Family Ministry Corner
Stay up to date on everything happening with Family Ministry at Christ Church
Family Ministry Highlight
Family Ministry Highlight
Its that time of year again! We are preparing for our All Saints feast. This year, the feast will be on Sunday and we are still encouraging all of our children to come dressed up as their favorite Saints! You can learn more about this feast in the article below.
This is a great time to help form your children by inviting them to reflect on the ways in which God has been working with his saints throughout his story of redemption. Connect with other parents, hop online, and get some ideas for how you can share in this fun opportunity!
Forget to grab your discipleship companion for the week?
Access it here:
Gather with our church during the season after Pentecost.
Family Ministry Updates
Important updates from our programs at Christ Church
We have begun to transition to our new Nursing Mother's Room. There is still work to be done, but we are excited about how the space is coming together. Please use this as a warm environment where you can tend to your children. If you have a suggestion on anything that might make the room more hospitable, please email mark@christchurchws.org
Interested in learning more about our worship support efforts?
You can also send an email to mark@christchurchws.org to get additional information or present any questions you have.
In Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, our children have been getting in the flow of the atrium. They will continue to be introduced to new works until Advent where they will begin to walk through the different prophecies about Jesus.
Our children in Junior Catechesis have been working on a liturgical garland. We just finished with green for ordinary time and we will work on Advent when it comes around next. Our goal has been to help cultivate an understanding of the fellowship of the body of Christ and a value for co-laboring with people who have different gifts.
Interested in learning more about our catechesis programs?
You can also send an email to mark@christchurchws.org to get additional information or present any questions you have.
In June, the Institute of Family Studies and Communio released a joint report on generational faith, looking at key metrics which show how the faith is passed down.
This study is well-worth the read but their executive summary identified five key recommendations for parents who desire to see their Christian faith passed down to their children:
1) Be your children’s role model for faith
2) Prioritize strong marriages and parent-child relationships
3) Make faith formation a joint effort
4) Build religion into everyday family life
5) Make faith a regular topic of family conversation
If you aren't doing any of the things on the list, I'd encourage you to start! If you have questions on what it looks like to do these in the home, please talk to other parents or to Mark to identify opportunities you may have to bolster these in your home to encourage a faith heritage for your children.
We are continuing our remodel of different areas of the Family Ministry hallways. Up next is a renovation of the catechesis rooms.
Be on the lookout for workdays this Fall where we will turn over these spaces. If you are available to help with either moving or painting during these weekdays, please email or text Mark to be on the list of those who want to be on the list of people contacted when dates are finalized.
Question of the Month
Monthly Prayer Calendar
October 2026
From the Director
Reflections on the First Year and Beyond
I can hardly believe it has been a year since I have been in this position. So much has happened this previous year to be thankful to God for. It has been a tremendous joy sitting across tables from you all talking about our life as parents and encouraging one another to faithfulness. Watching the kids reflect on the Apostle's Creed throughout the year in Junior Catechesis was a gift to me as they offered insights and demonstrated faith which I was taught by. Sharing in the Pentecost celebration and seeing the ways in which our children desire to grow in their life in Christ was something I wish I could share with the entire congregation.
This position has been such a source of blessing in my life and I have often remarked to Father Benji that if the Lord kept me here for the rest of my working life, I would be more than content. Thank you for your grace, your encouragement, your patience, and your flexibility as I have settled into my role this first year. Through moments of doubts, hesitation, and uncertainty your prayers and your love have been a source of sustenance for me as the Lord has established me on solid footing.
I am beyond eager for this next year and to see all the Lord has in store for the life of our church and our families. I look forward to seeing how God will increase our knowledge of his word and how he will continue to transform our lives through it. I am praying that through our witness in our communities and to our neighbors that more people will come to know Christ and the hope, joy, and peace that only he can offer. More than anything, I am praying this year for our love for Christ to grow exponentially. Everything we desire in our life in Christ, our obedience, our joy, our gospel witness, flows from this fundamental root.
There is an icon which sits above my computer in my office. In it, Jesus is seated and he has three children with him. One child is nuzzled peacefully in the comfort of his embrace. Another is holding flowers, looking up at him with a radiant admiration. The last is standing beside Jesus, calm, confident, and focused on Christ, almost as if he is eagerly waiting to see what he might do next. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this icon and reflecting on it. It has become a place of grounding for myself and how I think about the children of our church and all of our parents. As we consider all that is next, the deepest desire of my heart is that we would embrace Christ in the way these children do and that our children would come to do the same. If every program fails and nothing seems to go the way we hope, if we all come to love Christ more deeply and more intimately than we did the previous year, we will rejoice greatly in the radical, grace-driven success of the year.
Please join me in eager expectation for all the Lord will do this next year. I'm praying for you and your family to love Christ more and more this next year and I would ask you to please do the same for mine.