Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’
-Matthew 19:14
Children’s Ministry is one of the most exciting and important facets of life at Peoples! Our entire congregation loves to explore ways of both engaging children on their level and inviting them into the worship life of the church.
In 2009, we commissioned a grown-up artist, Joel Schoon Tanis, to design a mural that our kids could help create. Together, they turned an entire hallway into a gorgeous and vibrant piece of art.
We offer several classes and events for children of all ages!
Infants-Preschool
Children ages 5 and younger are invited to join us in the church nursery for a time of playing, learning, and fun, every Sunday during the 10:00 Worship Hour. Our nursery is professionally-staffed and each week is spent learning about Jesus! These youngest children join us during worship for the “Moment Mostly For Children” each week, as Pastor Leia reads or tells a story related to the themes of the morning, demonstrates a prayer station, and sometimes shares a new cat story.
Kindergarten-Grade 6
Children in grade school are invited to join us for the beginning of our worship service each week. Following the “Moment Mostly For Children,” they are dismissed to the Youth Room for a class with our Christian Education Director. Each week finds these kids doing something new and exciting! One week it might be planting window gardens to learn about the seed which fell on good soil, another week they might be learning the American Sign Language signs for the Ten Commandments. We strive to engage all different learning styles in our Sunday School classes, so that all children can experience who Christ is for them. Children in third grade and older have the option of becoming acolytes and opening our Sunday worship services by bringing in the light of Christ and lighting the chancel candles. Several times a year, Pastor Leia plans an all-ages worship and recruits younger voices for short readings! If you’re interested in helping out in Sunday School, please contact our office.
Like many churches across the globe, we hold a Christmas pageant each December. However, unlike most pageants you’ve ever seen…ours has starred a REAL BABY JESUS for several decades! Yes, that’s right–other churches may have Mary and Joseph gazing at a baby doll in a manger, but here at Peoples, we cast a real baby in the role of the infant Christ!
Junior and Senior High
Our Junior and Senior High students are invited to join us for Worship in the Sanctuary at 10:00 each Sunday. We encourage all our students to take an active role in worship by reading or contributing special music. High schoolers are also encouraged to take part in new member/confirmation classes to learn more about Christian, Presbyterian, and Peoples history and to officially become members of the congregation. We hope that people of all ages will consider each other equals and that our young people will grow up to consider our church “home.”
On Youth Sunday, we are often fortunate enough to have one of our graduating seniors give a “senior message” and tell us about how the church has played a role in their coming of age. At the end of the academic year, we also have a special service to recognize graduating high school seniors and bless them before they leave to start the next chapter of their lives. Before the service, we hold a big Graduation Breakfast with delicious food and a guest speaker who offer some advice for the teenagers about to spread their wings. One particularly memorable guest speaker was Chad Lawver, who shared a very important piece of wisdom to the class of 2019: Wear deodorant.
Vacation Bible School
The highlight of summers at PPC is, without question, Vacation Bible School! Children ages 2 – Grade 6 are invited to join us for five evenings of fun!
Summer 2018 Vacation Bible School was SHIPWRECKED. We enjoyed games, stories, songs, crafts, science projects, and special snacks. Because we were SHIPWRECKED and barefoot on the beach, our outreach project was collecting shoes and money for Soles4Souls. The grand finale featured family potluck–plus a “tropical storm” outside with special guests from the Milan Fire Department!
Our VBS 2019, TO MARS AND BEYOND, was out of this world! We collected books and money for Books on Bikes, experienced a “meteor” shower (we love our local fire department), and enjoyed Bible stories, science projects, games, and snacks.
The Kind Club
After school on Tuesday afternoons, we welcome about a dozen kids (aged k-4) for snacks, crafts, stories, community service projects, and more. In the summer of 2022, we held our first Kind Camp! We made pillows for kids in foster care, fleece blankets for people going through a rough time, and small “prayer squares” to be given to anyone, just to let them know that we care about them and are praying for them. The blankets are displayed on a large painted ladder in Fellowship Hall and we keep many prayer squares available in Fellowship Hall for anyone to take. We are always happy to have new adult volunteers to give us a hand in the kitchen or with our various projects. High school-aged helpers are also welcome!
