NURSERY & KIDS MINISTRY OVERVIEW
We know that parents have the primary spiritual influence in a child's life; so as we build our children’s ministry, we want to focus on our homes where children see our faith on real-time display every day. Our desire is to partner with parents in their task of raising their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) by doing three things:
Supporting parents by providing safe childcare at church. Volunteers must complete background checks and child safety training prior to serving, and we adhere to a robust child protection policy in all of our children’s ministries.
Supporting parents by teaching children biblical truths at church. We carefully select curriculum and materials that are rich in the gospel and saturated with biblical truth.
Supporting parents by providing them with resources to use at home. Whether through catechism questions, discussion sheets, or songs to sing at home, we want to encourage parents to provide biblical instruction throughout the week.
We provide several environments where your child can be taught to love and trust Jesus at Crawford Avenue. We use The Gospel Project and New City Catechism Curriculum.
SCHEDULE
Because we believe children benefit greatly from seeing adults engage with God in corporate worship, we invite children to join us in the gathering area. Sermon notes for children are available. Crawford Avenue is a family of families. Therefore, we invite children of all ages to attend gathered worship as a family unit.
SUNDAY MORNINGS:
9:00am - 10:00am || BIBLE STUDY COHORTS
- Nursery is for ages 1-3 and is located in the nursery building.
- Jr. CrawfordKids is for ages 4-6 and is located in the nursery building.
- CrawfordKids is for children in 1st-5th grades and is located on the second floor of the main gathering space.
- Nursing space and diaper changing stations are available in our Mothers' Room behind the sanctuary.
10:30am - 12:00pm || GATHERED WORSHIP
- Nursery is for ages 0-3 and is located in the nursery building.
- Jr. CrawfordKids is for ages 4-6 and is also located in the nursery building.
- Nursing space and diaper changing stations are available in our Mothers' Room behind the sanctuary.
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS:
6:30pm - 8:00pm
- Nursery is for ages 1-3 and is located in the nursery building.
- Jr. CrawfordKids is for ages 4-6 and is located in the nursery building.
- CrawfordKids is for children in 1st-5th grades and is located on the second floor of the main gathering space.
- Nursing space and diaper changing stations are available in our Mothers' Room behind the sanctuary.
BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Change your child’s diaper immediately before dropping them off in the nursery. Bring diapers and wipes as well as an extra change of clothes for all infants and toddlers.
Alert teachers if your child is in the process of potty training. Take any children that are potty-training to the restroom immediately before dropping them off. Children who are potty training should also wear a pull-up just in case an accident occurs.
Label diaper bags and all items with the child’s first and last name.
Notify coordinators and teachers of any allergy or special circumstances. A brightly colored band should be placed on your child’s wrist at check-in as a reminder to volunteers.
CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT
Pre-check-in for our Sunday Morning nursery or kids area:
Please be mindful that space is limited and will be capped when we reach capacity each week. When you arrive a volunteer will greet you at the check-in desk to assist you in completing the check-in process. You will be given a name tag for your child to wear and a corresponding check-out tag. Please retain the secure check-out tag. When you arrive to pick up your child, a volunteer will ask to see your check-out tag. He/She will match the child’s tag with the parent tag and your child will be released. In the event that you do misplace your check-out tag, you may also show your drivers license. Children will not be released to siblings.
CHILD WELLNESS
Children must be symptom free from the following illnesses without medication for 24 hours before entering the classroom:
Fever of 100 or higher
Vomiting or Diarrhea
Excessive/colored nasal drainage
Any infection of the eye/nose/throat
Rash (unless diagnosed as non-contagious)
Persistent Coughing/Sore Throat
Open sores
Lice
If a child develops any of these symptoms while in class, you will be contacted via text message to pick up your child. In addition, a volunteer will text you in the event that:
- your child is completely inconsolable (after at least 15 minutes of care),
- your child is ill or injured
FOOD POLICIES
Feeding young children is a serious responsibility. We care for children with different dietary needs. Children should be fed before coming to church. Time and circumstances do not allow for feeding. If a child needs to be fed while in the nursery, parents are asked to return to the child’s room, relocate to the Nursing/Mother’s room and feed the child there.
NURSING ROOM/CHANGING TABLE
A nursing room is available in the Nursery for parents of children who have been checked in. A nursing room is available in the women’s restroom foyer for Mothers attending the Worship Gathering with their baby. A changing table is available in the family restroom.
VOLUNTEERS
We believe that children's ministry is not a product or a service that we receive, but is one way we serve one another as a church family and partner together to make disciples of our children. This means that we value the regular, active participation of parents as scheduled volunteers in children’s ministry. In most circumstances, parents whose children participate in our children’s ministry are expected to serve regularly in children’s ministry as well.
We seek to care for the spiritual welfare of our volunteers and staff by identifying healthy limits and ministering within our means. This means that there will be seasons when our children’s ministry will not be able to do all that we would like and that we will not push our people to serve more frequently than is healthy.