Children's Church

Over the years, Westville Christian Fellowship has had a very vibrant, cross-cultural children's ministry. We have learned much from the former leaders and have enjoyed each step along the way in building the (Children's) Church that Jesus is building - with no dividing wall of partition. Over the years the composition of the church members has changed and therefore so has the composition and demographics of the children, which has provided an exciting and prophetic challenge for us to work with.

Due to the fact that we have our Sunday services in a local school hall, we do not have the modern cry rooms/ baby rooms as many of the new churches do, and so we have had to manage with whatever the school has been able to offer. The process has therefore been dynamic, and has gone through phases of varying strategies to cope with the needs. It has required people to take the initiative and to recognise needs, and then do their best to fill the gaps. For example, it was a few older women ("grannies" with grandchildren) who took responsibility to start a crèche programme, which became a starting point for much of what has developed today.

These babies soon became toddlers and another group was formed to cater for them. The children's ministry soon grew accordingly and we now have 5 classes with only 3 classrooms - and so we meet outside under the trees or in the corridors or in the school's changing rooms when the weather is not good. Jesus Himself never had to have a building before he started to preach or teach. He responded to the needs of the moment and focussed on the people.

The Children's Church now has more than 50 children and a group of young and mature men and woman who teach one in four Sundays a month. A committed group of teachers have developed the necessary teaching material, which is adapted to the needs of their classes.

Every six weeks we have a "special events" program. This breaks the routine and allows us to do something out of the ordinary. For example - we make greeting cards, have had a braai (or barbecue) for the dads (enabling them to see what was happening with their children in the children's ministry); we visited a children's hospital and handed out teddies, prayed for the children and sang songs; we have had untraditional nativity plays, and many other exciting activities.

Sundays Activities at CC:

CC Praise & Worship commences at 9am sharp in the main hall where the children will be encouraged to participate together with the other children for approximately 20 minutes. Collection will be taken at the end of CC P&W. Following CC P&W the children will go down with volunteers on duty that day to Registration. The children check in at Registration and obtain their individual nametag - any new/visiting children will have a new tag.

After registration the children proceed to Ton of Fun Zone, which provides them an opportunity to participate in informal theme-related activities, develop relationships with other children and CC volunteers as well as have fun

Ton of Fun Zone leader selects activities for children to participate in each week. The activities have been designed with various age levels and learning styles in mind. The children spend 30 minutes here, which includes a refreshment and toilet break at the end of the session

After Ton of Fun the children are guided to Show & Know Zone, (large group teaching) the children will be provided with a biblical message that is communicated through creative teaching using various tools (ie: drama, video, etc:). The time spent in this zone is 30 minutes The zone ends with a "post teach" time to help the children wrap up the key concepts and they will also be introduced to the key verse and join together in prayer before they move on to the Grow and Go Zone into one of their age graded groups.

After Show & Know Zone the children go on to the Grow and Go Zone (small group teaching). During this time the children participate in learning activities and discussion that will make the Bible truth relevant to their lives. This is a highly interactive time facilitated by the volunteers. The volunteers build a bridge between teaching time and life application using questions and activities that are specifically age designed. The questions will reflect on what the children have learned and how it is relevant to everyday life. Games and activities are designed to help children think critically by evaluating what they learn and how it applies directly to their own lives. The children will spend 30 minutes here and if the main Church service is not yet over they will move from this zone back to the Ton of Fun Zone until Church is over.

When the main Church service is over volunteers from the Registration Team will come down to CC and collect the tags from the children before they leave and return to their parents/guardians up at the main Church.

In summary, the work we do in the CC is a child-targeted ministry, with lessons that are relevant to the children now. We also endeavour to teach the bible creatively, and create an environment that allows the children to feel spiritually, emotionally and physically safe.

To top it all It's a fun place to be.