Every Sunday morning, dedicated volunteers serve the children of the church at Sunday School. For those of us who have never served in this capacity, it might be easy to believe that this simply involves supervising children for an hour or two. However, there is so much more to this ministry. Joining us today is Ernica, who has a huge heart for children and a gifting in teaching.

How long have you served as a Sunday School leader? What was it that got you involved?

I have served as Sunday School leader for two years. I love teaching young children. I was involved in an outreach children’s program that I really enjoyed back home, so I wanted to get involved in a ministry here. I felt that this was where God was leading me.

What do you enjoy about children’s ministry?

I thoroughly enjoy and believe in teaching children the Gospel and equipping them to be responsible global citizens and soldiers in the army of God. I enjoy helping children learn about Holy Spirit and His relationship with us and His love for us.

Ernica (far left) with other KidCity leaders.

I believe children ought to know that God loves them and desires a relationship with them just like the one they have with their friends. He also desires to be their best friend as well as their loving Father. They can talk to Him anytime about anything.

I believe in teaching children that prayer is a conversation with God. You can talk to God anytime and anywhere. He is always with you and wants to hear from you, protect you, direct you and has good plans for your life.

Amazing! So what does a typical Sunday in the Sunday School room look like?

At 8:20am setup begins with someone placing materials on each age group table and the technology volunteers doing a mic, audio and picture check. Then the leaders gather to pray together.

The small group leaders greet the students as they arrive, introduce the lesson for the day, and lead them through the craft.

Everyone gathers for whole group activities. We do worship, weekly traditions, welcome newcomers, review the rules, and reward those who brought their Bible with a treat and a ball put into the blessing machine.

The Blessing Machine!

A leader will then lead the offering, discuss the importance of why we give, and invite a child to pray for the offering. Then we play a game that is connected to that day’s lesson. The game gets kids up and moving!

After the game we have prayer. The leader will discuss the country or particular group of people that we will be praying for that month. We discuss their location, situation, needs, and ask children to pray for them. Then we return to small groups to pray for their needs and the needs of their family.

After prayer, the whole group gathers to listen to the lesson of the day and participate in a fun Bible verse activity.

Sounds like quite the busy morning! What does teaching small children about the Gospel look like? How do we teach it to them?

Teaching the Gospel to small children incorporates a lot of crafts, role play of the stories in the Bible, singing songs with actions, Bible memorization, and videos.

Children working on a Bible verse activity together.

But can children understand things like who God is and what salvation is? How do they understand these big concepts that adults often have questions about?

Yes, they understand. The older they are, the more in depth understanding they have. They know and understand that God loves us, and that Jesus is the Son of God that died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead, and is now in heaven and in our heart also. We teach children that there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and that the three are one.

That’s really inspiring that they can understand at such a young age! I bet in teaching these lessons there are many moments that make that 8:20 start on a Sunday morning worth it. What have been some rewarding moments leading Sunday School?

Some rewarding times were hearing children asking Jesus to come into their heart and wanting to be baptized. Seeing children involved in worship in KidCity and on the stage in the main sanctuary. Listening to children pray and discuss things that they know about God. Listening to testimonies about children sharing what they have learned from their parents or overhearing children sharing their experience with the lesson for the day.

Faithful leaders who love children serve every week at KidCity.

Beautiful! Finally, how can we pray for the children at our church?

Pray that children:

Recognize the love of Jesus so they have the desire to accept Him into their heart

Find joy in serving Jesus and develop a relationship with Him.

Desire to be His disciple that makes more disciples, shares the love of God, and is a good example of Him wherever they go.

Operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit

Do not compromise their standards of Holiness and truth of the Gospel for things of this world or other doctrinal beliefs but that they would be steadfast in God until the day He comes bearing fruit.

Amen! Well Ernica, thank you so much for sharing with us about the joys of children’s ministry and more importantly, thank you for your faithful serving!

If you are interested in serving at or bringing your children to KidCity at CityChurch, click here.

Did you know that the Middle Kingdom also has podcasts? To listen to conversations about Scripture and applying our faith, click here.

Last week’s article: Ask a… Theologian!