God-centered and Christ-exalting worship is something we treasure at Grace Fellowship and we believe that the family experiencing this together is extremely valuable. Therefore, children of all ages are welcome and encouraged to be in our Sunday morning worship service. We are glad to have them as part of the fabric of our church and desire to teach and model for them how we can corporately worship God as a church family. The cumulative effect of 624 potential worship services spent with parent(s) between the ages of 5-17 is incalculable.

Sometimes for children, the difference between enduring Sunday morning worship and enjoying Sunday morning worship is simply a matter of preparation and training. It is our heartfelt prayer that your child will come as a participant in the service to worship our great God. To that end, we have prepared a few suggestions that might help you lead your child in worship.

1. Be Prepared For Worship

Sunday morning is a continuation of the worship we are doing all week long. Having Family Worship time throughout the week will enrich the life of your child as well as the corporate worship time on Sunday morning. Also, Sunday morning starts Saturday night. Lay out clothes, find all shoes, get offerings ready, rehearse memory verses, and gather everything you need to bring with you before Sunday morning. Keep Sunday simple. Make a simple breakfast and leave the house with time to spare. Remind your child of your expectations of his behavior during the church service.

2.Be a Role Model for Your Child

Start your morning with a positive attitude, a cheerful tone, a spirit of anticipation and enthusiasm, and a heart for worship.

3. Walk Your Child Through the Service Before It Starts

Talk about what will be happening in the service.  If there is something special happening that day, explain what will be happening.  If it is Lord’s Supper, talk about that. You may also want to pray with your child before the service starts.

4. Encourage Your Child To Participate

By teaching your child songs and choruses at home he will be able to participate in the service. If he cannot learn the whole song, teach him the refrain and signal to him when it is time to sing the part he knows. Encourage your child to sit and to stand at the appropriate times, to clap when appropriate, etc. Have your child bring an offering and place it in the offering box.

If you have Spotify you can search GF Top 40 to listen to songs that might be heard on Sunday mornings. These are also posted on our website.

5. Help Your Child Become an Active Listener

Help your child use the Just For Kids bulletin provided each week to help them participate in listening and paying attention to what is going on during the service. If your child is very young and has a hard time sitting for a long time, after they have listened to the sermon for a while, you may want to let your child look at small (non-distracting) Bible storybooks, or draw and color other pages.

Keep a special Sunday church bag that can be used each week during the service. Items such as Bible, crayons, paper, and Bible Storybooks will be helpful to have on hand.

6. Stretch Your Child’s Ability to Sit Attentively

One way to help your child is by having he/she to practice listening to sermons at home: start by having child sit 5 minutes while listening to a sermon (online from Grace Fellowship for example) and then as child improves increase the time interval by 5 minutes until you reach a 30-40 minute range.

7. Talk About the Service on the Way Home

Speak positively with your child about the service, and ask him if he has any questions. Use the Just for Kids bulletin to encourage your child to share about what they heard and learned during the service.