Children's Ministry
Children's Ministry
this Month
Sunday Mornings during
10:00am Worship
Director of Children, Family, and Youth Ministry Dana Bender unitedchurch.dana@gmail.com
Children's Ministry Chair Karen Wilbanks
Children's Ministry Aides:
(Maria Navarette, Gail Ansheles, Destiny Munoz)
Uniting Children and Youth In Belief,
Belonging and Behavior
Exciting News about the Natural Playground!
United Church has contracted Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds about transforming sections of our church grounds into natural play areas. Unlike traditional playgrounds, with structured, human-made equipment, Bienenstock playgrounds incorporate materials and ideas from nature, such as logs, rocks, and plants. These play spaces encourage children to explore, problem-solve, and engage in imaginative play. For more information about this company, check out their website: bienenstockplaygrounds.com/
Love God, Neighbor, and Creation!
Happenings in Children's Ministry
Advent - Time to Get Ready!
Epiphany is January 6, twelve days after Christmas. Epiphany celebrates the Magis’ visit to Mary, Joseph, and their new-born child. The Greek word, ‘epiphany’ means ‘make manifest’ or ‘reveal’ and is celebrated as God’s way of showing that Jesus is the light of the world for all the people.
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A friend of mine from high school once abandoned the notion of ‘elf on a shelf’ for her young son. Instead, she placed the three wooden nativity kings (aka Magi) away from the manger. Then, beginning on Christmas, each night she carefully arranged them in new scenarios. Sometimes the Magi / Kings were zip lining across the dining room. Other times they were riding an engine from her son’s train set. All with an intention to get to the Christ Child by Epiphany!
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Because January 6 doesn’t always fall on a Sunday, we celebrate it on the closest Sunday to it. This year, that’s January 4. All families, children and youth are invited to join in an intergenerational celebration of Epiphany in the 10:00 am service that day.
Confirmation/ Initiates classes also resume on January 4 and January 11.
I would love to take this group on a field trip to another faith tradition some Sunday this month.