Children's Ministry

While many of you are participating in the worship and teaching service in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, there are dozens of kids learning the full truth of who God is and what His purposes are through teaching, games and endless fun! Thank you to Erica Matulich for her teaching leadership in the Kindergarten and First Grade classroom and sharing with us what a typical Sunday morning looks like.

The Kindergarten and First Grade class has been so blessed to have such loveable students that are eager to learn and grow in their walk with Christ. At such a young age, these students come ready to share their biblical understanding and impressive knowledge of God. Erica Matulich is the K-1 teacher and she is consistently blown away by the student's leadership and participation each Sunday. Miss Erica’s objective is to encourage a group of children that know Christ in their hearts and show Christ’s love through their actions.

A Sunday morning for the K-1 class starts with enormous bursts of energy and laughter. This past Sunday, January 16th, Miss Erica opened the class up by introducing the Jr. High student helper of the day. The Jr. High group created an avenue to give students an opportunity to earn service hours and one of those opportunities is to volunteer to help Miss. Erica in the K-1 classroom on Sunday mornings. The children love to meet the helper of the day and welcome them with open arms. The student that helped this Sunday, Ashley Sheward, was able to share her own memories of what she liked most about her Sunday school experience. This Sunday the game was musical chairs. Each game can get pretty intense and competitive, but encourages unity and teamwork. Following the game, Miss Erica gathers the children and does breathing exercises to help the students calm down and encourages them to put on their thinking caps to prepare for lesson. This Sunday’s lesson was focused on Jesus proclaiming good news to sinners. The class reflected on last week’s illustration of a darkened heart. This darkened heart symbolized our sin with in us. As the students understood what it means to sin, they were able to apply this darkened heart for hope of a pure one. This good news that Jesus proclaimed was stated in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” The students enjoy seeing visuals during the lesson, and hands on activities to better understand the message.

After the lesson, the students turn to the white board where a verse of the day is written. Miss Erica leads her class in the “eraser game.” As the children repeat the verse out loud, Miss Erica erases words one by one until the board is completely blank and the children have the verse memorized. 

The students then take their seats to color in their workbooks. There is a specific page that fits directly with each lesson that is taught on Sunday mornings. Here, they get a chance to color, fill in blanks, and socialize with their fellow peers. At the end of the hour, Miss Erica chooses one student that receives the “Super Star” award. This award is given to one student that has exemplified what it means to be a group leader, a selfless friend, participates in group discussions, and shows actions of team player. For those students who brought their bibles, they get rewarded with a treat from the treasure box. If there is any time left, students are able to write on the class prayer tree and as a group we pray for each prayer. The prayer tree allows for students to get a visual of what prayer can look like and how God can answer them. When the hour comes to an end and parents come in excited to hear what their child has learned and if their child’s name is on the “super star” wall!