6-8pm

• Junior High (7th & 8th Grade): Sunday nights from 6-8pm

• Senior High (9th-12th Grade): Sunday nights from 6-8pm

Service:

• Journey Kids (K-5th Grade): Our 10am Sunday School hour will provide a monthly service focus for our kids, so they can begin to learn how they get to be a part of the body of Christ by serving others. The focus will change monthly to connect with what is being discussed in Journey Kids at 9 & 11am.

• Journey Teens (6th-12th Grade): Teens will be invited to serve on Sunday mornings in whatever ministry they feel most gifted. Whether kids’ ministry, audio visual, greeting, or music, we will find a place for them to serve! We will also begin our youth ministry year with a spiritual gifts focus, to help the teens determine how God has wired them to serve. There will also be events throughout the year that will engage the teens in service to our community.
With these three focuses in mind, we’re excited to see how your kids grow to be and make disciples who love God and neighbor as they plug into worship, community, and service.
Blessings, Pastor Kayleigh