Kids@Highgate is a kids’ programme for children of all ages. We meet on Sunday mornings at Maori Hill Presbyterian Church at 10 am.
Highgate Church intentionally seeks to welcome, value and nurture all children and families to enable them to participate fully in the life of the Christian Community, as we all seek to meet Jesus, live worshipfully and have the habits of faith.
Highgate Church joined the Presbyterian Church Kids Friendly Network in 2006.
What happens on a Sunday
KIDS @ HIGHGATE GROUPS AND LEADERS
At Highgate @ 10, the children begin Sunday in the main church. Mid–way through the service, there is a children’s talk and then the children go into the hall for the Kids @ programme. This starts with a joint time of sharing, singing, etc. and then divides into two different classes; 3–7 years old and 8–11 years old. The leaders are Susan Scharpf, Judy Goroncy, Jason and Leah Cushen, Mark Thompson-Fawcett, Rosie Creighton. Charles Shaw and Oliver Redding.
WELCOME TABLE
When the children come into the church, there is a table with different things to collect; name badge, activity sheet (which relates to the lesson for that day) and stickers (to put next to their name on the name chart).
CURRICULUM
Kids @ uses a curriculum called Seasons of the Spirit (www.spiritseasons.com), which follows the lectionary reading used in the main service. This allows cohesion between what the adults and children are learning.
CHILDREN’S AREA
There is a children’s area in the church which has some toys, games, paper and pencils. Parents with toddlers and babies are welcome to use this area. Highgate welcomes children and babies and all the sounds that they make. The toddlers are also welcome to come and join the Kids @ programme with their parents.
INFORMATION
In the church building, there are many places with information about Kids @. When walking in the main door of the Maori Hill church, there is an area on the left which has Kids @ information. In the hall, there is also a large board, near the piano, that is children focused.
COMMUNION
Communion is an important part of the church’s life and everyone is encouraged to participate. This happens on the first Sunday of every month. On these Sundays, the children start in the Kids @ programme and then join the service for communion.
CELEBRATION SERVICE
Celebration Services take place once per term. At this service, everyone stays together for the whole service. This is generally a slightly different style of service which caters for all age groups.
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SOCIAL EVENTS
Each term, Kids @ holds a social event. Sometimes this event only involves the Kids @ families, but other times it is open to the church and also the community. In the past, these events have been picnics in the park, pantry raids, events around the church calendar (e.g., Shrove Tuesday, Advent), etc. This is a fantastic time when the kids, families and community can spend some time getting to know one another better.
An email update is sent to keep families informed of all the things happening at Kids @
MISSION FOCUS
An important part of Kids @ is focusing on others, both in local community and in other parts of the world.
Each year, the children collect gifts to give to people and families that are struggling in their community.
Kids @ sponsors a boy who lives in Tanzania. A cake stall is often held to raise money for him.
In previous years, the children in Kids @ have raised money to purchase a cow for a developing community, collected money for countries that needed assistance following Natural Disaster (E.g. Haiti following the Earthquake), etc.