Join us Sunday at 10:15am for Worship
Join us Sunday at 10:15am for Worship
What is Children Worship & Wonder?
Children Worship & Wonder is a faith formation worship-centered approach with storytelling, ritual, and fellowship that helps children deepen their relationship with God. We invite children age 4 through Grade 5 to participate.
Children come into our special Children Worship & Wonder Sanctuary, a space designed especially for them, to a Storyteller waiting to greet them. They sit in a circle, surrounded by Bible stories made just for them, with all materials at their height. Everything in this special place is accessible to the children. The Storyteller and children greet one another and sing songs of praise.
The children then hear one of God’s stories with multi-sensory materials that children of different ages and with different learning styles can enter into and enjoy. As the story is finished the children are invited to share in a time of wonder about the story. They are asked “wondering questions” to help them dive deeper into the meaning of the story and to listen for God’s still voice that is found there. These wondering questions ask the children how they are part of the story and how they are a part of the bigger Christian story. They begin to see that the stories in the Bible are their stories too.
Children choose from a variety of ways to respond to God’s story. They might use the story materials to tell the story they just heard or they might work with a story they heard on a previous Sunday. They might choose to work with art materials or clay. They might read or sit in silence. Response materials help them express their relationship with God.
After they respond in a way they choose, the children come back to the circle. Here the storyteller lights the Christ candle and shows the children where the story they heard is found in the Bible. Together they hear God's story read from the Bible. Then as a community they pray together and share in a feast.
As they leave the CW&W Sanctuary, the children participate in the last order of worship - the sending out of God’s people into the world. Each child is given a special blessing by the Storyteller as they leave to be God’s disciples in their homes, schools, and activities.
This order is followed every Sunday. Because there is a ritual to this time together the children are free to relax into the space and go deeper into the stories. They can truly enter into a time of listening and talking with God. As children move from CW&W into worship with the whole congregation, they are familiar with the rhythm and joy of worshiping. They bring this with them as they continue participating in worship with the whole congregation.
How to Participate in CW&W
In Person in the CW&W Sanctuary. After the Children's Message, children meet the Greeter at the back of the Sanctuary. The Greeter will direct the children to the Library, where they will remove their shoes and proceed into the CW&W Sanctuary. Children sanitize their hands before partaking in a small Feast. When CW&W is finished, the children meet their parents in the Library (next to the CW&W Sanctuary), where they put on their shoes.