At Peace, the mission of our youth ministry program is to raise generations of Christians who are passionately aware of and engaged in God’s movement to renew the world. The major questions guiding this ministry that we strive to teach our children are:
- Who is God?
- What is God’s story?
- How do we, as families and kids, participate in that story?
- How do we as a community of families participate in that story?
Our Children’s Ministry program is for families with children with children from Pre-K (age 4) through Fifth Grade. There is no cost to attend Sunday School. Members, friends of members, and non-members are welcome to come and learn about Jesus’ love!
You can register here for Sunday School. Children can join at any time during the year.
If you have questions or need a schedule, please contact Pastor Joe Orner at 952-944-6510 or [email protected].
Nursery
COVID changed a few things in our lives, and a few things at Peace including the staffing in the nursery. Throughout and post-COVID, we did not have a staffed nursery. Once the nursery reopened, we provided staffing between May 2022 and March 2023. Since March, it has been open for parents to take their children down to play, but not staffed.
In discussing having a staffed nursery again, we looked at usage. In 2022, the use of the nursery was very minimal. From May 2022 to December 2022, the nursery was only used 6 of the 34 Sundays, with only 1 or 2 children on those Sundays.
For this fall, there will continue to be an open, unstaffed nursery on Sundays. If needed, parents can take their children to the nursery and allow them to play, or cry and calm down, while they are still able to listen to the service audio in the nursery. Please contact Lori Thomson at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Sunday School
Sunday School is available for children aged 4 years through 5th grade. Class assignments for the school year are determined by their age on September 1.
Sunday School is our frontline ministry to children on Sunday mornings. Peace utilizes the Augsburg Fortress Spark Activate Faith Sunday School curriculum which presents Bible stories that follow the Gospel lesson of the day in a three-year cycle. The curriculum includes age-appropriate prayer, discussion, and activities to enhance the lesson. Your kids will bring home leaflets for you to discuss as a family and a Family Page which offers suggestions for incorporating the week’s lesson in your daily family life.
The hour-long Sunday School starts at 10:45am in the Sanctuary with a Celebration Time! The children learn age-appropriate songs and conclude the time with prayer. Then the children head to their classrooms for the weekly Bible lesson, crafts, games, and prayers that support the lesson.
To get your children involved with Sunday School, bring your Pre-K (4 year old) through Fifth Grade children to the Sanctuary at 10:45am; you may pick them up from their classroom in the lower level at 11:45am. (We ask that you keep your child/children under the age of 4 with you during the Education Hour.)
Your kids will learn to love God, have fun, and make new friends!
Beyond Sunday School
Sunday School Singers
Peace’s Sunday School Singers (Pre-K through Fifth Grade) sing several times during the school year during worship. Invite your friends and family to watch your children sing!
Alleluia Singers
Alleluia Singers is a choir for children in Grades 2-5! You don’t have to be a great singer to join the Alleluia Singers, just a desire to sing. Part of being in a children’s choir is developing a life-long love of singing. Along with the joy of singing with others, we will work on beautiful tone, phrasing, musical expression and rhythm. The Alleluia Singers will also learn leadership skills by providing support to the Sunday School Singers as well as leading music in a Sunday Service approximately once per month. Rehearsals will be on Wednesday’s from 5:30-6:15pm.
Special Events
Periodically during the year, we host special events in which kids and their families can participate. From our Gathering Sunday to Valentine’s for homeless children there is no shortage of fun happening on Sunday mornings! Watch for more information in our Sunday Bulletin, Partners newsletter, and this website about upcoming events.
Service
We have plenty of ways for the kids to serve their church, their community and the wider world. We have made Valentines for homeless children, helped pack food for Harvest Pack, and packed Blessing Bags for people who are homeless.
Watch for more information in our Sunday Bulletin, Partners newsletter, and this website about upcoming service projects with which you can involve your kids.
Fellowship
Peace values spending our lives together. To that end, Peace arranges social events throughout the year so that families can spend time together and our kids can get to know one another outside of church. We offer Peace in the Park regularly at Reynolds Park, have apple orchard outings, go sledding, have pizza and popcorn and watch a movie, game night, to name a few events.