Grace Timonium

A New Era for Children's Ministry at Grace

The vision of Grace Fellowship Church is to inspire a Life Worth Pursuing in Baltimore and beyond. I recently sat down with Aly Huggins, the Kids Coordinator for Next Gen who works primarily in the Grace Kids ministry. She shared her heart for children in the community and described how Grace Kids is all about Connection. Connecting family members to one another, connecting all stages of a child's physical and spiritual development, and connecting kids with special needs to individualized support.

A New Era for Children's Ministry at Grace

Grace Kids extends beyond singing songs and making crafts. Aly Huggins, the Kids Coordinator for Next Gen, explains that the primary purpose of the ministry “is to provide a safe, fun and engaging environment on Sunday morning (both in the building and online) to teach kids about Jesus, how much God loves them, that God made them, and that he wants to be their friend forever.”

Since September 2020, Grace Kids has been positioned under the Next Gen ministry at Grace. Grace leadership recognizes the need to pave a clear pathway of spiritual development for our youth, starting from birth all the way to young adulthood. This reorganization coincided with much of the re-opening activities taking place at Grace in response to the increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines, cases decreasing, and more in-person activities resuming. Aly noted that Next Gen staff are an “all-hands-on-deck team who work together to give youth of all ages a consistent experience.” Families could visibly witness the impact of the Next Gen collaboration from the very first day of in-person kids' worship in the newly renovated Grace Kids worship space. Andrew Benavides, the Creative Programmer for Next Gen, assists with technological logistics, helps to lead worship with the kids, and shares the worship sessions online with families who aren't ready to return to the building.

“Spiritual Influencers” Inspiring a Life Worth Pursuing in their Families

Aly recognizes that while the kids' time at Grace on Sundays is impactful, it only represents a fraction of their activities each week. The ministry places a significant emphasis on equipping parents and caregivers to be their children's spiritual influencers. “We pass the torch to families, who carry the momentum of their kids' excited energy from what they're learning and take that home,” Aly explained. The kids' crafts they make, the songs they sing, and verses they recite while at Grace are all excellent springboards that parents and caretakers can use to begin deeper conversations with their kids about their faith.
The activities the kids participate in on Sundays isn't the only tool at a parent's/caregiver's disposal to help them carry the torch of their child's spiritual development. The Parent Cue app is an engaging resource for parents/caregivers to use with their children throughout the week. By downloading the app and creating profiles for children connected to Grace Fellowship Church, parents/caregivers are automatically updated with memory verses and simple ways to talk about what their kids are learning each week. Aly also mentioned that they are working to “make the Grace Kids Facebook group a fruitful resource for families.” This private group gives parents/caregivers reminders about upcoming events, updates about any Covid-related changes, and provides other helpful resources. During the height of the pandemic, the Facebook group was one of the ways families at Grace could stay connected with each other. “We want to partner with families for an even deeper impact in their daily lives,” Aly said. “We want to give you the tools to support, as much as we can, for each child's individual needs.”

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Grace Disabilities

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Story submitted by Liz Lucking, Disabilities Coordinator, Next Gen. In Search of a New Church Home Last week, Ashlie & Mike Wolfe had reached out

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