Children's Ministry
FUMC Austin believes that it is necessary for the church to be invested in the lives of the children and for the children to be invested in the life of the church and their life of faith.
Our goal is to provide training for the children of the church throughout their childhood that will lead to a personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and to an understanding of the Christian faith. To reach this goal we offer many programming opportunities to guide the spiritual development of the children entrusted to our care and nurture.
CHILDREN'S MINISTRY @ FIRST UMC
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
First United Methodist Church
August 4 – 8, 2008
Registration deadline: July 1, 2008
Download VBS 2008 Registration form here (PDF).
Click here for MS Word (doc) version of the form.
May 4th - Children and Youth Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Come help us celebrate and honor the hard working teachers who have touched our children's lives this year! We'll meet in the Great Hall at noon for pancakes, sausage, biscuits and other "breakfasty" foods. Cost is $5 for adults and children 4 and under free. RSVP to paula@fumcaustin.org
Why do we welcome children in worship at FUMC?
- Children are a part of our church family, and we share responsibility for nurturing their spiritual needs. We embraced this role at their baptism. They will thrive with our loving acceptance of them as partners in the faith of Jesus Christ.
- Children add richness to the community. They bring a new perspective to old familiar rituals, they show a unique understanding of the wonder and mystery of the sacraments, and they have a fascinating way of taking nothing for granted. Their presence is essential to the vitality and growth of our church.
- By welcoming children at our church’s most sacred moments, they learn that nothing can separate them from the love of God. It is through our worship service that children can come to know God and not just know about God. By worshiping together with our children we pass on our traditions for praising God through the sacraments, music, proclaiming and hearing the good news, and offering our gifts and our prayers.
Acolyte Schedule May - August 2008
This dedicated group of young people literally brings God's light into our church each week. They are all wonderful and committed to this act of serving our church.
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Megan Proctor Megan likes movies, computer games, hip-hop dance lessons, taking walks with mom and dad, playing with her sister and the family dog. Megan has been apart of First Church since she was about 4 years of age. Megan has also been baptized at FUMC. |
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Amanda Cripe
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Caroline McFarland Caroline has attended FUMC all her life. She loves to read (usually about 5 books at a time!), swim, and play tennis and soccer. She is a budding pianist and has a passion for riding, jumping, and showing horses. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, especially her sister. She views her job as an acolyte as a great way to be of service to the church. |
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Jacob Wilder Jacob enjoys Boy Scouts and boat trips. He likes to travel and go fishing with his dad. |
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Lily Hickman-Waldon Lily loves to travel and has been everywhere from the Galapagos Islands to New York City. She enjoys singing, drawing anime (Japanese style drawing), sewing, Girl Scouts, playing with her friends. Her favorite food are chips and queso. She takes her time as an acolyte very seriously. She has been an acolyte for 2 years |
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Clara Stuart |
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Susannah Crowell |
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Andrew Pickard
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Lily Wendt |
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Jenna Stephens |
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Scotty Stevens |
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Gabriel Baker
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Rachel Proctor |
- January 13, 2008 ( PDF or DOC)
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Partnerships for Children is a non-profit public/private partnership that provides services directly to children under the care of Child Protective Services (CPS) in the Austin area. |
Paula Stiernberg, Ed. D.
*To Download a sermon click with the right hand mouse button on the image. Select "Save target as"(PC) or "Download linked file as"(Mac) to save a copy of the sermon to your hard disk. Remember the name of the folder where you save the file. You can then listen to the sermon by opening the folder where you saved the file and double clicking on it.
Paula Stiernberg, Ed. D.
*To Download a sermon click with the right hand mouse button on the image. Select "Save target as"(PC) or "Download linked file as"(Mac) to save a copy of the sermon to your hard disk. Remember the name of the folder where you save the file. You can then listen to the sermon by opening the folder where you saved the file and double clicking on it.
Paula Stiernberg, Ed. D.
*To Download a sermon click with the right hand mouse button on the image. Select "Save target as"(PC) or "Download linked file as"(Mac) to save a copy of the sermon to your hard disk. Remember the name of the folder where you save the file. You can then listen to the sermon by opening the folder where you saved the file and double clicking on it.
Paula Stiernberg, Ed. D.
*To Download a sermon click with the right hand mouse button on the image. Select "Save target as"(PC) or "Download linked file as"(Mac) to save a copy of the sermon to your hard disk. Remember the name of the folder where you save the file. You can then listen to the sermon by opening the folder where you saved the file and double clicking on it.
FUMC worship services are led by a team of acolytes each week. The
acolytes are children who have undergone a training class. The acolytes
lead the procession by bringing the “Light of Christ” into
our worship service and lighting the candles. The acolytes extinguish the candles at the end of the service and remind us that each of us is called to carry the “Light of Christ” out into the world as they symbolically leave with their wands lit. Any child in
1st grade or higher is invited to attend acolyte training and to become
a part of this very special ministry.
First Church offers a monthly baptism class for parents who would like to have their infant welcomed into our congregation by this holy sacrament. This class will meet on the third Sunday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the Parlor and will be taught by Paula Stiernberg, Director of Children’s Ministries, and one of our ministers. Participants will discuss the important commitment represented by baptism, the faith development of your child, and specifics of our children’s programs. In addition, families will be able to connect with others in our church who have young children. If your family has an infant baptism in the future, please contact Cindy Reidland at cindy@fumcaustin.org or 478-5684 (ext. 206) to reserve your space in this class.
The Sunday morning nursery program is provided for infants and toddlers to allow them the opportunity to experience God’s love by making church a safe place to play and grow. Childcare is available for infants in Room 103 and toddlers in Room 104 during the Sunday School hour and worship. Childcare is available in Room 102 for three and four year olds during worship. Older children are invited and encouraged to attend worship. Childcare is provided in Room 104 for meetings during the week depending on the age of the children. Please make reservations by emailing childcarefumc@yahoo.com or calling Director of Childcare Samantha Franklin at (512) 478-5684, ext. 228, prior to the event.
Children’s Choir (Chorister) rehearsals (late August through end of May) are Sundays, 9:15 - 9:45 a.m.
in Room 108 of the Education Building. The children's choir performs once a month throughout the fall
and spring. Special performances occur during the Christmas season, and a
fully staged musical is presented in May. Third through Fifth graders
take part in special music time (Orff instruments and choir chimes) the
first Sunday of each month at 12:15 - 1:00 p.m. For
more information, contact Jennifer Pavlovich at jennifer@pavlovich.com or 478-5684 ext. 210.
This mission project allows families to share gently used
children’s coats with less fortunate Austin area families. Coats are collected in October for distribution
by the Austin Coats for Kids program.
First United Methodist is blessed with an outstanding Preschool program. FUMP is a preschool where play is developmentally appropriate five
days a week, where children enjoy and learn from caring and
loving teachers, attend bi-monthly chapel, and grow in a safe
and caring Christian environment. For more information call
Sandy Pennington at 478-5709.
Reaching out to new babies is a special part of the FUMC ministry to families. A new baby packet is delivered to the family containing gifts from the congregation. The nursery is prepared to aid new parents with the care of their new baby and pagers are available for parents during church activities. These pagers are used to alert parents when their child needs their attention in the nursery. Parents needing childcare for church events must make reservations by emailing childcarefumc@yahoo.com or calling Director of Childcare Samantha Franklin at (512) 478-5684, ext. 228, prior to the event. Reservations help the childcare workers to maintain a proper ratio of workers to children and ensure quality care for your child. Pastors are available and willing to talk to new parents concerning the baptism of their child and to arrange scheduling of the service.
Movn’ On’ Movin’ Up is held near the beginning of the school year. This is an opportunity for parents to learn about children’s
programming opportunities and register their children for events.
Sunday School teachers and leaders of various children's activities
are introduced during the morning.
Studying Scripture is one of the most important ways
we learn about God. FUMC presents personal Bibles
to each third grade student as a statement of their
growing faith development and as recognition of their
being old enough to study Scripture on their own.
During Advent and Lent special events are offered for
children and families. The Advent Festival includes
dinner followed by Advent and Christmas workshops and
the evening concludes with a worship service. The children are invited to participate in the 5:00pm
Christmas Eve Service which is designed to encourage
participation by children in the nativity story. Lent activities offer a traditional Easter Egg Hunt
and Family Picnic. Children's Sabbath is celebrated
during the fall with a worship service led by children
of various ages. During this service children usher,
lead prayers, and preach the sermon.
FUMC believes that Christian Education is vital to Christian development
and nurture. We also believe that Sunday School is a key
element to a well grounded Christian Education Program. Therefore, we
offer Sunday School for toddlers through 5th grade each week. Our Sunday School program helps children grow in their understanding of God's love by studying scripture, prayer, the sacraments and discovering what it means to be a valued member of the body of Christ and this church. Toddlers and two year olds use the "Toddlers and Two's" resource, which employs a variety of activities and music to expose them to God's love. Children from 3 years old to those in 1st grade use Godly Play,
which is a Montessori style of presenting the Bible stories to
the children and encouraging them to respond.
Those in 2nd through 5th grade use "Exploring Faith" as their main resource, which teaches children about the Bible, how to apply it to their daily lives, and the importance of service to others. All resources used are United Methodist approved and are available for review at any time. We hope you will visit a class soon.
This program is open to all children in 3rd-5th
grades and offers a time for making friendships,
mission service, Christian Education, and
fun. The Tweeners currently hold an annual
Souper Bowl offering to collect funds for feeding
ministries in the Austin area, make and sell Manna
Bags which contain a meal to be given to homeless
persons on street corners, and participate in recreational
events such as ice skating and Lazer Tag. Tweeners
meets once a month for their various activities.
Vacation Bible School is held
each summer for area children. This
program offers children five mornings of music,
snacks, games, crafts and Bible study in a
fun and relaxed environment.
Worship packets are available for preschool
and elementary age children in all worship services. Special bulletins and crayons are available
for children to use during worship services
and then return the crayons following the service. Ask ushers for assistance. A Cry Room is available
in the balcony area of the sanctuary for babies
and young children who become restless during
worship. A microwave and refrigerator are available
in the Cry Room along with rocking chairs, cribs,
changing tables, toys and children's books.
To reach the Cry Room use the elevator located
in the narthex of the sanctuary.
For More Information:
Director of Children & Family Ministries:
Paula Stiernberg, Ed.D
Ph. 478-5684 (Ext. 211) or 
paula@fumcaustin.org
Children & Family Team Leader:
Christie Wilson
Ph. 467-0802 or cwilson@realtime.net
Director of Childcare:
Samantha Franklin
Ph. 478-5684 (Ext. 228) or childcarefumc@yahoo.com
FUMC offers support for parents in times of crises, special packets were mailed to all parents following the tragedy of the World Trade Center and during the Iraq war to aid parents in talking with their children. Materials are available from the church to help children cope with the death of a loved one, a divorce, and other such situations. Please notify the church office of needs in these areas.
