Family Worship

A new schedule for Sunday School – Beginning June 2025

Every week at Hope Chapel we seek to raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We are thankful for God’s blessing in gifting us with dozens of volunteers who have helped lead and maintain our vibrant and flourishing children’s ministry, both now and in years past.

Over the last few months, the session of Hope Chapel has prayerfully sought God’s will in how to disciple and guide our children in the faith more fully. In that time, we have found an area in which to deepen our discipleship: family worship. Children alongside their parents and “Aunts” and “Uncles” in Christ, singing praises to God in Sunday worship.

Next month (June) we will begin keeping our children from Kindergarten through 5th grade for a portion of our worship services every Sunday. They will stay for music, prayer, greeting time and announcements. Then, midway through the service, before the offertory, we will call them up for a blessing, or prayer or brief lesson and then dismiss them to learn more about Jesus from their Sunday school teachers. Our pre-K kids will still be in Sunday school from the beginning of the service to the end, just like always. This will be a change only for our children from Kindergarten through 5th grade.

Why make this change?

Keeping our children in worship:

1. Reminds us that our children are indeed members of our congregation and the future of our church.
2. Helps parents to model worship for children of a young age, and children to learn the songs their church is singing.
3. Gives visibility to our children and volunteers, hopefully leading to more people feeling called to volunteer.
4. Makes teaching time more effective by focusing it down to about half an hour.
5. Frees K-5th grade volunteers to participate in worship every week.
6. Provides a weekly opportunity for directed instruction in the worship service in the form of either a children’s blessing, lesson, or prayer.
7. Gives visitors and members a better grasp of the actual size of our church.
8. Reminds us of how Jesus asked us to come to him, humbly, like a child.

Logistics

In order to make the transition from the worship service to Sunday school smoother each Sunday, we are asking parents to check-in their children before the beginning of the worship service and then bring their children into the sanctuary with them to worship together as a family. When the children are called up and dismissed midway through the service, they will head straight to teaching time with their teachers and stay there until pick up after the service.

We look forward to having our children in worship with us and adding their voices to the chorus of praise. Pray that God continues to bless Hope Chapel!

In Christ,

The Session of Hope Chapel Miami

Matt, Victor, Jaime, and Jon