Ministry with Children
Contact our Minister for Children & their Famillies, Rev. Kheresa Harmon, with any questions.
Formation Hour, 9:15am-10:15am on Sundays
We’ve created a coordinated curriculum that combines Bible study, music, worship education, and opportunities to learn about and express servant faith. Our primary educational opportunities occur during Formation Hour each Sunday.
All of our volunteers are required to wear face coverings and are fully vaccinated.
Infants and Toddlers
Infants and toddlers are loved and cared for by our weekly volunteers. They experience the presence of God through gentle hands, kind words, and a comforting environment. They meet on the 2nd-floor hall. Children at this age stay in their room for the Formation Hour and the Worship Hour.
Preschool/Kindergarten
Children ages 3-Kindergarten make a weekly craft, hear a Bible story, sing together, have a snack, and play together. They meet on the 2nd-floor hall. Children at this age stay in their room for the Formation Hour and the Worship Hour.
1st-5th Grade
Children in 1st-5th grades meet on the second floor. Our Formation Hour is a busy time of active learning. The chalkboard in the hallway will help you know where to go. Our Minister with Spiritual Growth, Allison Benfield, has developed a curriculum for children to learn Bible stories, learn about the seasons of the church year, and learn how we can work with God in the world. Art activities, discussion time, and games help the children engage more deeply with the stories they learn. Anna Ball, our Children’s Music Director, helps children learn songs of faith and helps them understand the role of being a worship leader as the music classes get the opportunity to lead worship. Once a month, our Missions Resource Team helps children learn about ways St. John’s is doing God’s work in the world and why we do that work.
Worship Opportunities & Education for K-5th Grade
The best way for children in 1st-5th grades to learn about worship is to participate in worship. Worshiping with the congregation also gives children a sense of belonging.
Children also serve as worship leaders in the life of St. John’s in a variety of ways: reading scripture, leading responsive readings, and in our children’s choirs. We believe active participation and leadership in worship and the whole of church life is important for all ages.
We also offer several other Worship Education programs.
Godly Play
One Sunday each month of the school year, children in Kindergarten-3rd Grade participate in Godly Play during the Worship Hour. This Montessori-based curriculum helps children begin to develop a vocabulary for expressing their experience of God. Children gather, hear a story, wonder about it together, and then respond to God’s presence through their chosen work.
Worship 101
On the third Sunday of each month of the school year, children in 1st-3rd Grade participate in Worship 101 during the Formation and Worship Hours. During the Formation Hour, they will learn about what worship is, why we worship, how we worship at St. John’s, and how they can participate in worship. During the Worship Hour, the children will sit with their adult leaders as they focus on putting what they have been learning into practice.
Worship Bags
Each Sunday, Worship Bags are available in the Sanctuary. The bags are filled with activities to help children focus on worship that day. Bags are returned to the baskets at the end of worship and are restocked each week.
Fellowship Opportunities
Building relationships is important to faith formation. The main way we do that is by enjoying time together. Our regularly scheduled activities, like our Formation Classes, Children’s Music Groups, and intergenerational fellowship events, provide great opportunities to be together. We also have special opportunities for fellowship with other members of the church family and with people from the larger community through Vacation Bible School and our trip to camp each year.
Missions Opportunities
Children are actively involved in learning about missions and doing missions. We learn about and practice our servant faith! We join the church family in sharing God’s love each year as part of CROP Walk and the Charlotte Pride Parade. We learn about having compassion in our Formation Classes.
In our Missions 101 class we help our children understand what missions is and why we choose to do God’s work in the world. Members from the Missions Resource Team come each month to share information about the ways St. John’s is involved in doing God’s work and why they feel called to be part of that work. Missions 101 will happen during the Formation Hour for 1st-5th Graders on second Sundays from September-May.