kid’s church

Preparing for Kid’s and Youth in-person activities

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We’re excited and getting geared up to be starting in-person Kid’s church on Sept 19. There’s a lot swirling to get this going. At the same time there’s a lot swirling in our world. A few words about that:

First, let’s hold on to love. This is our priority as a church. Please know that you are loved. Period.

Second, we’re not giving in to fear. That isn’t the kind of spirit that God gives.

Third, we’re really excited to open up the doors to kid’s church again.

In order to do all three, AND to respect the restrictions and protocols the government has put in place, we’re going to do our best to provide a safe environment by using the following measures for our in-person gatherings, particularly where we intersect with our more vulnerable sectors:

  1. Masking, social distancing, and sanitization will remain our standard for Sunday morning gatherings, Kids Church, Jouth, Youth, and any other in-person public events.
  2. Rapid tests for anyone unvaccinated 24 hrs prior to working with vulnerable sector individuals – (kids, youth, vulnerable adults). This includes any volunteer who will be serving in close proximity (<2m) to other individuals for a period of time likely exceeding 10 minutes.  Individuals exhibiting a positive result will be asked to refrain from coming to whatever event they were volunteering for and will be encouraged to seek out further testing.  Rapid tests will be supplied by the church.
  3. Temperature testing for kids and youth attending in-person events – anyone displaying a temperature over 38C will be asked to return home.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above protocols please direct them to our office.

 

Feature image credit: Vultar Bahr on Unsplash

Growing with the Kids

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The New Year is here and with it comes a new season of Kid’s Church.  If you are interested in growing with the kids at WCV, here are some ways you can do that. We are currently looking for volunteers to join our teams in these areas. Please contact Andy Arthur to find out more details. 204-999-1292

Junior Youth Helper – Saturday Evening

Elementary Small Group Leader

Grade 5&6 Co-teacher

Sunday Morning Youth Teacher

KidCheck Volunteer

Annual Fire Drill – 2019

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WCV will be doing an annual fire drill at the end of the service on Oct 6th, at 11:40 a.m. This is part of WCV’s Plan to Protect policy.  Kids Church will practice leaving their rooms with the volunteers down the designated stairwells. All of the kids and youth will head to the Greenspace,where their parents can pick them up and sign them out. After the kids have been signed out, everyone is welcome to head back inside for coffee, tea, and fellowship.

For both the fire drill and in case of any real emergency, Kid’s Church volunteers will escort children and youth (carrying all of the babies) safely out of the building.

Note>>> As parents, please do not attempt to rush up the stairwells to collect your children, as this will hamper our efforts of getting everyone down the stairs.

A Light Unto My Path

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Here is a special message from Gloria Fligg summarizing the fall session of Kid’s Church:

“For the past two months, we’ve had lots of fun upstairs in Kids’ Church! We learned about lighthouses and how they illuminate our path, and keep us from danger. We compared God’s word to a lighthouse, and learned the verse, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). We also talked about how God’s word is like a double-edged sword, and we heard about the Bible story of Samuel and how he heard God speak to him, even as a very young boy.

“This is truly an amazing group of children; I have so enjoyed working with them.”

The adventures continued with our “Roaming through Romans” lessons and the accompanying centres (at each one, the children learned about a different concept found in Romans). Last Sunday, we also spoke about the life of Paul (the author of Romans), and how Jesus radically changed his life. We will wrap up our fall with a fun lesson about how even though it can be scary to “let go” and trust God, our lives will always be rewarded when we do. Stay tuned for a fun object lesson involving apples and some delicious apple crisp. Every week, we also participated in praise and worship, learned Bible verses, and did lots of art projects. This is truly an amazing group of children; I have so enjoyed working with them. Thanks so much to all the leaders and helpers too. Kids’ Church wouldn’t be possible without all of you!”  -Gloria Fligg

Next Sunday Gifts4God will begin. Leaders are in place and our elementary kids are looking forward to the fun. There is so much joy that comes as we nurture and explore the gifts inside of us. This is what Gifts4God is all about! Over the next six weeks our kids will participate in cooking, sports, arts & crafts, dance, drama and comic art. A very big “thank you” to everyone who has come alongside the Kids’ Church ministry to help make this happen!

Kids Church at WCV

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We are excited for this season of Kids Church at WCV. As we prepare, there are a few things we want you to know.

Leaders are in place and ready to come alongside our children and youth to be a positive presence and a source of love and encouragement in their lives. One important aspect of WCV’s Generations Ministry is the safety of all children in our care. Our Plan to Protect policy helps to insure that WCV is a safe place. Kid Check is an important part of this. As has always been the case, it is mandatory that every minor (age 18 and under), every guardian and every Generations Ministry worker is registered through Kid Check and wears their name tag every Sunday. There are no exceptions to this rule. We love the young people God has entrusted to us and we want to do everything we can to make sure they know that they are safe with us so they can be free to learn and grow into all God has for them. Please help us by being responsible in this way as Kids Church resumes this fall.

We also want to highlight a few changes this year. Our “Jouth” (Jr. Youth, Grades 5-6) will meet every Sunday  in the youth room. Our Youth (Grades 7-12) will be meeting every other Sunday. When there is no youth they are welcome and encouraged to remain in the service.

Lastly, we are still in need of leaders who will step up in different areas including Kid Check, Gifts4God and Pre-School leaders. If you can help please contact Jodi Labun.

Welcome back, everyone! We look forward to having you with us.

 

 

“Your Sons and Daughters will Prophesy.” Acts 2:17

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This past Sunday we gathered together to celebrate Pentecost, an important day on the church calendar that commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit to all people. If you were there, you may have noticed the kids (and some adults, too) working away on a community art project as we worshiped. The children were asked to respond to the question, “What is God like?” It was a moving experience to watch their answers unfold. This is what they said:

“God is the best, God is a protector, God is comfort, God is light, God is joy, God is nice, God is mercy, God is happy, God is strong, God is humble, God is caring, God is aware, God is peace, God is life, God is forgiving, God is kind, God is a loving father, God is a mama bear, God is encouraging, God is hope, God is powerful, God is love, God is powerful love.”

Above all of this, we wrote the words, “They were praising God together.” This is one way to describe what happened at Pentecost and what happens among us now. If you have a chance to look closer at this wall, please do. The children’s joy was palpable and their whimsical wisdom flowed free.

 

 

Imaginative Prayer in Kids Church – Spring Update

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We are having fun continuing our journey into Imaginative Prayer with the Grade 1-7 gang!

Last Sunday, Grade 1-4: We explored chapter 16, “Forgiveness means we can forgive the sins of others.” What a valuable Jesus-focused message! As Jared Boyd states, “We’re trying to paint a broad picture of ways we can experience forgiveness: between us and God, between God and those who are lost, and between God and the people we interact with.” (136)

Pray that as we explore forgiveness that this generation would grasp how wide and deep and high the love of God is.

I wanna give a big shout out to our Sunday morning leaders, who are helping our kids know that they belong and are loved. Last week Marlese Hazeu, Josiah Koppanyi and Cliff Heide led small groups, while Gloria Fligg led the kids in a large group game called “bigger and better.” These kids not only had a lot of fun stealing gifts, but they were able to experience the path to forgiveness firsthand.

Last Sunday, Grade 5-7: Mike Labun led the Grades 5-7 on the same topic using an escape room/scavenger hunt he created. Kids hunted for clues and solved puzzles so they could break into a vault to retrieve an audio message on a USB stick. All of this led to a discussion on forgiveness.

Pray and Follow Along: We love our kids and youth at WCV. Pray that as we explore forgiveness that this generation would grasp how wide and deep and high the love of God is. As parents, keep on using this great resource by following along and trying the ideas in Imaginative Prayer. Here is the schedule:

  • April 22 – Week 18
  • April 29 – Week 19
  • May 6 – Week 20
  • May 13 – Week 21
  • May 27 – Week 22
  • June 3 – Week 23
  • June 10 – Week 24
  • June 17 – Week 25

 

Imaginative Prayer Launch in Kids Church

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Parents, we are so excited as we launch into Imaginative Prayer with the Grade 1-7 this fall and winter!

Jared Patrick Boyd is the author.  Jared was my spiritual direction teacher in my first year at the School of Spiritual Direction.  He is a pastor and a father to four children.  His heart is amazing and you can read all about his vision in his introduction to Imaginative Prayer or hear Jared here.

In Kids Church we will be going through a lesson per week.  You can follow along as parents and follow-up with your child.  As Jared states on page 25-26 “This book is not a guide for busy parents.  It’s an invitation for busy parents to slow down, take some deep breaths, and recognize that you are the most important person in your child’s life and spiritual formation.  There is no environment your church can create to compete with the kind of connection that you are able to nurture with your child.”  You’ll find if you give yourselves to this process (even if you can’t do all the exercises), you will experience growth.

Here’s what our fall calendar will look like.  Feel free to follow along!

  • Sept 10 – Week 1
  • Sept 17 – Week 2
  • Sept 24- Week 3
  • Oct 1 – Week 4
  • Oct 8 – Thanksgiving – No Kids Church
  • Oct 15 – Week 5
  • Oct 22 – Week 6
  • Break for Gifts4God until the New Year . . .

There are also some new changes to our structure.  Grades 1-4 will continue to meet upstairs in Kids Church with our AMAZING team. Grades 5-7 will have a new youth team meeting with them in the youth room.  Grades 8-12 will meet in the Comfy Couch Room.

“This book is about connection because of the way Jesus asks us to imagine our life with him – he is the vine, his Father is the gardener, and we are connected to him.  This is how we bear fruit.  This is the image he give us.  This is what he asks us to imagine.”  (13, Imaginative Prayer)

WCV is providing one copy per family.  (More copies of this book are on order and will be here the week of Oct 13)

Filled with hope at what’s ahead . . .

~ Jodi Labun

A Summer Head’s Up

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Well, it seems like summer is finally here and our schedule is adjusting accordingly.  Our Sunday Gatherings during the summer months are special times because they include all the children throughout the whole service.  Because of this, we tend to make sure the overall service is about 1/2 hour shorter (10 – 11:15am instead of 10 – 11:45am).  We do this by shortening the sermon and cutting out announcements altogether.  June 29 will be our first shortened service without organized kid’s church.

Also, we are going to be having just one main gathering downstairs from now until September.  The Upstairs Gathering has been a great addition to our regular gathered life together.  We’ve observed tremendous value in it and it provides us with lots of room to grow.  However, during the lower attendance summer months, it makes more sense to consolidate into one gathering, then begin again with two gatherings in the Fall.  June 8 was our last Upstairs Gathering until the Fall.

Another note about children in services: On June 15th we’re going to be celebrating baptisms during the service.  The elementary aged children will be part of this service.  There will be kids’s church June 22 – which will be the last kid’s church until the Fall.

Finally, we encourage you to continue to find ways to connect, relax and rejuvenate yourself this summer.  If your still making summer plans, consider the Enlive National Vineyard Celebration (they only happen once every 4 years!) in Kitchener, ON.  It will be a blast.

VBS is happening from July 1 – 5, make sure you check this out and register now.

Also, we’ll be heading out to the farm a few times this summer (July 27 & August 24).  If you’ve never been there before, make it part of your plans!