Southern Hills Church of Christ
Thursday, September 09, 2010

Groups and Families

Parents and Children Together
We believe Groups provide meaningful opportunities for young children and teens to form and deepen their faith.  In a natural and intentional Group setting, children are able to see and and experience the faith of their parents.  In addition, children are able to connect with other adults whose voices supplement the values and principles their parents are teaching.
 
Groups provide families a way to study, pray, serve and do life together together, along with others who can provide support.  (To read suggestions on what to do with children in your Group, click here.)  Just as Groups will provide inclusion and care for adult Southern Hills members, our desire is that children and teens are included and cared for in our Groups structure as well.
 
Ideal Family Group Size
We believe the best size for family Groups is three to five families.  This is based on space and scheduling considerations, as well as creating the best environment to form meaningful relationships.

Practical Ideas for Incorporating Children and Teenagers
To help parents include their children, the children’s and youth ministries have provided these suggestions:
 
For Young Children and Pre-Teens
  • Design meetings that will include the children for some or all of the meeting.  Provide opportunities for children to be included through activities such as:
  • Group prayer time
  • Rehearsing of the monthly memory verses
  • Singing both adult & kids’ church songs
  • Celebrating key events in a child’s life – birthdays, holidays, etc.
  • Prayers of blessing for each child
  • Groups that study the Bible together might include these type of activities:
  • Drama reenactment of the story
  • Story-telling
  • Drawing the story
  • Reading children’s books
  • Using video resources, craft options and service opportunities that reinforce a main idea
  • Go to the children's ministry blog or contact Donnie for ideas
For Teenagers
  • Help include teens in Group meetings by:
  • Forming Groups with other parents of teens
  • Taking part in service projects
  • Being part of worship and Bible study with your Group
  • Allowing teens in your Group their own time together

Options for Childcare
Recognizing it’s not always easy or possible to include children in a Group of adults, these alternative ideas are suggested for those needing childcare:
  • (Best option) Have one or two parents from the Group provide childcare/teaching on a rotating basis.  For example, if a Group has six sets of parents, each set would take one night to provide childcare in a six-week period.  This method will allow Group members to get to know the children of the other members, and is the most reliable form of care.
  • (Good option) Have Group members hire a childcare provider to watch children while the adults meet.  To show their support for families participating in Groups together, the elders have offered to reimburse parents for childcare expenses, with certain guidelines.  Please follow these procedures:
pay your childcare worker(s) yourself.
e-mail Cindy Varner with number of workers/hours.  You will be reimbursed at the rate that our Southern Hills childcare workers receive.  You may be reimbursed weekly or monthly.
  • (Good option) Childcare for Groups meeting at the building is provided by our paid childcare workers.  If your Group is planning to meet at the building, please follow these simple procedures:
contact Phyllis at the office (692-2670) for room availability
contact Holly Brant (370-1181) with number and ages of children.  Bible lessons will be provided for the children of Groups meeting at the building and will be by reservation only.
 
A New and Needed Opportunity
In our current structure, nearly all of a child’s faith community experience at church is done separate from his or her family.  While there are great reasons to provide developmental and age appropriate classes, we also desire to empower parents and their children to participate in faith building activities together.  With God’s help and our best efforts, we believe Groups can help this happen.