End of the Year in PHPC Kids

We closed out another great year of PHPC Kids Sunday School! It was a fantastic year of using new curriculum, and we began our Morning Wrap ministry. We've used songs from VBS and Worship at Five to build a core library of hymns in our children. Older children help lead by example, and non-readers immediately engage with the music by added movement. We've grown so much, and the fruits of our year's labor were on display for our final day of Sunday School. We watched as older children led younger children, and as preschoolers danced in the aisles. It was the perfect picture of joy and praise. Toward the end of our morning together, the adults stepped back and watched as our PHPC Kids took ownership of Morning Wrap themselves.

A special part of our final Morning Wrap this year was our prayer for the completed 6th graders.

“Loving God, thank you for an amazing year of Sunday School. Thank you for our teachers, our church family and our friends. Thank you for this space to worship, learn and grow closer to you. This morning we especially pray for our 6th graders. They have grown up in this community of faith and will move over to the Youth House next year. Be with them in this transition. Help them to know that everyone in this room, is cheering them on and praying for them as they continue their journey of faith. God, we are so thankful for your love. Help us to share your love with everyone we meet. And we all say: Amen!“

For the past five years, it has been a tradition to make a big circle with all preschoolers (3 year olds) through 6th graders and teachers. We ask the 6th graders to step into the middle of the circle and take a minute to look around - to look at all the teachers that fill that space. They might not be the teachers that they had in each class, but they represent all the teachers that have been there on Sunday mornings since they were in preschool. We ask them to look at all the kids that fill that space - all the kids that will continue to be behind them, cheering for them as they enter the Youth House. All the kids that are watching them and seeing their leadership as they grow in their own faith. It is always amazing to just take a minute to reflect on the time that they have spent in PHPC Kids. Although they are leaving PHPC Kids, they will forever be a part of our ministry and have impacted the classrooms, halls and hearts of so many. We cannot wait for them to return as volunteers!