For those too young to celebrate with us in our worship services, we have Nursery and Children in Worship.

“Train a child in the way he should go….”  What does that really mean?  The young children of Trinity invite you to share in their worship.  On any Sunday that we have Children in Worship, please come up with us and celebrate worshiping our Lord together. Children and Worship provides one way of being in worship for children ages three through kindergarten. Each week children at Trinity worship for a while with the larger church community and then they join with other children, their teacher, and helpers to experience worship at their own level.  This Children in Worship program is used by hundreds of RCA, CRC, and Presbyterian Churches across North America.  Rather than merely learning about worship, children experience worship in a very real way.  This involves helping children worship in a special place apart from the worshiping congregation so they become able to worship meaningfully with the congregation. This program continues to be one of the most effective ways of nurturing children’s faith and preparing them for worship with the whole congregation.

Each time they gather, the children are called to worship, being told that they are in a special place to be with God and they are greeted by God.  The children then sing songs of praise in response.  They then hear God’s Word, but listening isn’t enough; the word of God invites response.  The actions of receiving and responding to God’s Word are the heart of worship in the children’s center.  This is done using materials children can work with after the story is presented, in an environment where they can repeat the story and incorporate it into their lives.  Then they give thanks and go in God’s Name.

What is the result?  Both the leaders and the children can grow in love for God and for one another.  It uses a sensorimotor style of storytelling as a primary means for encountering God, so God is experiences, not just learned about.  It gives appropriate freedom, so young children can respond to stories of God through continued working with the story figures and art materials.  It enables young children to bring their lived experiences into dialogue with God in the biblical stories.  And, remarkably, it provides a way for young children to tell the stories of God to others.