Family Worship Sundays
MERCYhouse holds “Family Worship Sundays” on the third Sunday of each month. This is a time when our grade level children are invited upstairs to join us for worship and the teaching of God’s Word.
Here’s why we have Family Worship Sundays:
To remind our children that they are part of a larger Church Body
To remind ourselves that we have a responsibility to care for our children
To remind our MH:Kids Volunteers to sit under God’s Word and Worship Him
To dive deeper into how Family Worship Sundays fit into the theological framework of loving our children, click here for a word from Pastor Tommy.
Practical Guidance for Families
It can be hard for some of our young ones to sit through a whole service! We don’t expect our children to be perfectly behaved on Family Worship Sundays, but here is some guidance on how to walk them through a service and some healthy expectations we can place on them.
Children should sit with their parents, or parents of friends.
We understand this will be hard for some and impossible for others but we want to train our children to eventually be able to sit and listen to God’s Word being taught for 30 minutes. This endurance will not only be helpful as young students and members of society, but Lord willing it will yield the spiritual fruit of Christ-like character and an eternal Hope in the Gospel.
“Worship Bins” will be provided!
We’ve begun putting together activity bins for families with items that will bless our children and help them focus. These bins will be family-specific, so bear with us as we get to know your children better! Input and feedback is welcome here!Sermon Notes for Older Kids
In addition to coloring sheets and other activities, we encourage children who can write to try and fill out the “Sermon Notes” page to help foster active listening. These pages will be found inside your Worship Bins.Family recap after service
Discipleship continues in the home (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). We want to encourage families to take the time to “debrief” a sunday worship service. What were the takeaway points? What was the central Bible verse?
What about our youth and teens?
Our Kid’s Ministry currently ends at fifth grade, after which we invite our middle schoolers to join us in service. We think that at this level, our youth will begin having the capacity to be blessed and edified alongside adults in our regular service. That being said, we would like our church to grow in how to intentionally love our youth and teens. MERCYhouse is prayerfully working on developing a Youth Fellowship and Teen Ministry to serve our growing kids. If you’d like to be a part of this, please contact Pastor Tommy.