Children and Worship

Westminster believes that children belong in worship, and that no one is too young to worship God. We encourage families to worship together, and for children to experience God's presence within the community of faith that gathers together each Sunday. 

Pastor Phil talks with the children personally on the chancel steps  during the "Time with Children," but the whole worship service is for people of all ages.

Baptized children may take communion at the discretionof their parents. In this way, we continue Christ's embrace of children and those who are growing in the faith.

Childen, of active member(s) of the congregation, may be baptized either as infants or as young children. Baptism is a sign and seal of God's grace and covenant in Christ. When an infant or young child is baptized, the parents and the congregation publicly vow to raise the child in the faith. Older youth, if they were not baptized as infants, may be baptized when they make a profession of faith at confirmation. For more information about the Presbyterian understanding of baptism, click here, and/or contact Pastor Phil Windsor.

Older elementary-age children assist in worship as acolytes, leading us into worship by carrying the light, (a burning flame that represents Christ as the "light of the world"), lighting the candles on the communion table, and taking us out into the world at the end of the service, led by that same light.

Older youth and teenagers assist in leading worship as lay liturgists and readers, and also share their musical talents in worship with special music offerings.

Parents have the option of taking very young children to Nursery Care, where they are tended by a staff Nursery Care Leaders and an assistant from the congregation.

Young children ages 3 years to first grade also have the option of worshiping in the Children's Worship Center, where they can experience worship in their own space with trained storytellers and a time of creative response.