Children’s Ministry

Sarah Terpstra
Children’s Ministry Director
 
 
 
 
Children’s Worship
Children’s Worship is a special Sunday class for 2 1/2 year olds-2nd graders. All children are asked to check in prior to the worship service via KidCheck. You can create your free KidCheck account by going to go.kidcheck.com or downloading the KidCheck Mobile App from the App Store or Google Play Store. Once your children are checked in, they may join you for the first worship set of the church service. The children will be escorted out of the service by the lead volunteers for the morning and separated into 3 classrooms (Classroom 1=2 and 3 year olds; Classroom 2=4 year olds-Kindergarten; Compass Room=1st and 2nd graders). We ask that parents participate in a time of short fellowship in The Harbor following the conclusion of the worship service, allowing the children ample time to work through their lesson plan for that morning. Pick up in the classrooms will be approximately 11:30am. A bell will be run in The Harbor and around the Narthex to indicate it is time for pick up. 
 
Haven Church utilizes the strategies of First Look and 252 Kids curriculums from Orange to engage our children as they develop their faith. You can read more about their resources and our teaching materials at: www.thinkorange.com.
 
Haven KIDS
Wednesday night program (alternating weeks with GEMS/Cadets) for boys and girls, 1st – 5th grades. We meet in The Harbor for large group activities and worship and then move to small group sessions using the 252 Kids Curriculum by Orange Ministries.
 
Beginning September 20 and alternating every other week through December 20th, Haven Church will be offering “Wednesday Night Live”: an intergenerational gathering for food, worship, testimony, and fellowship. Beginning at 6:00pm with a meal, followed by a set of worship songs led by a high school band at 6:30, WNL will include ALL of our kids and families. At 6:50pm our children will be dismissed to Haven KIDS where they will participate in large group games and choir with Miss Deb, preparing for the Christmas Program in December. Parents will stay in The Harbor to hear testimony from a member of Haven and have fellowship/dessert with our church community. WNL will conclude at 8:00pm. 

Beginning in January, WNL will be replaced with Haven Kids meeting from 6:30-8:00 pm for 1st-5th graders only. Our boys and girls will have a time of fun, teaching, and small groups, using 252 KIDS strategy as our curriculum guide. 5th graders will participate in traditional Christian Reformed Catechism with Pastor John during small group breakouts.  
 
If you plan to have your children participate in any of Haven’s Children’s Ministries, please make sure you have completed a “Child Information Form”, located at the top of this page. Please also ask to join the private Facebook Groups: Haven KIDS and Haven CRC GEMS for up to date information/schedules for our kids ministries. 

GEMS & Cadets

Welcome to the GEMS (Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior) girls’ club at Haven for 2023-24! We are so excited to spend time with the girls again and pray that we will be able to have a full year together! The mission of GEMS nationwide is to bring girls everywhere into a living, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ! This year the GEMS theme is Rise Up: Lessons from Queen Esther. Our theme verse is Isaiah 40:31, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” As a team, we are so excited for this year in GEMS and the opportunity we have to bless and learn from these girls!

This year, GEMS girls’ club is offered at Haven for girls entering 1st – 5th grades. We welcome anyone in the community to join our club! If you know of girls that do not currently attend Haven but are interested in joining, please contact us.

Below, you will find a schedule of our meetings for the year. We will send out updates, details and reminders mainly through our Haven GEMS Facebook group, so please join the group to stay up to date.

We can’t wait to partner with you all this year. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, ideas, or concerns!

Leah Geenen & Lindsey Iverson, Club Coordinators

Meeting Dates:
September 13
September 27
October 11
October 25
November 8
November 29
December 13
 
January 10
January 24
February 7
February 21
March 6
March 20
April 17 
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

Leah Geenen
Club Co-Coordinator
 
Lindsey Iverson
Club Co-Coordinator
 
 
 
 
Cadets
The Cadet Program is an independent (non-denominational) youth ministry organization whose purpose is to provide the local church with ministry programs that will enable them to effectively share Christ’s love with boys from their church and community. Founded in 1952, the Corps has more than 600 clubs throughout North America, a brother organization in Australia and New Zealand, and since 2006 has been working in Kenya and Uganda.
Haven Cadets is offered for 1st through 5th graders.  They meet in the Youth Building (alternating Wednesdays with Haven KIDS), then split up into age/grade groups. Activities include Christ-centered study, activities, and fellowship.
Randy Elenbaas
Club Coordinator