If you have attended a Sunday service at Redeemer you will know that the Lord has blessed us with many, many young children. There are currently around 170 children 12 years-old and under at Redeemer (and more on the way!). To love and serve our parish is to love and serve the youngest among us as well. So what does it look like to care for such a large percentage of our church body? Here are four suggestions on where to start:
Pray
The most obvious and natural way to care for our children is through regular, intentional prayer for their spiritual formation. These little ones who run through the pews on Sunday mornings and doodle in the margins of the liturgies will one day be the leaders of the body of Christ! The importance of these formative years as they worship in church with their families and friends cannot be overstated. Pray for the parents, guardians, church staff, Redeemer Kids volunteers, and nursery staff as they all come together to do the hard and beautiful work of investing in the spiritual life of the children in our parish. If you would like to join our Redeemer Kids prayer team, please email me!
Take the Child Safety Training
Whether or not you are able to actively serve in our children’s ministry or are unsure of how to get started, this training is a wonderful way to support our ministry. The more godly adults in our parish who are equipped on how to keep our children safe from the very real dangers that exist in our fallen world, the more effective our ministry can be. This training empowers us with the tools needed to identify and address specific threats to the most vulnerable members of our parish. Come join us one Sunday afternoon, eat lunch, and learn how to keep our ministry accountable and equipped to be a safe place for children and the adults who serve them! Register here.
Donate or Create Children’s Ministry Supplies
We are always on the lookout for beautiful, durable materials for our children’s classes and would love your help! Creating costumes for creative play, building shelving for craft supplies, and designing beautiful art for our classrooms are just some of the creative ways to love our kids in a very practical way. We have a wish list of materials that would enrich our ministry; just reach out if you’d like to chat about it!
Volunteer!
Here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak—the work of being physically present and active in the often messy work of children’s ministry. This is the heartbeat of our ministry and where the work of setting up effective safety measures, stocking beautiful, stimulating classrooms, and preparing thoughtful, intentional lessons comes to fruition. In short: showing up. Children’s spiritual formation happens when godly adults show up and invest in their lives on a regular basis. It is the embodied work of showing them that they are seen, known, and matter. We do not have a children’s ministry without volunteers. There are many ways to connect, but here are a few below:
Nursery volunteer—once a month at one service, caring for the children under 3 years old for the length of the service.
Classroom teacher—connecting with a team of adults to lead thoughtful lessons every week and invest deeply in a small group of children on a regular basis on Sunday mornings.
Classroom assistant—coming alongside teachers to manage and care for Sunday morning classes and taking care of practical needs of the class on Sunday mornings.
Monitor—patrolling the halls and spaces when Sunday Redeemer classes are meeting, taking up attendance sheets, and helping to escort kids to the bathroom during classtime when needed.
The Lord is doing good work here in our children’s ministry and I am encouraged by the amazing people I have the opportunity to partner with in this work here at Redeemer. I would love to chat with any of you if you have thoughts, questions, concerns, or unique gifts to bring to our ministry. Please reach out to me and let’s meet up or click the button below to indicate how you’d like to participate.
In Christ,
Casey Cisco
Director of Redeemer Kids
