Sunday mornings in Pebbles Nursery and Rock City Kids (Kids Min) includes fellowship, mentoring, worship, spiritual growth, teaching, application, and of course fun. God is doing incredible things in our kid’s lives and we should celebrate and praise Him for it.
Fellowship
When you walk in on a Sunday morning the classroom can look a little chaotic. There are a lot games and activities, kids are hanging out, laughing, talking, moving from one activity to another, and being loud. It looks very unorganized and pointless. But actually this chaotic time is designed to look like this. Kids are meant to be moving through the room doing whatever they want and hanging out This 20 minutes is designed to be 20 minutes of friendship building. Kids being kids with other kids and creating bonds with other Christians that will outlast Kids Min. Creating relationship during fun moments that will help and hold them through the hard moments in life, now and in their youth and adulthood.
Every week when kids come into the classroom they are asking if their friends are there. They have a plan on who they want to see and what they want to do with them. But it doesn’t stop there because they are welcoming and ready to add in anyone who asks to play or a new kid that gets introduce to them. There is no judgement or leaving kids to sit in the corner, everyone is doing something with someone and it is a wonderful sight to see.
Mentoring
There is a kid who absolutely loves Nathalie, one of our volunteers, and the first question at Check-In is always “Is Miss. Nathalie here today?” and if the answer is no then he goes and mopes in a corner for 2 minutes before finding something to do. She is an important part of church to him because she listens to him and is excited to hear about his life. When she teaches him something, comments on his life or corrects his actions, it matters and he listens. Because she is important to him, her opinions are important and he knows that she cares about him.
There are three girls who really love to draw. They make drawings every week and in September were very shy about showing them to the leaders and asking what they thought. The leaders have been very supportive and the girls’ art has gotten really good. The girls now ask for criticism and tell the leaders’ what they can do better in their own drawings. This is a great connection point where great friendships with leaders are being created.
Worship
Kids Min took over the main stage twice this year to encourage the adults to dance and worship with their whole bodies. It was a lot of fun and Sunday morning worship is always loud and from the heart in Kids Min.
Spiritual Growth
Julia, the Children’s Ministry Director, gets her lessons interrupted by questions a lot. But if you asked her if it bothers her, it doesn’t, in fact she welcomes it. The questions are how the kids learn, how they take the knowledge they are being given and figure out why it matters to them and what they need to do with it. After a lesson a few kids always come to Julia or other leaders and ask more questions. Kids are hungry to know Jesus and being able to help them on their journey is an wonderful gift.
Teaching
Did you know that Daune, another one of our volunteers, might or might not have a twin brother from the south? He visited us for a Sunday morning sing-a-long. Daune had to run an errand and didn’t want us to be a volunteer short, so we got a special teacher. He told us about how Jesus loves us, reminded us that worship can be just a guitar and voices, that worship can happen all day everyday and the kids still talk about this lesson months later.
June 2023’s series has been Ever After; crazy true stories in the Bible. The kids have been amazed by the different fairytale like stories that seem so imaginative but are totally true and can be found in the Bible. They take great joy in discovering stories and learning the crazy, strange, wonderful, bizarre, real things that God has done.
Application
December 2022 was Kids Min second year of Advent Boxes. Advent Boxes are 24 days of crafts and activities for families to take home and complete together. They are designed to get kids reading their Bibles, making notes and applying their knowledge to their lives. Every Sunday there was a Bible passage to read a prompt to write or draw their favourite part. There was a memory verse to learn (in Kids Min we often talk about the importance of keeping verses in our heart and mind so that we can use them for comfort and strength), families were encouraged to practice together and over the month many kids were able to tell their leaders the verse. 2022’s theme was Joy to the World, spreading the Good News to the whole world. There were actives that asked them to tell others about the Good News of Jesus’ birth and on Sunday mornings we talked about how to share the news in practical ways and challenged kids to tell their friends and families about what God has done.
Fun
VBS 2022 was a huge hit! Detective Carll helped kids uncover the mysteries of Jesus’ life and how what He did so long ago, impacts us today and tomorrow and for eternity. 73 kids attended from churches all over the city and learned about Jesus. It was a wild 4 days of fun, activities, learning, and friendship building.
The Kids Min Check-In hallway gets new decorations for every new theme. Julia and her volunteer make a lot of the decor, but the kids also help out. In May 2023 the kids made messages about Jesus to announce to anyone walking through the hallway that they are loved and tell them the story of Jesus’ life and impact on the world.
Pebbles Nursery
Pebbles Nursery has been running in the Rock City Kids room since reopening Kids Min in 2021. It has been a bit of a challenge as having toddlers in the bigger kids classroom can be a little chaotic, but it has lead to some amazing opportunities for our older kids to be able to take on some leadership roles. Spring 2023 Pebbles was reopened by Alen the Nursery Supervisor.
