Hi Friends,
I hope you got a chance to read John Jay's letter last week with all the exciting updates about summer and our return to the sanctuary. I continue to be so grateful for each of you and the ways that we have carried each other through the last year. Y'all are just the best community and church family!
Because there are lots of things happening for kids, I wanted to fill in a few more details on what we are planning for the coming months. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. We are thrilled to have more opportunities to be with our young people!
NURSERY CARE
We plan to open our nursery rooms for babies and toddlers under four years old on Sunday, June 13. Our nursery staff is fully vaccinated and will wear masks as extra precaution for our little ones. Childcare will be open from 10:15am until the end of garage worship. We hope this allows our youngest children to have a safe place to play and connect with each other and our loving nursery staff, Tasha Cronin and Engry Lopez. We have some vaccinated volunteers who are excited to return, too! Please note that the nursery will be closed on the first Sunday of June and July so that everyone can join us in the park for worship.
KIDS
We have really enjoyed our Liturgies for Families with Kids, but we also miss seeing kids on Sundays. This summer, we have both all-church events in the park and some special programming for our kids. See below for details and the calendar summary at the end of the email.
All-Church Worship
On June 6 and July 4 we will host a worship service for everyone in the park rather than in the garage. There will be communion, singing (including songs from our family liturgies!), and time to play. We hope that our families with kids will join the church for a time of fellowship in our green space!
Special Sundays for Kids
On June 20 and July 18 we will have kids programming in the park during the garage worship service. Kids can be dropped off at 10:15am and picked up once worship in the garage ends. We are excited to do activities and Bible lessons together, and our staff and volunteers will be fully vaccinated and ready to welcome the children in our church family.
Liturgy for Families with Kids
On Saturday, June 26, we will have another Liturgy for Families with Kids! We are looking forward to seeing kids and their families for this special worship service in the park. Details and a cute postcard to come!
Kids Camp
The week of July 26-30 we are hosting a kids camp for our church family. Pastor Mary and I have been able to keep in touch with our families during the pandemic, but we know it's been harder for all of them to stay connected with each other. So, camp this year will focus on how God loves us in fun and playful ways as we reconnect and play together with our friends at church. If your kids have other friends who want to get to know our church community, you are welcome to invite them! We just don't plan to advertise outside our community or open it up to the general public as we have in previous years because of the goals of this particular camp and to make sure that we can maintain the right safety protocols and considerations for our unvaccinated population.
YOUTH
The youth will continue to gather after worship in the park except on June 6 and July 4, when the whole church will hang out together. On regular Sundays, we hope our youth will join us for worship in the garage and help out on the Pit Crew if they are interested. We are also going to start some new youth activities we have been dreaming up in our work with the Fuller Youth Institute cohort. We can't wait for folks at our church to connect with our youth as we engage in more intergenerational opportunities! Stay tuned for details and information about a parent meeting in June.
That’s enough for now! We look forward to seeing all of you soon. Sending you so much love and virtual hugs!
With gratitude for you,
Pastor Lindsay & Pastor Mary
Summary of Summer Plans
June 6 - All-Church Worship in the Park
June 13 - Nursery Reopens
June 20 - Kids programming in the park during worship
June 26 - Liturgy for Families with Kids
July 4 - All-Church Worship in the Park
July 18 - Kids programming in the park during worship
July 26 through 30 - Kids Camp 9AM-12PM
August 1 - Final Worship in the Garage
August 8 - Return to Sanctuary and Kid Classes!