Children's Ministry

No matter what age your child is, we offer a variety of fun and exciting kids' oriented activities.

Sunday Mornings
Baby Care -- Birth thru 2 Years Old:
We encourage all parents with infants and children up to two years of age to use our "WeeCare" nursery service. That way you can freely participate and enjoy the worship service. Our nursery is located in the church basement.

Sunday School:
Every Sunday morning kids of all ages flock to the church basement for Sunday school where they learn about values, morals, and God!

Children's Church:

• Two Years of Age thru Preschool. The Beginning Explorers class is for two year olds thru preschool. This class averages between fifteen to twenty kids each Sunday morning and meets in the Church Basement. They have lessons, crafts, snacks, singing, and fun!
  
  
• Grades First thru Fifth. The children’s ministry for grades first through fifth is called "The Circuit." The average Sunday morning attendance is more than fifty children and growing! They meet at the Education Center and they have lessons, games, worship and fun!

Sunday Nights
Sunday nights the children attend regular service in the sanctuary with their families and those children involved in JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz) practice for their team competitions held throughout the year.

Wednesday Nights
Wednesday nights the children ages two years thru fifth grade gather together at the Education Center for midweek lessons and fun at 7:00 p.m.

Thursday Nights
Thursday nights, during Once Lost Now Found, there is a nursery and a class for two year olds thru kindergarten, and another class for first thru sixth grade who meet in the Church Basement. All these classes have a Bible story or an illustration, a craft or worksheet, snacks, games, and a time to worship and sing songs.

Junior Bible Quiz (JBQ)
All children, first grade thru sixth, are strongly encouraged to join Bible Quiz teams. We have two teams. The kids memorize many Bible truths and then compete in meets around Iowa. They score both individually and as a team earning ribbons and trophies for their accomplishments.

Boys and Girls Mission's Crusade (BGMC)
We support Boys And Girls Mission's Crusade, also known as BGMC: On the second Sunday morning of each month the Children's Department give the adults an opportunity to invest in BGMC. Men give money to the boys and ladies give money to the girls.

The kids also bring in their Buddy Barrels and Boxes which the children have filled themselves throughout the month by doing chores at home or collecting spare change around the house. We do this to encourage the kids to give of their abilities and time; as well as money to glorify God by reaching the lost of our own communities. A portion of the BGMC money goes to our own children’s church while the rest is used to support different Assembly of God missionaries around the world.

• We have had a Pinewood Derby. This is a time where the kids get to be creative. They purchase a wooden block, design it into their own unique race car, and race it against the other church kids. We've also had a variation of this where they created boats and raced them by using a straw to blow them down a "mini" river. As you can imagine, this is always a fun filled evening with food, prizes and fellowship.
  
  
• The summer consist of Vacation Bible School, a back to school night at the skating rink or bowling alley, etc., and the annual church wide picnic with plenty of games and outside fun.
  
  
• In autumn we've had the Fall Fun Fest with many carnival games, a cake walk, face painting, and just plain fun.
  
  
• Every October we have what we call "Trunks of Treats." This is where many of our church people voluntarily fill their trunks up with candy and park their car in the church parking lot in one long row of cars. Then kids from all over Ottumwa come all dressed up in their little outfits and get their bags filled with candy within minutes!
  
  
• The winter is busy with our Christmas programs. Each year is a little different, of course. But here are some examples of what we've done in the past:
  
  1) The nursery class participates in what we call "Cradle Roll." This is a time for the proud parents to show off their little blessings with a fun theme. For example, our past theme was "Children Are a Gift from God."
  
  2) The Beginning Explorers usually entertain the congregation with some special Christmas songs and lots of wiggles and giggles and unexpected but cute humorous surprises.
  
  3) The Circuit Kids finish out the season with a drama/musical production.
  

As you can see, we strive to have the kids involved in many things throughout the entire year. Our goal is to encourage the kids to come and bring the rest of their family and friends into

Nick & Heidi Hughes

God's house to hear his great word and feel his warm welcoming presence.

We very much enjoy our position here at First Pen. We are blessed to have a great group of kids and so many wonderful, willing, and faithful teachers, helpers, and volunteers. Of course, this would be most impossible without them all.

We are all on one great mission to reach as many lost souls as possible and to bring them to know Christ, our wonderful Lord and Saviour, and to Glorify God through it all. On the good days and the bad we must always remember the great sacrifice Jesus gave on the cross of Calvary for all of us.

All our love,

Nick and Heidi Hughes
Children’s Ministry Coordinators