Fanning into flame the desire for children to seek, know and love God.
Welcome to Providence Reformed Baptist Church Children’s Ministry. We look forward to meeting you at our Sunday service. The purpose of this page is to let you know a little bit about how we do Children’s Ministry at Providence.
The children begin the service with the congregation and join in for corporate worship. Just prior to the sermon beginning, children are invited to join us for our lesson time in our purpose set up donga. Currently we cater to teach children from kindy to year 6. The main requirement for a child to join us in Children’s ministry is the ability to sit at a desk and take part in structured lesson.
Mothers will infants and toddlers are very welcome to join us in the donga where we have a small play space with toys and comfy chair for mum to sit and be with their child.
What do we teach? The children in Sunday school study the same scripture that the congregation is learning from. We run a few weeks behind the current sermon, as this allows time for a lesson to be written from the sermon materials that is of an appropriate age level. Currently, Providence is working our way through the book of Mark, so this is what the children are learning as well. Previous to this, we were in the Book of Acts for two and a half years!
Alongside the bible lesson, we aim to equip the children with memorisation of scripture, work through catechism questions, practise looking up verses in a paper bible and reading the word for themselves. We also try to reinforce our teaching through singing songs, enjoying craft and various activities. We are not an “entertainment based” children’s ministry and genuinely desire to raise up the next generation of Christ followers by teaching them the whole counsel of God.
Once a child reaches high school we encourage them to stay in with the main congregation and sit under the teaching of the Elders. We are in recess for Children’s Ministry during school holidays and use these opportunities for children to learn the discipline of sitting quietly and listening to the sermon as best they can. We do not encourage children to take of the elements of the Lord’s Supper if they are not baptised and our Elders are happy to discuss this with you at any time. We welcome any questions you may have, and look forward to meeting you and your child at Providence!
This article is a great read reminding us of the importance of teaching our children scripture.
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/in-peace-or-crisis-instruct-your-children-in-the-lord
Some of our previous memory verses we have learnt.
Image from biblia.com
Image courtesy of theversesproject.com