Summertime…. And the livin’ is easy….
Hey Riverside,
Summer is upon us. Literally. As a mom I am trying not to freak out that my baby is about to be a third grader.
Speaking of summer, let’s talk about what RiverKids has planned. You may have heard us mention before how important it is for kids to be a part of Sunday morning worship. Showing kids how to worship as a church, and allowing them to witness regular parts of the worship service like prayer, communion, open sharing, baptisms, dedications, etc. teach them about who God is, and what Jesus has done for us.
But, we also know that sitting with your kids in church can be… difficult. Mostly because we don’t do it every week, so we aren’t used to it and our kids aren’t used to it. This summer we are all going to get a little more exposure! RiverKids is going Jr Church this summer! If you’ve never heard of Jr Church, that’s ok, we’ll explain.
You will bring your kids into the sanctuary with you at the beginning of every service. Your kids will participate (or just observe) the first part of the worship service, i.e. the music. Then the kids will be dismissed downstairs, where teachers will escort them to the correct classroom and check them in. Parents will still be required to come down after service and check them out.
Here is some other important and helpful information:
- The nursery will be staffed and available both services for the entire service. Please feel free to keep your nursery aged kids upstairs with you, they are WELCOME. But also feel free to bring them downstairs!
- The preschool class (age 3 and 4) will be operating as it has all year. You can drop them off at the start of the service and pick them up afterward. Children at this age feel more at ease with routine and consistency. That being said, you are welcome to bring them down after the singing part of the worship service too. It’s never too early to allow your kids to participate in worship!
- Kids from the PreK/K class all the way up to fifth/sixth grade will be in one combined classroom working together on fun projects to encourage other kids and other Riverside people. We will also be trying out a new curriculum we are planning to use in the fall.
- One More thing, the last Sunday of the month will be a full on Family Worship Sunday! This does not mean stay home and eat pancakes! We chose the last Sunday of the month to be a Family Worship Sunday because it is also Communion Sunday. It is so important that our kids see us receive Communion. We need to be talking with them about it, why we take communion, what it means, etc. Do not fear Family Worship Sundays!