***Please Note: Our Children’s Ministry for preschool and elementary school aged children will begin meeting on September 10, 2023. The kids’ sessions are for 30 minutes immediately following the service.
We love kids at Mercy Hill Church
Your kids are more than welcome in our worship services. Seriously, we’d love to have them with us. We believe there is a lot they can learn just by observing and learning songs and being present in the worship environment. We also have coloring pads and crayons they can use to help keep them busy (you can pick them up at the Welcome Table).
We also know that God put the wiggles and squirms in little kids too. So if you would like, there is also a nursery available for infants and toddlers 0-5 years of age which is available from 9:45 to 11:15.
We know safety is important to you. It’s important to us too.
Please note that all our nursery workers and helpers have been screened and will abide by our Child Safety Policy. In addition, we have a hall monitor who helps keep an eye on things as well.
To check in your kids to the nursery, you will fill out a brief 3,-part numbered label. One part you will turn back in to pick up your child; one part of the sticker with all the child’s info will be place on his or her back; and the third part can be placed on a bag.
It’s easy to fill out, but please allow a few moments to do so. Note, we will only release your child to a parent presenting the numbered stub that corresponds to the numbered label on the child.
Here’s some encouragement for Moms (& Dads)…
Check out this article appeared in the Huffington Post and was originally blogged at “I Am Totally *That* Mom.” Permission to repost here has been granted by the author.
I Am *Totally* That Mom
You are doing something really, really important. I know it’s not easy. I see you with your arms overflowing, and I know you came to church already tired. Parenting is tiring. Really tiring.
I watch you bounce and sway trying to keep the baby quiet, juggling the infant car seat and the diaper bag as you find a seat. I see you wince as your child cries. I see you anxiously pull things out of your bag of tricks to try to quiet them.
And I see you with your toddler and your preschooler. I watch you cringe when your little girl asks an innocent question in a voice that might not be an inside voice let alone a church whisper. I hear the exasperation in your voice as you beg your child to just sit, to be quiet as you feel everyone’s eyes on you. Not everyone is looking, but I know it feels that way.
I know you’re wondering, is this worth it? Why do I bother? I know you often leave church more exhausted than fulfilled. But what you are doing is so important.
When you are here, the church is filled with a joyful noise. When you are here, the Body of Christ is more fully present. When you are here, we are reminded that this worship thing we do isn’t about Bible Study or personal, quiet contemplation but coming together to worship as a community where all are welcome, where we share in the Word and Sacrament together.
When you are here, I have hope that these pews won’t be empty in ten years when your kids are old enough to sit quietly and behave in worship. I know that they are learning how and why we worship now, before it’s too late. They are learning that worship is important.
I see them learning. In the midst of the cries, whines, and giggles, in the midst of the crinkling of pretzel bags and the growing pile of crumbs I see a little girl who insists on going two pews up to share peace with someone she’s never met. I hear a little boy slurping (quite loudly) every last drop of his communion wine out of the cup determined not to miss a drop of Jesus.
I watch a child excitedly color a cross and point to the one in the front of the sanctuary. I hear the echoes of Amens just a few seconds after the rest of the community says it together. I watch a boy just learning to read try to sound out the words in the worship book or count his way to Hymn 672. Even on weeks when I can’t see my own children learning because, well, it’s one of those mornings, I can see your children learning.
I know how hard it is to do what you’re doing, but I want you to know, it matters. It matters to me. It matters to my children to not be alone in the pew. It matters to the congregation to know that families care about faith, to see young people… and even on those weeks when you can’t see the little moments, it matters to your children.
It matters that they learn that worship is what we do as a community of faith, that everyone is welcome, that their worship matters. When we teach children that their worship matters, we teach them that they are enough right here and right now as members of the church community. They don’t need to wait until they can believe, pray or worship a certain way to be welcome here, and I know adults who are still looking to be shown that.
It matters that children learn that they are an integral part of this church, that their prayers, their songs, and even their badly (or perfectly timed depending on who you ask) cries and whines are a joyful noise because it means they are present.
I know it’s hard, but thank you for what you do when you bring your children to church. Please know that your family – with all of its noise, struggle, commotion, and joy – are not simply tolerated, you are a vital part of the community gathered in worship.