FamiliesYouthandChildren - West Center Congregational Church UCC

West Center's Christian Education Program

Sundays at 11:00 a.m. for elementary school children.

October through June

During Sunday morning worship service, West Center offers child care for infants and a Christian education program for elementary school children. Our teachers use the "Seasons of the Spirit" curriculum, which is based on each Sunday's lectionary readings. This curriculum is recommended by the United Church of Christ and is also used by Presbyterian and Methodist churches.

Through readings, craft projects, and games, our teachers work with the children to understand basic theological issues (such as temptation and forgiveness) and how to apply them to daily life.

Classes begin together in the sanctuary and are then divided according to age.

Child Care for Infants and Toddlers

In addition to our Christian education program, West Center also provides care for infants and toddlers on Sunday mornings, when worship services are held in the Sanctuary.

If you wish to stay with your child for all or part of the hour, there is an area to do so in the lounge adjacent to the sanctuary. The Bodge Lounge has couches and child-sized table and chairs with books, toys, and coloring supplies. There is also a closed-circuit televivion that will let you know what is going on in the sanctuary and enable you to participate in worship.

Children and Families

Visit the United Church of Christ website for tips on choosing a bible for children.

http://www.ucc.org/children/index.html

Kids, Glorious Kids!

We hope that you will make every effort for your child(ren) to be with us this year. Our caring and creative Church School teachers are planning a program to stimulate and enrich each child’s spiritual growth, socialization and self-esteem. The instructional component is based on “Seasons of the Spirit,” a lectionary-based, inter-denominational curriculum, with the United Church of Christ as one of the curriculum partners. Our teachers add their own ideas, including crafts, to each session. The crafts relate to the Biblical stories of the life of Jesus and his role as teacher and healer in our own lives. Look for email updates if your email address is in the church directory. If you have children, or know someone who does, tell them about West Center Church, and invite them to come with their children to visit on a Sunday and get acquainted.

Try These Games at Home!

Name of the Game: Who Wants to Be a Kingdom Heir?

Scripture: Various

Lesson: Review of the past few months, integrated with advent and the birth of Jesus

Materials: Pack of index cards or paper, markers/pens, toy blocks

Set up: On individual cards, write about 20 questions and the verse(s) from the Bible where the answers can be found, and hang the cards on the wall. Write sets of multiple choice-style answers to each question (we used sets of 4 choices) on individual cards and tape each one to a block. Scatter the blocks at the end of the hallway, label face down. We placed three additional cards on the wall to indicate the "life lines" available to the kids if they got stuck -- Straight to the Source (check the Bible), 50/50 (Kim will remove two of the wrong answer choices), and Phone-an-Omar (ask Omar for his help). We also had a paper banner that read "Who Wants to Be a Kingdom Heir?"

How to Play: One child at a time runs to the end of the hallway to select a block. If it has a label on it, the child brings the block back to the group and tags the next child to find a block. After each child has had a turn, gather at the wall of questions. Read the answers on the blocks that everyone brought back and try to match them up with the correct questions. If you're unsure, temporarily hang the answer cards to the side where they can be seen. If you've made a match, it's time to choose an answer. Stuck? Use a life-line!

Notes: Instead of limiting the game to three life-lines, this quickly became a game of checking the Bible verses for all of the questions we didn't know, so this could easily be how the game is played from the start. It was a great way for everyone to practice looking up "book, chapter, and verse" and learn where the books are located in the Bible.