At Northridge Fellowship, we are not interested in building impressive children’s and youth ministry programs; rather, we are interested in building a foundation of lifelong faith in the lives of the next generation. We believe that one of the best ways we can do this is by making sure that children and youth are a part of the larger congregation as a whole. The way we structure ministry to children and youth is to this end.

We have three times through the week in which children and teenagers are ministered to:

  • Sunday school (Sunday mornings at 9:30)
  • Sunday worship service (Sunday mornings at 10:45)
  • Family ministry night (Wednesday nights at 6:30)

A further explanation of each of these times together is below.

Sunday School

Sunday school at Northridge Fellowship begins at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. We offer nursery for ages 0–3 and Sunday school classes for ages 4–6, 7–9, and 10–12.

Ages 13 and up attend adult Sunday school classes. Why do we do this instead of offering a more typical youth Sunday school class? There are several reasons:

  • We believe that teenagers are capable of understanding more than they are often given credit for and that they can benefit from deeper theological and doctrinal discussion.
  • We believe that teenagers benefit from having relationships with adults in the church beyond just one youth leader or teacher.
  • We believe that teenagers benefit more from sitting in on discussions involving many adults from the church than having just one adult teach them.
  • We believe that teenagers benefit from hearing how faith plays out practically in the lives of more mature believers, even in the midst of life’s difficulties.

We have three adult Sunday school classes. Many parents choose to have their teenagers attend a class with them, although this is not necessary. Teenagers are free to sit it on any class that they and their parents feel is best for them.

Sunday Worship Service

Our worship service begins at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Our service consists of a welcome with announcements, worship through congregational singing interspersed with Scripture reading, and a sermon. Once a month, we include a children’s message at the beginning of the service in which all kids are invited to come to the front and participate.

Everyone, including children of all ages, is in the service for the first portion of it. Children ages four and under are dismissed after the singing and before the sermon. Ages five and up remain in the service during the sermon.

The children are split by age (0–2 and 3–4) into two rooms easily accessible from the sanctuary. All volunteers in childcare have passed a background check.

Please note that childcare is an optional service. Many parents choose to keep their children in the service with them regardless of their child’s age.

Wednesday Family Ministry Night

Deuteronomy 6:4–7 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” This passage teaches us that parents have an enormously important role—to instruct their children in the faith.

We believe that the most important spiritual nurture that occurs in a child or teenager’s life is not the two or three hours that they are at church every week; rather, it is the time spent at home that is primary.

To this end, our family ministry night on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. seeks to equip parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone who has influence in a child’s life to instruct that child in the faith. Wednesday nights are a whole family, all ages time together.

On Wednesday night, we begin by singing a song that will be sung during the upcoming Sunday service. We then hear a presentation of the good news of salvation offered through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. After this, we break into small groups.

These small groups are made up of multiple family units in whatever that family unit looks like (parents, single mothers, grandparents, neighbors, etc.) alongside other adults from the church. Every week we focus on a catechism question. Doing catechism is simply a process of instructing children in the faith through the use of questions and answers; for example, “Who made you? God made me.”

We spend a few minutes talking about the question and answer, reading relevant passages from the Bible, and praying together. We then come back together as a large group and recap what we learned and are then dismissed.

As mentioned before, the purpose of family ministry night is to equip families, and our goal is to do something on Wednesday night together as a church family that can then be put into practice through the week in individual family units.

Here’s the link to the catechism that we use on Wednesday nights and recommend to families: https://press.founders.org/shop/truth-and-grace-tag-memory-books-3-book-set/