Did You know… COS provides worship help bags during the services?
Worship Help Bags
The green worship help bags you see hanging from hooks at the two main entrances of the Tree of Life Service and in a basket in the All-Nations Worship Service are one small, but important part of a larger effort to help children develop the spiritual habit of worship and become full participants in weekly congregational worship. This effort includes:
- Providing consistent nursery staff along with members of our congregation to lovingly care for babies and toddlers.
- Encouraging young children to worship with their families for the beginning of the service. During this time, they can participate by standing to hum along with the singing, watching the liturgical dancers, waiting for the pouring of the water, and passing the peace to their neighbors.
- Offering worship help bags for children to use during the quieter parts of the service when sitting and listening is required—like the Scripture reading and sermon.
- Inviting 2.5-year-olds through 2nd graders to participate in Little Lambs and Children’s Worship programs designed to offer age-appropriate worship for young children while also preparing them to be full participants in congregational worship when they are ready. Children of all ages are welcome to remain with their family in the worship service, if desired.
- Hosting annual “You’re Invited” classes for children to attend with a parent to deepen their understanding of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and be officially welcomed to the table by the congregation.
- Marking the milestone of 2nd Grade graduation with a Bible, a special class to explore their new Bible, and an invitation to take their place in intergenerational, congregational worship.
- Including children as full participants in the pew and in the many roles available to them as Liturgical Dancers, Scripture Readers, members of the Joyful Noise Orchestra, Choir, Guitarchestra, or Sound/AV Team.
Annette Ediger introduced Worship Help Bags and Doodle Boards over a decade ago, when she was the children’s ministry coordinator. Hope Bradley, who worked closely with Annette at the time, made the green bags we still use today, as well as the handmade “find it” activity and marble mazes we use during Lent. These hand made treasures were made with love!
Each Green Bag Contains:
- A doodle board with a sharpened pencil and 4-5 pieces of recycled paper, usually the backs of music sheets used during worship. Doodle boards are wonderful to use to illustrate the Bible passage as it’s being read! Doodle boards are also available for everyone (not just children) in a separate basket on the tables in both worship services.
- A container of crayons.
- A small bottle of hand sanitizer.
- A simple craft that requires no cutting, taping, or gluing. These crafts are intended to keep little fingers busy while ears and hearts remain open to listen to the sermon. Currently we cycle through 12 different crafts/activities. Each is offered two weeks in a row before switching to the next one.
Keeping Worship Help Bags Stocked
It takes a team to keep our worship help bags stocked and ready for Sunday mornings! Each week Cherith Janes gathers the baskets of bags and doodle boards for restocking. For most of the year Lori Eizenga comes in weekly to replace used paper in each doodle board, sharpen all the pencils, and swap used craft bags with new ones. That’s about 45 bags each week, and an additional 50 doodle boards to assess and refresh if needed!
In the summer Karen Hampton and Zara Qashqaee spend a whole morning each week working with me to restock each set of craft kits for the year to come—often making 150+ kits at a time, while listening to a playlist of peppy songs! We’re careful to reuse as many of the supplies as possible to minimize waste.
Typically, setting out Worship Help Bags and Doodle Boards is the last of my weekly tasks. If it’s been a busy week, you might catch me doing that early on a Sunday morning!
– From Jo Howe, Children’s Ministry Coordinator