LOVE DEMANDS CARE FOR OUR CHILDREN
At Union Church Berea, our children are an essential part of our congregation. They are welcome at all Sunday services and many others, and they are allowed to be children. Love demands that we lovingly help them grow and express themselves!
Children are welcome in the service, or you can stay with them in the Nursery
- There will be a nursery assistant available in the nursery space to provide support for families who are supervising their own children there,
- The nursery and playground will be open for families to use if you supervise your own children,
- There will be a device for listening/watching the service in the nursery,
- The children’s Worship Center in the back of the sanctuary will have activities for our youngest members!
Babies and Small children
You are welcome to keep your babies and children with you while you worship with us.
Within the sanctuary, we offer:
- A Children’s Moment every week before the sermon, during which children (and anyone else who wishes to come) are invited to meet the pastor on the stairs at the front.
- A Children’s Worship Area in the back, available throughout the service, stocked with crayons, coloring books, toys, a small table and chairs, and ever-changing options for activities that link to the current service and lectionary readings.
That said, we understand that small children or children with special needs and abilities may be distracted and distracting during the service, so we also offer a nursery in the lower level. Once Covid vaccinations are available to under-5s, we anticipate offering nursery care. The nursery provides more toys and fun, some structured activities, and napping areas.
The most important thing to know is that, at Union Church, we believe that love demands and celebrates unity in diversity. All children are welcome, all children’s personalities, needs, and interests will be encouraged, and especially, all their questions are also welcome. Teachers will help them to explore these questions, but will also admit that there is much in the life of faith that even experienced adults don’t understand, and that’s okay. God’s love is universal and universally embracing. It’s worth repeating our banner adage here:
EVERYONE WELCOME! NO KIDDING! NO EXCEPTIONS!
What to Expect
Children’s Church will Start up again in-person Fall 2022
When we are meeting in person, a typical Children’s Church(school year only) may include the following:
- Children and teachers gather, often on a special gathering rug, and check in about their week and how they feel today
- “Stillness Challenge”–a chance to settle quietly, think, and/or pray
- Reading of a story or lesson
- Discussion on the story or lesson
- Coloring or a craft
These elements may change over time, as children change or new ones come, and teachers assess the particular needs, abilities, and interests of a given group.
Special activities occur during the year, as well, such as special parties or celebrations, yoga, the Christmas pageant (which varies wildly at Union Church, but is always hugely popular and includes adults as well as young ones), leading communion during service, or learning a song to present for Chidren’s Sunday.
Volunteer for Children’s Church/Ministries
Union Church is seeking volunteers to be trained to serve as Children’s Church leaders and assistants. In order to offer Children’s Church, we need at least two adults present each week. We are seeking at least 4 volunteers, currently, to be trained and who are willing to be scheduled on a once a month rotation schedule working alongside our Program Coordinator, Rev. David Jones when we come back together for in-person worship. We also need volunteers willing to be present at Children’s Ministry events and outings. If you are willing to support our Children’s Ministry programming, please click the button below to fill out a volunteer interest form
Working with our Children’s Ministry requires that volunteers go through a background check, attend our Safe Sanctuary training, and also, in some cases, be required to be trained and certified in CPR/First Aid.
