Children’s Ministry

This is an exciting and rapidly growing area of ministry at Grace UMC! We have a dynamic Children’s Ministry Team who loves serving Christ and children! Our goal is to enthusiastically share the love of Christ with children in all activities that we do! The theme of our Children’s Program is “G.R.A.C.E.  Station” representing “God Reaches All Children Everywhere.” The space theme is inspired by the colorful space mural in the children’s hallway, with children of all colors working together and serving Christ, just as we seek to do at Grace UMC! Grace UMC follows all Safe Sanctuary Guidelines!

Nursery Ministry

Our nurseries are a top priority at Grace UMC! We believe that children are the most important asset at Grace UMC, and we strive to make our nurseries as safe, orderly, and clean as possible! For safety, all children are registered & required to wear a safety tag while visiting the nursery. Parents are given matching tags and beepers for identification. All Nursery Staff are CPR Certified and enjoy sharing the love of Christ with our youngest worshippers.

We offer 3 Nurseries at Grace UMC:

Infant Nursery: Infants and Crawlers  (room 129A & B)
Toddler 1: Walkers up to 2 years of age  (room 102)
Toddler 2: 2 year olds up to 4 years of age  (room 103)

Sunday School

Sunday School is offered to all children 2 years old and up each Sunday morning at 9:45am.

Classes are as follows:

2 & 3’s enjoy a fun curriculum called Live Big, with interactive crafts and a lively DVD!
4 & 5’s enjoy a neat curriculum called Bible In Life with a hands-on lesson, cool crafts and neat songs!
K-5th Graders are invited to the GPS Room for Sunday Morning Fellowship! (6th Graders promote to Youth at the completion of Confirmation)

At GPS, we share a snack and enjoy a few minutes of fellowship before departing to our classrooms. Best of all, GPS Kids accumulate attendance points each Sunday, which entitles them to shop at the cool GPS Store at the end of each month! Bible In Life Curriculum is also shared by all GPS Classes with great discussions and activities! It is our hope that GPS will “guide us” on our journey of faith, as we seek God’s path for us!

6th Graders

Our 6th Graders have their own class and curriculum called “Grapple”, where they grapple with life issues.  This class is led by Joanne Weis in Room 101, across from the worship center.  The 6th Graders will move up to the youth group during their second semester each January.  Confirmation is offered by Pastor Bryan starting in February.

Children’s Church

Children’s Church is offered immediately after the Children’s Message at the 10:45 am worship service each Sunday for ages 4 years through 1st Grade.

Seasonal Activities

Wee BZ is a fun interactive experience for children 2 years through 5 year olds (Pre-K). Children enjoy hands-on learning activities, including story time, crafts and music. Wee BZ is offered during the Spring & Fall for 6-8 weeks.

BibleZone (BZ) is a fun program for kids in Kindergarten through 5th Grade. We enjoy lively games, story time, and crafts! BZ is also offered during the Spring & Fall for 6-8 weeks.

Mission Mondays is a new venture that will be offered in June 2011! Each Monday in June, we will perform special mission projects together and even take field trips. Mission Mondays is for all kids 2 years old through upcoming 6th Graders! We hope you will join us as we seek to serve others!

Special Events

Annual Easter Egg Hunt is held each year to celebrate all that Christ has done for us through his sacrifice and love! This is a special event of fellowship and fun! The community is invited to take part in this special day as we celebrate new life in Christ!  We have different sections for each age group to hunt eggs, then we have some time of food and fellowship following the hunt.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is our biggest event of the year! We go “all out” to create a fun & exciting time of worship, games, crafts, drama, and story time. Many wonderful volunteers come together to make VBS an awesome experience for everyone!  This year our theme is “Shake It Up Cafe”, where kids will explore the Bible to discover recipes for living out God’s Word.  This year our VBS will be July 11-15, 2011, with a fellowship dinner at the end.  Learn more about Shake It Up Cafe VBS or register here.

Children’s Sunday is a blessed event in which the Grace Children lead the entire worship service sharing all that they have learned at VBS! It is always scheduled the Sunday following VBS.

Children’s Choir is offered seasonally on Sunday evenings at 5:30 pm for children 2nd – 6th grade. They perform at the annual Christmas dinner each year.

Trunk or Treat is one of the most fun events of the year at Grace! Everyone dresses up and “treats” the kids with goodies from their decorated trunks! There is a costume contest for all ages, food and goodies for all! This is an awesome night of fun and fellowship that you don’t want to miss!

Happy Birthday Jesus Party is our final event of the year! We gather together to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ with food, crafts, and the Christmas Story. We prepare fruit baskets for our homebound church family as our special holiday mission project. The Wee BZ Kids also entertain us with a special Christmas Pageant! It is a wonderful festive event!

As you can see, there is lots going on with Grace Children’s Ministries!

Check out the Grace Monthly Calendar for all the above, plus lock-ins, game nights, and all sorts of fun!

Contact our Children’s Director, Beth Brannen, for more information regarding any of the above ministries.