Children’s Ministry

At Whitton Avenue Bible Church, we are committed to helping your children come to know Jesus Christ, and we want to do this by helping parents to be the primary means of communicating the gospel to their children.  Our goal is that every program or event we plan that involves children would help support your efforts to train them at home.  Most statistics show that once children leave the home, more than half are likely to abandon their faith.  Whitton Avenue wants to help reverse this trend.

The Power of Shared Experiences

We believe that one of the best ways to engage with your children about spiritual matters comes from discussing your shared experiences.  Joining in a worship service together, no matter a child’s age, is one way to provide a shared experience.

We provide care for children through the age of 6 as part of the “Beginner Church” that dismisses after our time of congregational singing.  For the older children, we recommend you utilize the following resources to help your child make the most of their experience:

ESV children’s Bibles (with pictures) are provided in every pew.  If you cannot locate one near you, please contact an usher and they will be happy to find one for you.

On the first Sunday of every month, our bulletin includes an activity sheet, providing room for drawing pictures of things children hear during the sermon.  These sheets also provide questions for you to discuss as a family after the service.

We are encouraging our families to learn a hymn every month using the book Hymns for Child’s Heart by Joni Erickson Tada.  This book includes stories about the background and creation of the song and provides the music and an audio CD.  We encourage you to purchase this book and begin singing these hymns together as a family at home, as this can help your child take interest in the service.  You can check the weekly e-mail for the current month’s hymn.

On Saturday night, spend some time preparing your child for the Sunday morning service.  Explain to them the reasons why they will join you for the entire service.  Offer incentives to help them pay attention.

Our goal is that your children would learn the value of worshipping together as a family from an early age.  We know that children will shout, squirm, and even squeal sometimes during the service.  Though it may feel embarrassing to you, please know that our members are glad your children are here.  We pray God would give you creative ideas for helping them pay attention and that you would be able to discuss your shared experience during the week.

Parenting Class

We also offer a parenting class during the Sunday school hour (9:30 - 10:30) that is designed to help equip you with tools for reinforcing the teachings your children are learning in their Sunday school class.  We discuss books and materials that help equip you with tools to make you a better parent.  A resource we recommend for families is the book Family Worship by Terry Johnson.  This book is full of ideas for how your family can spend time worshiping together throughout the week.

To reiterate, our goal at Whitton Avenue is to help equip you with tools to train your children to love Jesus and live as his disciples.  In this pursuit, we want to support you, not replace you.

Enfolding Other Children

We recognize that many children will visit our church who do not have Christian parents.  Our desire is that strong, gospel-centered families at Whitton Avenue would enfold these children into their family activities and, if necessary, help them follow the worship service on Sunday mornings.

You can download and read a copy of our philosophy-of-childrens-ministry“.