Things You Should Know
First Church of Christ's Children's Ministry offers programming for children of all ages. 

Nursery
A fully staffed, age-appropriate nursery is provided during all services.  The nursery is for newborns through children age four. The nursery is located down the left hallway as you enter the main doors
 
Preschool
Consisting of mostly 4 year-old children attending preschool; however, we do welcome potty-trained three year-olds who are ready for a more structured learning environment.  This room is located at the bottom of the main foyer stairs.
 
Little Israel

Grades K-5.  Some call this Children's Church and other call it Jr. Worship. Whatever it is, we have a lot of fun learning about Jesus and the eternal life that he offers today and forever. 

This is why we call it Little Israel:

1. As Chinatown, Little Italy, and the like are a piece of a bigger country and a segment of a different culture, so is First Church's kids a group of God’s people living in our city. 
2. Also, God prepared the world for Jesus through the Israelite nation, interacting with them to show them what He’s like and giving us hints of the things to come (Jesus and the New Covenant). We plan to prepare a strong foundation for the work Jesus will do in their lives now and beyond.

Our goal is to teach kids about the Lord, so that they can make the decision to follow Him.  We hope to equip young people with the tools they need to be a light in the environments that they know best, like their homes and schools.

In the book of John, chapter 11, verses 25 & 26, Jesus says, "I am the resurection and the life.  Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.  Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die" (NLT).  In chapter 14, Jesus tells his disciples "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me" (verse 6, NLT).

As children's minister at First Church of Christ, my job is to explain why Jesus is our only way to abundant, eternal life in a language that kids can understand.  By the time they graduate out of my program and into the middle school age group, I expect them to know 5 things:

1. Your child will understand that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and rose again on the third day (and why it is significant to us, according to the Old and New Testaments).
2. Your child will understand why we are baptized.
3. Your child will understand why we take communion.  (Child will learn how Christ is the Lamb that saves us from death, just like the Iraelites in Egypt relied on a sacrificed lamb to save them from the last plague)
4. Your child will have a basic knowledge of the order of events in the Bible.  (From the creation of the world to the first missionaries for Christ)
5. Your child will be familiar with the Great Comission.  (Matthew 28:19-20)

With these principals as a foundation, a sixth grader (leaving children's church) can begin to undertand what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.