Children

*There will be no Children’s Fellowship on December 24th and December 31st. The nursery will only be open for children under age 4*

CHILDREN’S FELLOWSHIP

Children’s Fellowship (our “new” name for what was traditionally called Sunday School) meets weekly on Sundays during The Current Service. The children and their families join everyone in the Sanctuary for the greeting, announcements, and praise singing. They are then dismissed to Children’s Fellowship which runs until 10:30 a.m. The children are brought up to the Wesley Room (Connections Time) to meet their parents. We invite children to come to a safe place where they can enjoy fellowship with others, learn about God, and grow in their faith. Our brand new curriculum provides a wonderful way to share the love of God with our children. In addition, the curriculum helps our children learn how to share the love of God with others. Children’s Fellowship has been created to give children of all ages the opportunity to benefit from each other. The younger ones provide wonder and amazement while the older ones provide practical application and experience. We are growing together in God’s World.

It’s been a fun year so far, but from February 26, 2023 – March 26 2023, we’ve got big plans for helping your kid grow closer to God like they never knew they could before. Remember that on March 19, 2023 we will have our mission and outreach with our Kids With Purpose Program!

What’s Happening

Here’s what’s coming up in our ministry . . .

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

June 17 – 21, 2024

This June, Chevy Chase UMC is partnering with Bethesda UMC and St. Paul’s UMC for an Epic Vacation Bible School Experience! VBS will be hosted by Bethesda UMC on Old Georgetown Road. The cost is $35.00 per child and the hours are 9:00 am – noon Monday through Friday!

When registering, you can pay on the home page right underneath the registration links. Not only are we looking for participants (ages 3 through entering 5th grade), but we are also actively looking for youth volunteers to help throughout the week! Participants and volunteers register on the same site!

If you have any questions, please see Dawn or reach out via email at dkrawczyk@chevychaseumc.org.

Tip of the Month

Kids are incredible! They are learning, experiencing, trying, and achieving more every day than most of us can imagine doing in a month. But in all of that hustle, they can get stuck in a high speed rhythm that doesn’t allow a moment to acknowledge their own greatness. So let’s be the ones to prioritize celebrating them!

Resource of the Month

Languishing. It’s a feeling we’ve all experienced, even if we’ve never assigned it this title. It’s the feeling of joylessness, doom-scrolling, and generally living day-to-day uninspired. Organizational psychologist ADAM GRANT has some helpful, video game-based research that might just help us to find a way out of our languishing.

Question of the Month

We’re always trying to better understand what it’s like to raise kids. So here’s what we’re wondering: What’s the HARDEST thing about raising kids, right now? For every answer you come up with, we challenge you to come up with a way God can help you overcome that challenge! If you would like to share, please email your responses to Dawn at dkrawczyk@chevychaseumc.org.

WHAT HAPPENING

Here’s what’s coming up in our ministry in April. . .
MY STORY BOOK
This quarter, kids will become authors, writing versions of their stories that cover their likes and dislikes, overcoming hard circumstances, and future dreams. The goal is for kids to feel comfortable sharing about themselves and their faith journey in everyday conversations.

KIDS WITH PURPOSE RECAP
Our children who attended Kids With Purpose in March created Resurrection Gardens with Ms. Carolyn and Mrs. Anna. Ask your child to share with you the symbolism of these gardens and watch with anticipation as they grow through the Easter season.

WHAT WE’RE TEACHING

HEROIC: A 4-WEEK SERIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE EARLY CHURCH

SERIES OVERVIEW:
Every kid wishes they had superpowers, but with Jesus, we don’t need x-ray vision or invisibility to be heroes! In this four-week series, kids will hear stories about the heroes of the Early Church — the apostles and disciples who used their unique abilities to spread the good news of Jesus. Through their stories, we’ll see that anyone can do great things for God because God gives everyone a mission, the Holy Spirit gives us power, and we’re heroic when we work as a team!
DOWNLOAD THIS MONTH’S FAMILY GUIDE

TIP OF THE MONTH

You might have already made a list of places to see or experiences to have with your family — but what might it look like to make a similar list of acts of kindness you’d like to try? This can be a fun and creative way to talk about loving your community with your family.

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

You’ve been told what to do in the case of an emergency. “Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” Sometimes we’re drained and at a place where we need help before we can help others, including our kids. TAKE A MINUTE to help you today.

As you can see, children are vital and highly valued members of our church family. From Children’s Fellowship and worship to the Christmas Pageant and the Easter Egg Hunt, our children are full and active participants in the life of the congregation.

Kids With Purpose
We feel strongly that our children and youth learn to be active participants in mission and outreach. Therefore, on the third Sunday of each month (in lieu of Children’s Fellowship), we gather together to do a service/mission project to help us provide outreach to those in our congregation and to those in our community. Sometimes it is as far reaching as other countries. We have created things for animal shelters, made Advent wreaths during the pandemic for those in our own congregation, created meals for local homeless shelters, created Care Bags to hand out to those in need, and so much more. We are always looking for more ideas/connections and welcome everyone’s participation!

Nursery Care

Two experienced attendants are employed every Sunday morning to care for infants and toddlers through age 3 in the nursery (Room 212) to the right of the art gallery. The nursery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Childcare is sometimes available for other church activities on an as needed basis. Only those children three years old and younger will be permitted to remain in the nursery at any time.

Acolytes

Children and youth who are age 7 or older assist in the traditional worship service as acolytes on a rotating schedule. They wear appropriate robes and lead the processional and recessional. They also light and extinguish the candles on the altar. Experience is not necessary. We will train anyone who is interested.

Special Events

We have an annual Blessing of the Backpacks each Fall so that our students of all ages know that their church family is always praying for them. Our annual Christmas Pageant is a family event which involves all the children and youth in the church and is open to the public. An annual Easter Egg Hunt is held near Easter and is for children from preschool to grade 5. Older children and youth are invited to help out with games and hiding eggs. Additional special events are added to the calendar throughout the year.

Safe Sanctuary Policy

Chevy Chase United Methodist Church is a Safe Sanctuary. We have adopted an abuse prevention policy for children and youth and have established procedures to demonstrate our absolute and unwavering commitment to the physical safety and spiritual growth of all our children and youth, as well as those who work with children and youth. We follow reasonable safety measures in the selection and recruitment of workers; we implement prudent operational procedures in all programs and events; we educate everyone who works with children and youth regarding the use of all appropriate policies and methods (including first aid and methods of discipline); we have a clearly defined procedure for reporting a suspected incident of abuse that conforms to the requirements of state law; and we are prepared to respond to media inquiries if an incident occurs. Thorough background checks are completed through a third party organization recommended by the Baltimore Washington Conference. More details are available in the church office.