CHILDREN’S MINISTRY & YOUTH MINISTRY

Children’s Ministry—Nursery through 5th grade

Molly Morton (she/her) is our Children’s Ministry Director. Molly is a graduate of Western Michigan University, where she studied English Literature and Comparative Religions. She has worked with children in a variety of settings, including teaching in the amazing Blue Ocean pre-readers room for many years.

Sunday School classes

We hone in on three values throughout our church, including our Sunday School classes: cultivating empathy, inclusion, and wonder. Our teachers, curriculum, and classroom experiences are all focused on encouraging children to develop these central values of our approach to faith. Children’s Ministry on Sunday mornings includes separate rooms for pre-readers (2–4 year olds), Kindergarten–2nd grade, and 3rd–5th grade.

What to Expect…

• We provide an unstaffed nursery, which is available for families of toddlers and babies to use from 10:50 am (10 minutes before service begins) until the end of the service. Our nursery has comfortable seating, baby swings, wipes, age-appropriate toys, and books. The nursery is located closer to the Sanctuary/Worship Space than the other classrooms.
• Kindergarten–5th grade students start with their families in the worship service, and are dismissed by age group to their classes after about 10 minutes of worship. They rejoin the congregation for communion, remaining together in the designated children’s section where teachers and helpers ensure the children return safely to their caregivers at the end of the service.
• Everyone who works with the children is screened according to our abuse prevention policies, and each classroom has at least two screened, unrelated adult volunteers.
• All snacks served in the classroom are peanut-free. Gluten-free/dairy-free snacks are available. Children will have the option of taking communion bread, or individually wrapped communion packets (gluten free and free of most major allergens) during the service.
• We use the Godly Play curriculum in our PreReaders class, and Shine Curriculum by Brethren Press for our K–5 classes. We aim to instill values of compassion, empathy, integrity, and concern for justice in our program, linking these to the Jesus tradition.

Middle and High School

Middle and High School Youth Group

Both youth groups join the larger congregation for Sunday service and are invited to participate in various ways such as reading Scripture or serving communion. Our youth group is led by Dave Nelson (he/him), El Costanzo (they/them), and an excellent team of volunteers who have maintained an ongoing commitment and built strong relationships with our young people as they move from middle school to high school and beyond.

Middle School Youth Group

The Middle School Youth Group meets from 10:30–10:55am in the Youth Lounge and is led by Dave Nelson (he/him) and El Costanzo (they/them). Our focus is primarily on building connections and wonder. We also seek to inspire a love for theology and justice in our young people. Our curriculum is developed to ensure that it is inclusive and builds empathy for stigmatized groups while rooting our young people in the biblical tradition. We use the Junior High Shine curriculum (along with the K-5 classes) among other materials.

For the incoming 6th graders, the transition into being in service for the entire sermon is sometimes quite an adjustment. So, we’re offering our young people the opportunity to join the 5th grade class during the service. They are also welcome to assist as helpers in the Children’s Ministry classes. Please contact the office if you have any questions.

As an added bonus, we are considering letting our middle school aged young people “Lounge in the Lounge” during the service to hang out, play games, and build relationships with two adult volunteers once a month. If you think your middle schooler would enjoy this and/or if you would be willing to volunteer to be one of two supervisors, please contact the office.

High School Youth Group

The High School YG currently meets from 10:30–10:55am in the Youth Lounge and is led by El Costanzo (they/them) and David Nelson (he/him). The High School Youth Group has more advanced theological and socially relevant discussions while also building connections and relationships through games and activities. The young people are given opportunities to deepen their relationships with each other and Blue Ocean while also developing their own relationship with and understanding of the Divine in a safe and inclusive environment.

Youth Activities & Events

The Middle School and High School Youth Groups will plan extra activities with ideas and input from our young people, so we will be figuring out the extra youth connection events as we go. We have done a variety of fun activities in the past (including a kickball at the park, a great escape room, student performed theatre plays, cider mills, etc.). 

Helping Kids Stay Connected

These stories were produced during the Pandemic, when we only met virtually, but are still available for you to watch

Summer of Stories  Stories have so much to teach us! In this short video series, Pastor Susan reads one of her favorite picture books and makes connections to faith and life.

Episode 1: Extra Yarn
Episode 2: Outside In