The Bible is clear, we are called to teach children “the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) However, the current statistics show kids leaving the church when they move out of their parent's house at an alarming rate. What the church has always done to disciple kids isn’t working. Therefore, I believe it is time to try something new.

 Here are three areas of LVKids we are going to work on in the next year:

 1.  Equipping volunteers and parents to be spiritual leaders

 As a parent, I know Sunday cannot be the primary time for spiritual learning and development for my kids. If we, as parents, want our children to live lives like Christ, they need to see what that looks like for more than an hour on Sunday morning.  I want to help parents to teach, lead, and equip their children to be a disciple of Jesus. I also want those children to see other adults exemplifying Christ-like love.

Here are some action steps to accomplish this first goal:

• Volunteers will be given resources and training to start having spiritual conversations with students which can happen in a small group or individually.

• Resources will be available to help parents have spiritual conversations at home.

• Families have the ongoing opportunity to join Gospel Communities to live life together with other Christians.

• Parents are expected to volunteer, and many of them will learn how to start and facilitate spiritual conversations as volunteers.

• We will have a rotating schedule of LVKids Sundays and Family Worship Sundays. This will allow kids to learn and get a foundation of Bible truths at their level AND see how adults worship together, giving them a fuller understanding of what happens when the family gathers for worship.

2.  Teaching and practicing spiritual habits

We want to help kids create a habit of spending time in God’s word and memorizing scripture (Duet. 6:1-9).

What this looks like:

AT CHURCH

• We will be working on learning the books of the Bible so they can navigate to find passages easily.

• We will learn verses with motions and practice together. We will track all the verses we memorize. The kids will set a goal and work hard to achieve it together.

AT HOME

• Kids will receive a daily devotion book that coordinates with our D6 curriculum. Make sure to check out all the parent resources they offer in their D6 app.

• Practice memory verses together! The ones I know best are the ones I memorized with the kids

3.  Helping kids feel a part of the church family

The church is not for entertaining kids, while parents go to service. As a church, we value creating a culture of family and our kids need to know they are an essential part of it. We are working to accomplish this by:

AT CHURCH

• Each participating student (parents can choose to opt out) will have a magnet created with their picture, their first name, and their age.  The congregation will have a chance to pick a student to pray for the year.

• On LVKids Sunday, every child has the option to help lead worship songs on stage

• Older children in LVKids will also be able to participate in skits and help the younger kids navigate the bible.

• On Family Worship Sundays, all generations worship together. We intentionally add moments to include our kids.  This may be a song, sermon illustration, or a response activity. (They happen to be fun for the adults to

AT HOME

• Let your child know someone at church is praying for them. They may even come up and introduce themselves. Your family might meet someone new! You may also choose to pray for another student as a family.