Children’s Ministry
Our ministry to and for our children is of great significance. Not only is it a great responsibility and privilege to teach our children about who God is, but we learn about how we come to the Lord–as his children, beloved and needy–every time we participate in the formation of the children of our church.
The church partners with families as they seek to disciple their children by creating a safe space in which children can receive developmentally appropriate teaching on Scripture and the God who it reveals. We want class to be a place where we don’t simply learn about God, but instead what it means to have a relationship with him.
Sunday Gatherings
On Sunday mornings, parents/guardians can check in any child who is 5th grade or younger for one of our Rockford Kids classes.
Ages 0-3 begin the service in their class and rejoin their families before we receive communion together.
Ages 4+ begin the service in the sanctuary with their families and are dismissed before the sermon to receive their own age-appropriate content. They likewise rejoin their families before we come to the communion table.
All of us return to the sanctuary to receive communion together.
How do I know if my child is ready to take communion?
This is a common question–and a good one! Many of us are new to this way of including children in our gathering.
As a general rule, we would encourage all baptized children to receive communion. As those baptized into Christ, they receive the meal by faith.
Likewise, we would encourage all children who have not been baptized to come forward to receive a blessing. This is a sign that they are still welcome participants in our church, and that we long to see them join God’s family through baptism.
In either case, it is our hope that parents will discuss the significance of communion with their children each time they are in the service. Whether the conversation is why a child is receiving communion (‘I want you to remember that you were baptized, and here’s what that means…’) or why a child is not yet receiving communion (‘one day when you have made a decision to follow Jesus, you will take receive this meal, too…’), it presents an opportunity for families to reflect on what Jesus has done for us in his sacrificial death and is doing for us in his church.
If you have any questions, you can contact Pastor Max.
The Rockford Mission is a plant of Cornerstone Tulsa. We are a part of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO), a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, which is built on five key values: Kingdom, Spirit, Formation, Mission, and Sacrament.