Please know that your children of any age are always welcome to worship with you in the nave. Children are an important and valued part of our worship community.
Children, age 4 and older, are encouraged to attend worship with their parents. Families are encouraged to use the liturgy to guide their children through the worship service. Bringing coloring, books, or quiet games is an acceptable way to allow children to be present in church – they pick up much more than we know! Kid Kits – packets with small activities, books, and other items to encourage participation in worship – are available in the narthex for children of all ages as well.
Modeling appropriate church behavior for children by teaching them to stand, sit, or kneel with the congregation keeps them engaged and children quite often respond to ritual – just think of the number of times you’ve read their favorite book. Typically, children can be expected to participate in a service in an orderly manner by the time they enter second grade.
Worship is one of the basic ways to learn what it means to be Christian. Children increase their understanding of Christian worship by joining the congregation Sunday after Sunday. They learn they belong to Christ and are welcome in his Church. They learn to know the Lord’s Prayer and other parts of the liturgy from memory. They build a fund of memorable, shared experiences of Christian community against which they may draw when they are older. They are enriched by the beauty of music and art as expressions of praise and as human responses to God. They hear stories from the Bible read and interpreted and begin to see Christian worship as one place where God may speak to them. They witness the drama of Baptism and Eucharist as signs of God’s kindness and favor. They discover that they are valued as persons by God and by the people of God at Church.
Bringing children to worship may not always be easy, but it is an essential part of their growth in Christ. The Body of Christ assembled is incomplete in their absence. We need children and they are welcome here!
A note about special needs…
It is recognized that God has created each child uniquely in God’s own image and that not every child’s needs are identical. While we are not able to meet every need, we do try to accommodate all children and honor them as blessings bestowed upon us by God. If your child has special needs, please speak with a member of the clergy so that every effort may be made towards accommodation. We hope to work with parents to ensure Church of the Holy Spirit is a nurturing, safe, and holy environment for all children.