Restart

These last two weeks at Coastlands have been fun and exciting. We had a great Easter with some crazy-warm weather. The kiddos went nuts chasing down the Easter eggs and we all got to meet each other out on the playground. What a great way to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was fun to meet lots of new people as Easter was the official "grand opening" of our church in the new school. I look forward to meeting many other new people with the rest of the special events we have lined up for April.


This past Sunday was also a great day for us. Mikey (pictured) from Rock 105.3 came and did a great job sharing his life story. We need to continue to pray for him as he has such a great chance to share his faith with a largely secular audience.

I also want to take this chance to welcome all the new families to our church. We are a family friendly church in that we really care about dads, moms and kids. We believe that our job as the church is to help equip the parents to be the primary spiritual influence in their kids lives. We welcome kids in our service and also understand if parents need to put their kids in one of the classrooms during church. Somehow we'd like to strike a balance between allowing families to worship together for the entire worship service, yet also be understanding and kind to those families who are still learning how to do that. Please be patient with us as we are learning how to do this in the new school. I'll post some thoughts here on this subject that you can also find in a nifty flyer on the back tables at church.

I'd love to hear your feedback, especially some of you newer people to our church as we all learn together through this process.

Children in Worship: A guide for the congregation: Join us in welcoming the children as they share in worship.

A message to our entire church…
Families are an important part of our church community. We love children at Coastlands Church and very much desire for them to be a part of our faith community. In fact, we believe that spiritual formation for all of us happens best in community. At our worship gatherings our intention is to create an atmosphere that is conducive for children’s spiritual formation. We invite any family to have their children join them for the entire worship service. Yes, it may get a little noisy at times or we may hear babies crying, but we have a hard time believing that Jesus was “annoyed” with the children when he said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt. 19:14)

Let’s not forget the commitment we made to our children at the time of their dedication. We promised to raise our children in the ways of the Lord with the help of our church family.

You can welcome children in our midst in the following way…
Ø Greet them along with the adults.
Ø Invite a child with whom you are acquainted with to sit with you during the worship service.
Ø Ensure that children who read have a bulletin of their own.
Ø Share a Bible with a child sitting next to you.
Ø Allow children to participate in the service, dancing and having fun during the singing.
Ø Be understanding if a parent needs to leave with a child.
Ø Be willing to offer help to a family if they need it.
Ø Have patience with the children and the adults bringing them, they are learning.
Ø Remember we are all children of God!

Children are special in God’s eyes! This is evident throughout scripture. In Mark 10:16 we read that Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands of them and blessed them.

Parents…
We applaud you for taking this step. As a congregation we want to support and encourage you as you share in this time of worship with your child by your side. Here are a few suggestions as you begin this process…

Ø Children learn from example. It is vital that your children witness you participating in corporate worship.
Ø We encourage parents to keep children of all ages in the worship service for the opening set of songs and children’s sermon time.
Ø After the children’s sermon, the children can either go back and sit with their parents or follow the others to the classrooms.
Ø Prepare your child ahead of time. Let them know what to expect and what you expect from them.
Ø Arrive early. Remind them of what happens during the service, when to listen, when to speak, when to sit and when to stand.
Ø You may want to sit near the front where it’s easier to see and hear.
Ø We also have an area in the back with carpet if you’d like to sit with your little ones so they can crawl around some.
Ø Introduce your children to those sitting near you.
Ø If possible, seat children next to an adult who can help guide and assist them throughout the service.
Ø If you need to step out to calm an upset child, please feel free to do so through the back exits, but please return.

Worship in many ways is like a family meal. Individuals in a family sometimes can, and sometimes do, eat separately. However, there is a deeper enjoyment in a meal when we share in the meal together as a family.

Likewise, we worship independently at times and it is important to worship spontaneously at any place. But if we never worship as one body with all of the family together, we miss the depth of love between the members that grows in community worship.

There is evidence that people who do not worship with the entire body of Christ as children feel a lack of belonging to the faith community as they become adults. However, people who grow up feeling a part of the total family of God in worship continue to be actively involved in their spiritual lives throughout their adult years.

We welcome you to the Lord’s house. We are glad you joined us today and pray that your life will be touched by the Almighty God through this time of worship.

Coastlands Church also offers these programs for children during the worship service:
Nursery up to age 2 is offered in room 403.
Toddler/Preschool up through age 4 is also offered in room 403. The children have a time of play, music and a short lesson.
Elementary age from 5-10 is offered in room 404. In this setting the children have a lesson time, crafts, singing and prayer.

Upper Elementary age 10 and up are encouraged to either sit with their parents and learn to understand the entire worship service or they can go into the lower Elementary class and be a helper.

If your children do go into the classrooms, please pick them up as soon as you can after the worship service. That will allow our volunteer helpers in the children’s ministry to come out and socialize too!