CHILDREN,YOUTH

& FAMILY MINISTRIES

At First Congo, our aim is to create spaces of spiritual connection, to nurture spiritually engaged people who have the capacity and framework to explore the transcendant other and ask the important questions: what does it mean to be human and how sould we live?

On Sunday mornings during our 10:30 a.m. worship service, you will find us worshiping all together-as community. We value proximity during our time together...staying within sight and sound of the other.

Our church is a place of extravagant welcome, where you are invited to show up as you are:
crying baby, squirmy toddler, grumpy preteen, exhausted parent.

The most critical value we can cultivate together on Sunday morning is presence. You belong here. You are seen, blessed, and beloved.

We care that our children experience this faith community as a place that reaffirms their identities, that practices love, that is part of their weekly rhythm, that creates space for their emerging, spiritual selves. And actually, that's what we hope for everyone - cradle to grave. 

On Sunday mornings during worship, we invite you to think of our time together as a ministry of presence. our most important work is to be present - to one another, and to the Holy.

Here are some suggestions for how to engage worship on Sunday:

• During the worship service, consider having your children sit in the sanctuary proper for the beginning of the service, through the first hymn. By doing this, kids will hear and participate in some of the oldest movements of the faith community: liturgy and song.
• Choose to sit somewhere in the sanctuary with easy access to the Fireplace Room (FPR) and make sure your kids know how to get back to you if they are dividing time between the sanctuary and FPR. 
• Establish a pattern of sitting together as a family during Prayers of the People. Write a prayer as a family and hear the community bear witness to YOUR desolation or consolation. Light a prayer candle together. 
• Bring a sacred item from home to place on our community altar (near the prayer candles).
• Move to the space you need to be in - and remember, our staff is not providing childcare during the service. They are a support system to create flexible, intergenerational worship space. 
• Bring what you need with you. Does your kiddo need snacks? A water bottle? Their own coloring book? Fidgets? Maybe you need some of those things, too. Does your child need to run a lap or two in the gym before you head into worship? That's available to you. Set your family up for success in the best way you know how. We'll do the same. 
• May 2023 Letter from Rev. Jen Butler to families