Children & Family Ministries
OUR MISSION FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES
Living in God's amazing grace, we partner with families to reach and teach children to love God, love one another, grow in Christ, and go in Christ. Goals: 1. To support, empower, and equip parents and families through small group education and relationship building opportunities. 2. To share with the children God’s love in word, action and deeds by providing meaningful, experiential programming in small group settings. The Children and Family Ministry team consists of members who have a heart for Christ, a love for children, and gifts to serve in the areas of this particular ministry mission. They work as a small group, meeting every four to six weeks to be in God’s word, to pray together, and to implement the above stated goals. Meetings also consist of reassessing what we are doing, what is working, what no longer serves the mission of Peace and/or this ministry, and looking at new ideas and additions. If this sounds like you, please know that It always fills us with joy to welcome new members to our team and we would love to hear from you! special children's time during worship
During worship, our children hear a special message before the scripture readings. Following the Children's Message, they are invited to participate in a Children's Time outside the sanctuary during the readings and sermon. After the sermon the children return for communion, the sending song, and blessing.
Kids will get to hear the gospel story at their level and do an activity related to that story. The activity could include arts, crafts, or games that are related to the gospel story. Children are always welcome during worship. WEEKLY CHILDREN'S MESSAGE SIGN UP: Every week we need one adult to plan and lead the Children's Message and Children's Time. We also need one other adult to assist, so please sign up today. The lead volunteer should plan for 15-20 minutes of time with the kids. See Pastor Lauren or Vicar Melissa with questions! |
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
We offer a special Children's Time of learning during worship. Preschool and early elementary students start in worship, then depart for age-appropriate discussion and activities while the adults hear the sermon. The children return for communion and the remainder of the service. Children are always welcome in worship.
On Sunday mornings we also provide nursery care for our very youngest during worship and Sunday School.
Fun and Learning Groups for our Fourth and Fifth Graders, Middle Schoolers, Confirmation students, and High School Youth: Each group meets during the week for service activities, meals, games, learning and fellowship during the program year. Many youth also participate in summer mission trips and Virginia ELCA Synod sponsored weekends designed just for them.
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Special monthly arts-based Christian education program modeled on our popular Vacation Bible School series.
On Sunday mornings we also provide nursery care for our very youngest during worship and Sunday School.
Fun and Learning Groups for our Fourth and Fifth Graders, Middle Schoolers, Confirmation students, and High School Youth: Each group meets during the week for service activities, meals, games, learning and fellowship during the program year. Many youth also participate in summer mission trips and Virginia ELCA Synod sponsored weekends designed just for them.
AND
Special monthly arts-based Christian education program modeled on our popular Vacation Bible School series.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Vacation Bible School is a week full of fun, laughter, and learning! Our evening program is held during one week of the summer.
We start with dinner at 5:15 pm and continue with our program from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Classes are offered for rising 3-year-olds through High School. Our program is very low-cost (scholarships available: just enter the word PEACE in the payment box) and open to the community!
We typically host 60-70 children, 2/3 of which are guests to our church, many of whom return year after year. Our volunteers are just as plentiful and include high school youth, parents, grandparents, and those who just want to join the fun. Volunteer opportunities include dinner preparation, greeting, registration, fundraising, photography, praise band, crafts, snacks, games, nursery, teaching, and, of course, planning and coordinating. Interested in helping? Contact the office at 434-978-4357 or plchurchcville@gmail.com.
We start with dinner at 5:15 pm and continue with our program from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Classes are offered for rising 3-year-olds through High School. Our program is very low-cost (scholarships available: just enter the word PEACE in the payment box) and open to the community!
We typically host 60-70 children, 2/3 of which are guests to our church, many of whom return year after year. Our volunteers are just as plentiful and include high school youth, parents, grandparents, and those who just want to join the fun. Volunteer opportunities include dinner preparation, greeting, registration, fundraising, photography, praise band, crafts, snacks, games, nursery, teaching, and, of course, planning and coordinating. Interested in helping? Contact the office at 434-978-4357 or plchurchcville@gmail.com.
2018 vacation bible school art camp: A love that never ends
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HAPPENING NOW! "A Love that Never Ends" July 9-13, 2018 (Mon - Fri) Supper at 5:15, Camp 6-8pm Open to all children 3 years old through high school. |
Vacation Bible School 2018 Studio Descriptions
Preschool: (for kids age 3 and up who have not completed kindergarten) Experience “A Love That Never Ends” through play, art, and stories from the Bible.
Elementary: (for kids entering grades 1-5) Choose your studio from the list below, for a week of in-depth creative exploration. Spaces are limited, so register early to get your first choice!
Preschool: (for kids age 3 and up who have not completed kindergarten) Experience “A Love That Never Ends” through play, art, and stories from the Bible.
Elementary: (for kids entering grades 1-5) Choose your studio from the list below, for a week of in-depth creative exploration. Spaces are limited, so register early to get your first choice!
- Visual Arts: Explore God’s love through projects including yarn and foil embossing, personalized greeting cards, and the creation of a mural. At the end of the week, we will divide the mural so that a part of it goes home with each artist, and part stays to be displayed at Peace.
- Cooking: Learn to bake tasty treats related to each day’s theme. Cook up some scones for your family breakfast, create heart-shaped pizzas, and decorate homemade cakes for our final night celebration!
- Drama: Use your imagination to become new characters and explore new stories. Have fun exploring the ways that body movement and voice inflection can more clearly portray a concept or emotion. Then perform for family and friends on the final night!
- Art and Science: Create and explore as we combine art and science to learn about God’s love. Study the night sky, discover the power of water, and become a young inventor!
- Pottery: Put your hands in some clay and see what you can create! We’ll make clay pots, beads, and more as we sculpt and learn together.
- Woodworking: Use hammers and nails to create crafts that provide homes for God’s creatures and signs of our faith in Jesus Christ. All you need to bring is your creativity and we will all learn how to share God’s love through our hands and our tools.
Middle/Senior High: (for youth entering grades 6-12) Join Molly Foster (art teacher at Hollymead) and create a variety of works of art. In this workshop we will focus on learning how to draw a landscape, how to paint with acrylic paints, and we will make 3D sculptures using various materials. Use of space and form will be explored with each medium. We will discuss the challenges we may find when creating and how we can see things from a new perspective.
Past year summaries:
VBS 2017: Vacation Bible School God our Creator Art Camp brought out the creative side in everyone! Campers chose to focus on visual arts, dance, science, cooking, or try a little bit of everything. Hollymead Art Teacher Molly Foster provided our middle/high school program. Highlights included a drum circle led by a professional percussionist, blasting rockets into the sky, practicing yoga, placing our painted rocks near the columbarium to beautify that area, and singing those catchy songs every night. We loved it so much we may do it again next year! Do you want to keep singing the songs we sang at Vacation Bible School? Here's a link so you can sing them at home!
VBS 2016: We traveled across the ocean and back in time to Ancient Egypt for Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace. We learned about Joseph each evening by visiting him in his prison cell or his throne room, sang songs, made bricks to build the pyramids, wrapped up some mummies and even caught some wild animals!
VBS 2015: We had fun "SPLASHING" into God's word and learned Bible stories from the old and new testament. Our new Science workshop was a huge hit, as well as Games and Crafts. It was a fun filled week with our WPLC News Desk and our exclusive interviews! At the end of the week every child was sent home with their very own Bible!
VBS 2014: There was so much to do in God's Backyard! We learned how to help others in our schools, churches, and neighborhoods by loving them like God loves us.
VBS 2013: We took a walk on the wild side at the Kingdom of the Son! During our safari, the children memorized each section of the Lord's Prayer and learned how to apply it to their every day lives.
VBS 2012: We took a year off while construction of the new addition was underway.
VBS 2011: It was a Beach Blast! We surfed through the scripture and learned how God keeps His promises, meets our needs, listens to and answers prayers, is always present in our lives, and loves us so much that he sent His son Jesus to die for us.
VBS 2010: Seek, Trek, Find! We journeyed through the wilderness and learned that God is always there to guide us and give us courage. God gives us His word so that we can grow as disciples and then go out and share His message.
VBS 2009: Super powers unite! The kids joined the League of Disciples and learned how to have a Mind transformed by the Word, Feet of a servant, Arms of love, a Voice to speak the good news, and Knees for prayer.
VBS 2017: Vacation Bible School God our Creator Art Camp brought out the creative side in everyone! Campers chose to focus on visual arts, dance, science, cooking, or try a little bit of everything. Hollymead Art Teacher Molly Foster provided our middle/high school program. Highlights included a drum circle led by a professional percussionist, blasting rockets into the sky, practicing yoga, placing our painted rocks near the columbarium to beautify that area, and singing those catchy songs every night. We loved it so much we may do it again next year! Do you want to keep singing the songs we sang at Vacation Bible School? Here's a link so you can sing them at home!
VBS 2016: We traveled across the ocean and back in time to Ancient Egypt for Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace. We learned about Joseph each evening by visiting him in his prison cell or his throne room, sang songs, made bricks to build the pyramids, wrapped up some mummies and even caught some wild animals!
VBS 2015: We had fun "SPLASHING" into God's word and learned Bible stories from the old and new testament. Our new Science workshop was a huge hit, as well as Games and Crafts. It was a fun filled week with our WPLC News Desk and our exclusive interviews! At the end of the week every child was sent home with their very own Bible!
VBS 2014: There was so much to do in God's Backyard! We learned how to help others in our schools, churches, and neighborhoods by loving them like God loves us.
VBS 2013: We took a walk on the wild side at the Kingdom of the Son! During our safari, the children memorized each section of the Lord's Prayer and learned how to apply it to their every day lives.
VBS 2012: We took a year off while construction of the new addition was underway.
VBS 2011: It was a Beach Blast! We surfed through the scripture and learned how God keeps His promises, meets our needs, listens to and answers prayers, is always present in our lives, and loves us so much that he sent His son Jesus to die for us.
VBS 2010: Seek, Trek, Find! We journeyed through the wilderness and learned that God is always there to guide us and give us courage. God gives us His word so that we can grow as disciples and then go out and share His message.
VBS 2009: Super powers unite! The kids joined the League of Disciples and learned how to have a Mind transformed by the Word, Feet of a servant, Arms of love, a Voice to speak the good news, and Knees for prayer.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. You can be a part of spreading the Good News and bringing great joy to a child again this year. We are currently taking donations for the shoe boxes.
Please consult the list below, information at church and/or contact Cheryl Craig (idesmarch51@yahoo.com) with any questions.
Suggested items to include in the boxes:
School supplies, toys (no military type toys or guns, etc.), clothes (t-shirts, socks, mittens, hats, etc.) toothpaste, toothbrushes, toothbrush holder, soap, soap dish or plastic bag for the soap, wash cloth, comb, hairbrush, play jewelry, hair bows, hair clips, bandaids, coloring books, candy (nothing chocolate as it may melt) gum, etc. If you include anything that requires batteries, such as a flashlight, please include an extra set. Do not include any liquids.
A $7 donation is requested to help with the shipping costs. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is included in each box in the language of the child.
Please consult the list below, information at church and/or contact Cheryl Craig (idesmarch51@yahoo.com) with any questions.
Suggested items to include in the boxes:
School supplies, toys (no military type toys or guns, etc.), clothes (t-shirts, socks, mittens, hats, etc.) toothpaste, toothbrushes, toothbrush holder, soap, soap dish or plastic bag for the soap, wash cloth, comb, hairbrush, play jewelry, hair bows, hair clips, bandaids, coloring books, candy (nothing chocolate as it may melt) gum, etc. If you include anything that requires batteries, such as a flashlight, please include an extra set. Do not include any liquids.
A $7 donation is requested to help with the shipping costs. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is included in each box in the language of the child.
ADVENT EVENT
Each year, we gather in remembrance, celebration and anticipation of God’s love for everyone. In the past, there was advent wreath making, the hanging of the greens, decorating the Christmas tree, crafts, cookies, and hot chocolate. Keep your eyes open for details about this year's event and get excited about connecting in fellowship and preparing, together, for God's greatest gift of all!
FAMILY CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
A multigenerational Christmas Eve service geared both in time and message for our younger members, always followed by festive, joyful fellowship.
FAMILY EASTER SERVICE
A multigenerational Easter Service geared both in time and message for our younger members, followed with Christ-centered activities and joyful fellowship.
Generally we host a traditional Easter Egg Hunt at 10:15, following 9am worship! Join us!
Generally we host a traditional Easter Egg Hunt at 10:15, following 9am worship! Join us!