CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
Our teachers have a heart for children and a passion to teach God’s Word to them. Every child matters to the Lord, and every child matters to us.
Our vision is that by the time children have progressed through our Sunday School and Youth programs, they will be equipped to be able to serve in the life of the church and in the community at large as we seek to advance the kingdom of God for His glory.
WHAT WE DO
Our Sunday school program is designed to ensure that every single child is treated as an individual and given the chance to fulfil their God-ordained potential. We believe in developing the whole child – both spiritually and socially. We encourage children to develop their social skills by sharing and caring for each other as well as developing life skills such as public speaking.
We feel that it is essential that children understand that God loved them so much that He sent His son to die for them on a cross. So, we make it our priority to emphasise the Love of God using simple language that children can understand.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”
John 3:16 – The Message Translation
PRAYER
Prayer is an essential part of the successful Christian life so we teach children that: “prayer is God’s telephone number!” Children in our Sunday school see prayer as a daily activity. They are taught to pray over their food; pray before they go to bed and pray as a way to commit their day into God’s hands.
We teach them that they’re never too little to pray and that God loves to hear them pray.
PRAISE AND WORSHIP
When it comes to praise and worship, our Sunday School teachers lead by example. It’s important to us that children are able to easily assimilate into the Adult service so we make it a point of singing both Sunday School songs and songs that are sung as part of our main church service during their praise and worship time.
Once a child reaches 13 years of age they are able to participate in our family service.
BIBLE READING AND TEACHING
All children who can read and write are encouraged to bring their Bible, a notebook, and pens and pencils. It’s important that children not only learn how to locate scripture passages, but also to understand how the Bible used as part of their daily life.
As such, we give children the opportunity to read Bible verses from the passage being used in the day’s lesson.
We make our lessons fun and reinforce Biblical truths using tools such as crosswords; colouring in books, word searches, puzzles and occasionally arts and craft acitivities.
We often use Bible based videos and play Christian music that encourages the children to dance before the Lord with fun and memorable action songs.
GIVING
We teach the children that giving an offering is an important part of our worship to God so we make it a priority to encourage them each Sunday to always bring an offering – no matter how small.
THE WHOLE PERSON
SNACK TIME
As part of our desire to minister to the whole person, we promote healthy eating by providing wholesome snacks such as fruit and juice instead of soft drinks.
GOOD CITIZENSHIP
We also believe in encouraging children to be good citizens by giving them the opportunity to develop the skills they need to set a good example outside church in their schools and in the community. We do this by teaching and acknowledging good social behaviour – reinforcing its importance as they grow and progress through every stage of life.
WELFARE
The Working With Children Check (WWCC) for workers and volunteers is a legal requirement of conducting ministry with children and youths.
At FCI, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child entrusted in our care during our Sunday School Program. All of our Sunday School teachers and youth ministers have been cleared by the NSW Government and have current and up to date approval to work with children and youths by WWCC.