Our goal is to incorporate our children into every aspect of parish worship and life. We want their earliest memories to be imbued with the full sensory experience of Eucharistic celebration. Children are lovingly invited to our services to participate in the rhythms of the liturgy.
In practice, this means that the sounds of children – ranging from laughter to cries – are viewed not as distractions, but reminders that we are all called to be as little children. Our children are not future members in training, but rather full members in the present: embraced, accepted, and joyfully welcomed into our corporate worship.
This also means that we seek to create a Christian culture that engages and envelopes our families – a culture that radiates outward from the Table that we share on Sunday. Christ the King seeks to create opportunities both formal and informal for celebrating the rhythms of the church calendar together, outside of Sundays, with fun, food and fellowship. This means both encouraging rituals that families can practice together at home, and gathering as a congregation to share in traditions of the church year.
Resources for Families
Nursery: If desired, there is childcare support, for babies - three-years old, available in the nursery, overseen by an adult caregiver, from the beginning of the service until after the sermon and the beginning of the service of Holy Communion. This is designed so that all members of the church can fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Godly Play: Available for ages 3-7, Godly Play is a program of Christian Education based on the Montessori Educational philosophy. Godly Play is based upon the recognition that children have an innate sense of the presence of God. All they lack is the appropriate language to help them identify and express it so it can be explored and strengthened. The Godly Play approach teaches classical Christian language in a way that enhances the child’s authentic experience of God so it can contribute to the creative life of the child and the world.
Children's Sunday School: Available for ages 7-12, an introductory Bible survey class using a variety of resources, including the Aelfred Rex and Jesus Bible Storybooks.
Dominion Academy is a college preparatory school providing a classical education based on the Bible, reason, and Tradition. Dominion Academy teaches young Christians about the shape of the world in Christ and to encourage these students to properly love creation, understanding that all ultimate meaning is found in Christ alone.
Resources for Parish Life
The Homely Hours: A resource for an Anglican family life, incorporating the traditions of the liturgical year in the home. A website created by some of the women of our Christ the King parish.
Anglican Catechism: A recently released catechism designed for the renewal of Anglican catechetical practice.