Children & Youth

Children at Godspeed

Vision

Godspeed Kids seeks to share gospel, encourage faith, and teach biblical literacy to the next generation. This mission involves the pastors, parents, ministry workers, and the entire congregation. 

• The pastors are responsible for setting the vision for children’s ministry and equipping parents with biblical wisdom through preaching and pastoral care. 
• The parents are the primary shapers and spiritual caretakers for our children. The spiritual sensitivity and growth of the child will largely depend on the leadership and love of the parents between Monday and Saturday. Therefore, the spiritual health and growth of the parents are integral to the spiritual health and growth of our children.
• Kids’ Ministry workers have a unique responsibility to teach children the truths of the gospel while modeling love and gentle authority. Children’s ministry workers can also pray and care for the children in a unique way given their proximity to them during the service. 
• The entire congregation is responsible for praying for our children. In a more general way, the congregation should model love, share the gospel, and protect the children under the church’s care. 

Kids on Sundays

On Sundays, Children will gather with the entire congregation for the first portion of our worship service. This portion typically lasts about 25-30 minutes and includes Scripture reading, prayers, and congregational singing. Before the pastoral prayer and sermon, children will be dismissed to “Kids Ministry.” A parent can take them upstairs and register the child for their class. 

We have three groups in our Sunday Morning Kids’ ministry. 

• ‍SEEDLINGS (6 months - 3 years old). “Seedlings” is primarily a nursery and child care. With toddlers, we typically read Bible stories to them, sing Bible songs, and pray with them. 
• ‍SPROUTS (4 years old – 1st grade). In “Sprouts,” we provide a Bible lesson, a related Bible activity and/or craft, and a time for singing and sharing prayer requests.
• ‍ROOTS (2nd - 5th grades). In “Roots,” we provide a Bible lesson and we teach the children to use and read the Bible for themselves. There’s also a Bible-oriented activity or game and time for singing and sharing prayer. 

Our Sunday morning curriculum follows three major learning cycles that we rotate through each year. 

• Year 1: Bible Stories that connect the Whole Bible Story. Most recently, we’ve used “The Gospel Project.” 
• Year 2: Catechism. Most recently, we’ve used the “New City Catechism.” 
• Year 3: Missionary Biographies

Youth At Godspeed

Youth ministry (children between 7th and 12th grades) is aimed at teaching and applying the gospel to the young adults and their parents. We have six goals for our youth group gatherings and events.

• Spreading a passion for glory and beauty of Jesus Christ
• Showing the relevance of Jesus to every-day life
• Integrating young adults into the life of the whole body
• Learning how to study the Bible and pray 
• Theological & worldview formation
• Have lots of fun

The main activity for teenagers at Godspeed is our bi-weekly “youth group” on Friday evenings. We partner with a like-minded sister church, Grace Harbor Church in Providence, so that we have larger groups for activities and additional volunteers. 

In addition to “youth group,” the teenagers are invited to attend an annual retreat with youth groups of other like-minded churches. 

We encourage our teens to integrate into all the other ministries of the church –– Sunday worship gatherings, home groups, growth seminars, and one-to-one discipleship. 

If you have any questions about children’s ministry or youth ministry, please email us.