If you're like most parents, you have probably wondered, "Are my kids really growing in their faith?"

You're not the first parent to ask yourself that and you won't be the last. As a ministry, we also have to ask ourselves, "How do we do that?"

A child growing in their faith is the "big win" for you as a parent and us as a ministry. It's the one thing that we, as a ministry team (and you as a parent), want to achieve. As we develop curriculum and special events throughout the year, the goal of growing a child's faith is what we keep in mind at all times.

So, what is our definition of the "big win?" It is when a child takes a step toward owning their faith.

We say "take a step" for a reason. Spiritual growth isn't like school where you attend class for two semesters and move up a grade the following year. This is a life-long journey and no two journeys are identical. We win anytime a child takes a single step closer to owning their own faith.

To encourage a child to own their own faith we must first teach them four spiritual habits:

• Spend time with God. This means opening the Bible on their own, having conversations with God on their own, and/or discovering how they best connect with God through worship on their own.
• Spend time with others. Engaging in healthy community can, and should, be a spiritual habit we help our kids develop. This is about growing in Christlike relationships with everyone.
• Use your gifts. Kids need to know that God made them unique and special with really specific gifts, talents, passions and resources. And they need to be encouraged to use these gifts to love God, love others and influence the world around them.
• Share your story. Kids need to learn how to talk about God with others. Sharing your story is a spiritual habit of making faith a regular topic of conversation in their lives.

We count it as a win whenever a kid takes a step toward owning their faith by practicing one, or maybe even all four, of these spiritual habits.

NOTE: We offer a soundproof cry room (located in the back of the Worship Center) that parents can use if they want to keep young children with them during services.

We take the security of the children in our care very seriously. Parents, please stop by the Checkpoint Station at the entrance to the Education Wing and we will create a name badge for your child and assign them to the appropriate class. From there we can direct you to that class or answer any questions that you may have.

What is Checkpoint?
Checkpoint is a computerized check-in system for those children attending our Sunday morning Bible classes. Checkpoint produces name badges/security tags for each individual child who attends a class. Name badges/security tags are coded with numbers and are used during the check-in and check-out process to match child and parent. In addition, Checkpoint assigns each child to the appropriate class and prints that information on the child’s name badge along with any allergies, special needs or concerns.

Volunteers & Staff
All volunteers and staff that work in the Kids Ministry are required to undergo a thorough background check before allowing them to teach, or be in contact with, your children.

If you have any questions, please contact Carrie Wiley or Cindy Baker.

Who loves playing games? Some board games/card games even have expansion packs you can collect to make the game even more fun and interesting. Our new series is called “Collect ‘em All” and we will be learning about nine things from the Bible that are a lot more important to “collect” than your favorite games. In fact, you don’t necessarily collect them, but they can “grow” in your life when you practice using them. We are learning how to grow our “collection” of the fruit of the Spirit.

Over the next nine weeks, we will learn about a different fruit of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are attributes, qualities, or characteristics we will have when the Holy Spirit is present in our lives. If you believe in Jesus and have chosen to follow Him, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. One of the things the Holy Spirit does is help us grow in our “collection” of the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You don’t CHOOSE only a few of those fruits and leave the ones you don’t like. You grow and “collect ‘em all” in your life.