Going In-Depth about Children's Ministry at Trinity | Trinity Talks Podcast

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning.

It is so nice to have all of you with us here today for our very special episode of Trinity

Talks.

So hello to Grace.

First of all, you are our Children's Director here at Trinity.

I am indeed.

Good morning.

Good morning.

And I also have two volunteers that help quite frequently out in the Children's Ministry

here.

So good morning to Simon and good morning to Jordana.

Good morning.

Good morning.

So we are going to be kicking off today a little bit of a ministry spotlight that occasionally

throughout the coming months, we're going to be spotlighting and highlighting some of

the ministries that go on here at Trinity.

And I'm really excited to be starting off with our Children's Ministry, which is really

such an integral part to our life here at the church.

And I know one thing before we get to anything serious that you always do with the children

is play some games.

100%.

Right?

Because it wouldn't be fun without them.

Best part of a kids' church.

How often do you get a chance to play the games that you are doing at kids' church?

Actually for myself pretty often, because I always have the other leaders lead the games

and then I just like hop in and play.

All right.

How about you guys?

No, I'm usually the one looking out for if there's a kid who's reluctant or sometimes

nervous about them getting hurt.

Yeah, right.

You know, they're running around just making sure.

Yeah.

It's the same, not too often.

Not too often.

And how often do you get to do the arts and crafts element?

Because I know there's usually a little bit of coloring that goes on in kids' church.

I usually do.

I mean, I make the arts and crafts.

Maybe I'll make an example, but usually not.

But today we're going to have a little fun with you.

And you all have some whiteboards in front of you.

And you have some pieces of paper under your chairs, which I know you haven't looked at

yet.

You have a marker in your hand.

I did try to get you to...

And you can either...

You also have a blindfold.

If you prefer not to, you can close your eyes.

But I have a little famous Bible story that you may probably have taught children.

It's one of the stories that children learn in children's ministry.

And I would like you to draw a picture of that Bible story while blindfolded and see

if each other can figure out what story you are trying to convey.

All right.

So I'm going to talk a little bit while you guys get started.

So let's just make sure that you get your pieces of paper out so everyone can just read

their stories.

I'm sure you're all familiar with this story, and probably you are too out there.

See if you can play along.

I hope the markers come up on camera.

But if you'd like to blindfold yourself, perhaps you don't trust yourself to close your eyes.

If you can close your eyes, that's fine.

But you may get started just drawing your pictures while you are blindfolded.

So as I said, that we are doing a ministry spotlight today, and we are going to be talking

about the children's ministry.

And I want to thank all of the volunteers, first of all, who do help out with the children

in some capacity here at church.

We have so many different programs and activities and even outreach events that touch the young

people of our church.

So I want to say thank you to everyone who helps provide a consistent and safe and just

absolutely beautiful environment for the children of our church.

But one amazing thing about children's ministry, when we really think about it, it's a ministry

not only to the children, but to families and to their caregivers, and in many ways

also to the entire church and for generations to come.

So no pressure.

Children's ministry does have far reaches, and we never know what God is doing in the

lives or hearts of the people who are touched.

So thank you very much just for your commitment.

All right.

It looks like you're done your pictures.

So we're going to have let's have Grace reveal your picture first.

Can we open our eyes?

You can open your eyes.

I love the honesty.

All right.

Oh, all right.

So we've got a nice picture here.

It's a picture.

It's a picture.

And actually, if that was done, closing your eyes, I would say it's pretty good.

I don't want to describe it too much from what I'm seeing.

He's here listening and we've got a nice picture here.

I'd like Jordana and Simon to take a guess.

I'd say it's the Jesus walks on water.

I was going to say the same thing.

Ding.

Yeah.

Well done.

I tried to do a smiley face.

That's pretty good.

Yeah, that's pretty good.

That's pretty good.

Not bad.

All right, Jordana, your turn.

Oh, wait, this seems like seems like a no brainer.

What is it?

Do you want to guess, Grace?

That's Noah's Ark.

That is Noah's Ark.

Very good.

I like that you didn't attempt to do animals two by two.

That could get messy.

All right.

What do we have over here?

Mine wasn't quite as good.

I don't think not quite as good.

Definitely have two figures there.

I didn't know someone threw up in the Bible.

It was not great.

Jesus feeding the five thousand.

Is it Jesus feeding five thousand?

No, it was David and Goliath.

Oh, OK, I see it.

Those are the rocks.

Those are supposed to be the rocks.

Those are the rocks.

And that's with a size differential.

Yeah, OK.

Not bad, actually.

Yeah, it wasn't the best.

Well, well done.

That's OK.

That's all right.

That's why you're one of the leaders and not one of the children.

Just kidding.

All right.

So, Grace, you are the children's director here.

I know you've worked through you've been part of Trinity for a long time.

So what led you to this role here at Trinity Church?

Yeah, so I've been coming to Trinity since I was eight.

So a while.

And everyone jokes now.

They're like, I knew you're going to have this job because between the ages of like

11 to 13, after the church service, I'd always have a baby on my hip and like two or three

kids running around me that I was like keeping an eye on.

And so I went through my teenage years, had some rebellious teenage years where I didn't

come to church.

And then I was a little bit miserable.

I was a miserable teenager.

And then I thought, you know, I might as well try this Jesus thing.

So I started coming to youth group and made some really great friends there.

When your husband was running youth group, that was great.

And I really started delving into my faith, working through my anger with God was definitely

a big thing.

And then when I graduated high school, I was like, I have no idea what I want to do with

my life.

I knew that kids were in the forefront of my life.

That's where I found my passion and I really, really loved kids.

And so I was like, maybe child psychology, maybe midwifery.

So I decided to take a year off just to kind of discern that.

And I went to England with my friends and we went to something called New Wine, which

is a Christian festival in England.

And the Holy Spirit really directed me towards the New Wine discipleship year.

And so I spent a year doing this job.

So I was running toddler groups, I was running Sunday groups, I was running events.

But alongside that, I was also delving into my faith and so really delving into the Bible

and we had teaching days.

And so those combined, I was like, I think this is God's calling on my life.

This is something that I really enjoy.

And so I came back from the discipleship year.

And then a little while later, a job opening happened at Trinity for a kids church assistant

under Julie Wormald.

And I was like, oh my gosh, yes.

So I applied, got the job.

And I remember thinking God has been so patient and so faithful working with me because I

remember my first year as assistant director, or sorry, pardon me, not assistant director,

assistant, like children's ministry assistant, assistant to the director.

If you get that, if you get that office term, thank you.

And so I remember sitting there and working with Julie and it was great.

And I was like, oh, I could never be children's director.

I was like, I just don't have capacity.

I could never do it.

And then a year later, Julie moved to BC.

And so Robin and Natalie approached me and they were like, could you be children's director?

I was like, I think I could.

And I went and I said, but I could never do camp.

I was like, I could never be camp director though.

So that's our idea coming.

And then this year, Julie has decided to stay in BC for camp.

And so now I am camp director.

So it's been amazing to see God's faithfulness working through my confidence levels and just

preparing me up.

Like what led me to this job was finding a passion in kids, but also making theology

understandable for them.

Because I think a lot of times what we can do is we can dumb things down for kids.

And I feel like that does them a disservice.

And so my passion is making theological concepts understandable for them where they're at.

Just we can teach them the truth and encourage them.

That is so fun and what a great story that you have, it's just so fun to see God's presence

in every step of the journey and how he challenges you and pushes you.

But also how you kept saying yes to all of those responses or to all those questions.

So wonderful.

That's so good.

We had a song earlier today where we were saying, all your promises are yes and amen.

And it just makes me think that God is just saying yes to us and pushing us along on our

journey.

And thank you for just everything that you do here at church.

And then we have an amazing team of volunteers.

And you are some of those volunteers who spend your time and give of your hours during Sunday

services.

So Jordana, how long first of all have you been at Trinity for?

It's a long story.

I came to Trinity in the mid 2000s for a few years, but then left when I moved away.

So I moved downtown and that was when I left the church.

I moved in a few places over the years and then came back to Mississauga end of 2013.

But I had a tiny baby, a toddler.

The church wasn't on the horizon.

I was just very tired in those moments.

I think it was really only 2017 when I joined the moms group here by Jen Surson.

And then that was literally the extent of my involvement at Trinity for a couple of

years.

And then ended up beginning to come to church much more regularly around 2018, feeling my

feet, you know, feeling more comfortable again.

Then the pandemic disrupted all that.

So it's hard to say how long I've been here.

Do I count the 2000s or is it more like 2018 or is it post pandemic when I really began

to come much more?

I don't know.

We have a good answer for that.

But it does sound like you have a journey with Trinity.

Yes, it is.

Yeah, it has been a journey.

And then so what led you to want to volunteer in children's ministry?

I know you said yourself, you have some children.

Yes, I have two boys.

And right when we came back, actually much earlier even, they were, I just enjoyed that

they were getting other children and they were part of a children's ministry and they

were being blessed there.

And so when it felt like the ministry was growing and there was a call for volunteers,

I just thought, OK, this is a place where I'd like to be involved.

My kids are getting an enormous benefit from here.

And the other side of it is to echo grace.

It's just lovely to be able to invest in these kids and say, you have a beautiful God whose

character comes through through all these stories.

And he is worth your trust and he is worth you knowing how much you are loved.

And if that each week is the message they take, that is great.

And so I think those two reasons would be why I ended up saying yes.

I love that.

I love that.

And thank you.

Thank you for your time that you put in there.

And Simon, so what led you to want to be part of children's ministry?

Well, so I started working at camp a few years ago.

OK.

I was a leader in training when Grace was the director of like the LITs it was.

And so I found that really fun.

And then for the past two years, I've been working at camp and it's been a blast.

Like I really love hanging out with the kids and it's just a lot of fun.

So then I found out about Kids Church and I thought that'd be a great opportunity to

like help out with the church.

And I thought it'd be a lot of fun.

And Grace was telling me about it.

It sounded like a great opportunity.

So I thought I had to join.

That's amazing.

So how often do you join downstairs and help with the kids?

I'd say like once or twice a month.

Probably.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

And I hope to keep volunteering throughout the next few years.

That would be wonderful.

It's wonderful to have that consistency too in our leaders if we can.

Now, Grace, can you tell us we've talked about children's ministry?

Some people might not know what goes on in our kids church or even in our toddler room,

which we do have those separations.

We do indeed.

So what does children's ministry actually look like here at Trinity?

Yeah.

So we like to do different programs based on the age, right?

So someone in kindergarten is not going to benefit from the same lessons and games and

structure as someone in grade five.

And so what we really like to do is we like to, A, work with kids where they're at, but

also, B, work with parents where they're at.

Because kids are the light of your life and we have the privilege of having parents feel

comfortable leaving their kids with us.

So if you have a littler one, so like a little baby, there are different things where you

can do.

So you're more than welcome to have your baby with you in the service.

Right across the way, we have a parish hall where we're streaming the service, where we

have some toys in there.

We have a room downstairs beside the crawler's room where we're streaming the service as

well.

So if you need to feed your baby or you need to change your baby, it's just your space

where you can be with your baby while also participate in the service.

Or if you feel comfortable enough leaving your baby, we have a room called the crawler's

room, which is really for babies to about young toddlers.

And it's a room where we have volunteers who specifically work with that age group and

have your kids during that time.

So we call that crawler's.

We also have walkers.

So we don't have distinctive ages just because every child is so different.

So when you say like from this to 12 months, like one child at 12 months is like walking

and going and one child is still crawling.

So we let parents discern where they'd like to put their younger ones.

But walkers, they have like the funnest room ever.

Don't tell the kids I said that.

Every room is great.

But yeah, it's just it's all these toys.

It's a playhouse.

It's a play kitchen.

It's got a lot of terrains.

And it's really just getting them comfortable, getting them used to coming to church and

being away from their parents.

So it's mostly play.

And then we also have snacks and little crafts available.

So that's what our crawlers and walkers programs look like.

So parents usually drop them off like just before the service or during the kids dismissal.

But for our kindergartners to grade five, we really like to start off our Sunday morning

by coming all together and worshipping together as a community.

So you'll notice that our kindergartners to grade fives and even some of our crawlers

and walkers are up and they are participating in the first couple of songs.

And so then I come up, do my little spiel, talk to people about what we're learning about

and dismiss the kids.

So if you are in kindergarten or grade one, you've just sat through two songs.

You've sat very nicely.

Hopefully.

Or maybe not.

I don't know.

Your Gloria loves to dance.

Elizabeth has her youngest daughter.

She loves to dance.

And so you'll always see her dancing.

But yeah, so when your kindergartners or grade ones first come down, it's a time for them

to play.

So we have blue blocks.

We have a bunch of toys for them.

And Simon actually is one of our main teachers for K to one.

Yeah, that's the age group I'm mostly in.

Yeah, we usually play games at the start and they have a lot of fun.

Love it.

Yeah.

And then we'll have like a snack and some crafts, just meeting them at an age appropriate

way.

For our grades two to five, they start out by playing a few games together.

So like structured games, lots of running games to get that energy out, themed games

around the lesson.

And then they would sit and they'd watch a video and then they'd break off into smaller

groups.

So we have grade twos and threes who will do a craft and more discussion questions,

kind of picking apart the lesson of what they've learned.

And then we have the four to five to come together.

And Jordana is a four to five teacher.

And that's actually the first time where you're opening the Bible.

And so before you go to youth group, we want to get you in the habit of learning how to

navigate your Bible.

So what is the Old Testament?

What is the New Testament?

How do you find a verse in the Bible?

And so grade four and five is when they actually start reading the scripture for themselves.

And so they'll do discussion questions and sometimes we'll bring it like a game or a

craft just to break it up.

But that is what kids church would look like for every age group.

That's wonderful.

And I know we also have secure check in, right?

We do indeed.

The last thing we want is for a child to go home with the wrong parent.

That's like my biggest fear.

I remember this dad came downstairs and I had no idea who he was.

And I was ready.

I was like, who is this man looking in the toddler room?

And then I looked, I'm like, oh, is this this is your son?

He's like, yes.

I'm like, oh, Tom, I I almost protect these kids, but it's all good.

So what we do is when you check in, we all have a check in system where we get name tags.

And so during the check in system, if you have children with you, you get name tags

as well as a code.

And so that code is something that you need to hand in in order to pick up your kids so

that we can make sure on our ends that the right kids are going home with the right parents

just to keep everyone safe and to have that security for parents knowing that their their

kids are safe.

That's great.

Now I want to hear a little bit about some of your favorite stories or memories or experiences

that you've had in kids church.

So obviously you're enjoying doing this ministry.

I'm wondering if each of you could take a moment just to share what your favorite thing

is or maybe a memory or a story or just overall experience.

But what happens in kids church that you really love?

So let's start with Simon.

Yeah.

So as Grace mentioned before, I'm usually in the K to one age group and in the K to

ones we usually play.

They play with toys for the first like 20 minutes or so.

And one of my favorite parts is the blue blocks they have, which we've had for a lot of years

here at Trinity.

And they love building forts and like just running across them.

It's a lot of fun.

And also when they're playing with the other toys, they're just always having a lot of

fun running around.

Sometimes we play like hide and seek, even though it's like a really small area down

there.

They like sometimes chasing me around with different stuff.

It's a lot of fun.

Yeah, that's probably my favorite part.

I bet.

Oh, that's great.

And if anyone hasn't seen anyone from the church has seen those big blue blocks downstairs.

They are a lot of fun.

They're really great.

They just like the size of a four year old.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The creativity that comes out from these kids with those blocks is beautiful.

It's great to see.

Yeah.

So thank you.

Yeah.

And what about you, Jordana?

I work with the great fours of five.

So there's a lot more discussion.

There's a lot more delving into the Bible, chatting.

I think one of my favorite memories was one week when I can't remember what Bible story

it was that prompted the reflection, but it was on God blessing us and giving us what

we need, but not necessarily everything we want.

And so the kids were asked to draw on the whiteboard, you know, what we need, what we

want.

And they began with what we need in terms of it was easy food, clothing, shelter.

And then they began to branch out into freedom and faith.

And one kid said, God, and one kid said, prayer.

And then as they wrote among the ones that grew a debate, you know, do you need a computer?

And they actually, I think my favorite moment was when they began to debate is chocolate

a need or what?

And then they went into is a computer or a need or one.

That's a hard question to answer in our culture.

So it was just really neat to see them working through, you know, what just what would be

considered a blessed life.

I mean, that's my wording, but it was just a neat moment.

I bet.

I bet they made you think you've been probably challenged some of the way you thought.

Yeah, that's great.

Thank you.

And then the next question is, do you have a favorite memory?

I know it might be hard to come up with one.

So what's your favorite thing about kids church or something that you like?

I think my favorite thing about kids church is just the process.

And there are two things that I love.

The first thing that I love is that it helps me as a person remember to come to God as

a child.

And so like when you're telling these kids these stories, or like you'll have kids who

will like be so overcome with the Easter story that they cry.

And it's just a reminder that like as adults and as teenagers, you really get used to it

and you and you don't see the beauty in it.

And so I think like coming to God with childlike faith, it's a reminder every week, which is

great.

And then another aspect of children's ministry is the fact that it's family ministry.

And so one of my favorite things is working with families.

So like you'll have a baby come in and it's working with that mom to be like, okay, like

what do you feel comfortable with?

What makes you feel comfortable?

Sorry, I'm waving to a little one.

What makes you feel comfortable leaving your child and working with them so that they feel

comfortable?

And then you see the child like go through all the stages.

So you like see them and like often you see them.

You're like, they take, they took their first steps or like, oh, they're teething.

Or it was like their first year of kindergarten.

And you just see the kids grow through season of season and you get to see their relationship

with God grow.

And it's just one of the most beautiful things.

Like I think of some of our grade fives that we've had and I've seen them like since they

were infants in their, in their baby seats.

And it is just so beautiful to see them still enjoying and coming and learning about God.

Oh, it's beautiful.

It is beautiful though.

It is beautiful.

So you're talking about kids ministry and the progress that you've seen even in your

time here at Trinity.

Kids are young and getting into their older children's ages and maybe going off to youth

group.

Children's ministry is something that evolves and grows and touches actually, like we said,

the whole church in so many different ways.

It's actually so interesting because I think of like Simon and all the other people, like

some of the youth, like they go to kids church and then they go into youth.

And then after a few years, then they're coming and teaching in kids church.

There's all these cycles that happen and we never know the extent to how God is going to

work through these ministries.

So I'm wondering if you could each just share a hope that you have for the children's ministry

here at Trinity.

And I think I'm going to start with Jordana this time.

Oh, okay.

We're just mixing it up.

Keeping you on your toes as I'm sure you're used to in kids church.

My hope is just with each week that the kids take something where they know that they are

loved and that God is good and that they can take that into the week.

And kids are so present in each moment, right?

They can forget.

But if they can do that, that's a good thing for me.

As a ministry, I hope that just more kids come to benefit from it and have friends that

can chat about these matters of faith.

I think that's my hope.

Yeah, great.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So I would say for me is like, I want the kids to have fun and look forward to coming

to kids church every week and also learn a lot about Jesus.

Because I remember when I was a kid going to Sunday school at like a different church,

I remember I was looking forward to it, playing the games and hearing a Bible story that were

always really cool.

So I just hope the kids can look forward to coming each week and just having a great time.

Great.

And a place that they feel included and welcomed.

Great.

And now, Grace, do you have any hopes for this ministry and what you can see for the future

or even just as Georgina was saying, just on the day to day?

My hopes for kids church is that even as we grow and even as we have more kids come, that

we can continue to have that intimate connection with these kids.

Where these kids come and they feel loved and they feel seen and that when they come

to kids church, they can meet with God in a way that works for them.

And so I think that's something that I'm so grateful that we have.

And my prayer is that as we grow, we can continue to have that intimacy with God.

Thank you.

I mean, that's just so beautiful.

And we are going to have to wrap up now, but if you are interested in learning more or

participating in any way, volunteering, any children that could benefit from the ministry,

make sure that you contact Grace.

Her email is grace at trinitiestreetsville.org or feel free to connect with anyone on the

children's ministry team and we can point you in the right direction.