CHILDREN'S MINISTRY Report

The year 2023 brought a sense of stability in our ministry and Children’s teams that we thank God for after a season of shifts and pivots. We are grateful for our passionate, committed and quality group of just over 40 leaders who have a heart to see young people and families find and follow Jesus.

Throughout the year, we welcomed new leaders and were delighted to see young people raised up and serving the church. We also bid farewell to some leaders who transitioned into different seasons of life.

In 2023, our Children's Ministry saw an average of 30 to 40 children each week, and we welcomed 25 new children who visited our services over the year, a lot who now call this place home. Our services continued with the Hillsong Curriculum, offering engaging programs and activities for our children. We celebrated baptisms, baby dedications, and witnessed decisions to follow Jesus. Children's Ministry participated in Summer Fun, Beyond Sundays, outreach projects, and special events such as Easter, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, and Christmas celebrations. Notable highlights included our families’ involvement in the World Prayer Assembly and primary school children taking part in our Christmas Hamper project.

It's such a joy to witness families coming together, offering each other support and encouragement as we guide our children in their journey to find and follow Jesus. As we look to the year ahead, we're excited to welcome many new families into our community.

Our Generations Ministry Team has been brainstorming ways to inject fresh life into our Children's Ministry programs. Understanding the needs of our children and their spiritual growth, we've decided to shift our age groups into Toddlers, Kindy & Pre-Primary, Years 1-4 and Years 5-8.  This change aims to better cater to our children and their faith development.

Children’s Ministry is shifting from Hillsong and trialling the Gospel Project curriculum. We hope this will help deepen our children's understanding of the Bible and the character of Jesus.  We're excited to see our children grabbing hold of this new program!

Additionally, we are embracing a focus on prayer for 2024, so our primary school children are joining their families for worship, prayer, and community time during services. These strategic shifts are already igniting a sense of enthusiasm within Children's Ministry as we continue to walk alongside families, nurturing the faith of our children. We look forward to more of this as we help young people and families find and follow Jesus in 2024.

Rebecca Ellery

Children’s Minister

TREK YOUTH

The Trek program continued to minister to the children in the final two years of primary school. Each week the Trekkers play games, share supper, and explore God’s Word. 2023 was a wonderful year with a delightful group of children who were eager to learn about God. It was exciting to pray along with 4 girls as they decided to become Christians. All of the children participated in the Bible studies with enthusiasm, and some memorised 4 or 5 Bible verses each week. There were 27 children on the Trek Roll with 19 coming along regularly. Our leaders were Carolen, Shaelyn, Lynette and Daniel. With two of those leaders stepping down to be involved in other ministries in 2024, we desperately need two new leaders. Please continue to pray with us.

Lynette Dewing

Trek Coordinator