Welcome to Early Childhood Ministries, designed especially for children from birth through preschool. We offer a variety of programs to serve you and your child. While serving the families at MAG, our mission is to provide a safe, healthy, and loving environment where our children learn to love God, love others, and serve together. We offer Early Childhood Ministry during each of our regular services and most special events.

Early Childhood Ministries are available at 6 pm Saturday nights, 9 & 10:45 am Sunday mornings, and 7:30 pm Wednesday nights.

Saturday Night Service, 6:00 pm
-Infant/toddler nursery for our youngest children
-Junior Children’s Church experience for our preschoolers. 

Saturday Night Class Time, 7:30 pm
Young children’s dinner, followed by time for the children to play, often completing special activities or crafts that reinforce the lessons taught that day.

Sunday Mornings, 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
Age-appropriate classes for all children on Sunday mornings at both 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.  Beginning with our youngest children, we have infant and toddler nurseries where our ministry teams provide tender loving care to our children, demonstrating God’s love for them.  After age 2, our children attend Sunday School classes during the 9:00 a.m. service.  We separate classes based on your child’s birth date to be sure that each child can participate in age-appropriate activities, songs, and stories designed to teach them to love God and His Word.

During the 10:45 a.m. service, we offer a Junior Children’s Church experience for our preschool children.  In a small-group environment, children meet together for music, story time, and puppet skits designed around a weekly Bible story theme.  The children also break into smaller groups to do activities and crafts related to the story.

Wednesday Nights, 7:30 p.m.
Infant/toddler nursery for children from birth to 3 years old.  Children enjoy playing under the supervision of our ministry team.

The September after your child reaches 3 years old, he or she can attend Rainbows I and II, the first classes in our Royal Rangers (for boys) and Girls Ministries offerings. In Rainbows, your child will learn Bible verses, hear stories and complete crafts and activities, earning a new animal themed badge each month.

Questions?  Just ask!

Beth Arnold, Coordinator, Early Childhood Ministries

Heather Bennett, Director, Early Childhood Ministries

"B" Galyas, Administrative Assistant, Early Childhood Ministries

Megan Fermino, Staff, Early Childhood Ministries, Registration and Attendance

1. How do I find a class for my child?
Right inside the doors of the ECM wing you will find our registration counter where our staff will help you find an age-appropriate class.

2. What if my child cries when I leave?
In most cases children will quickly adjust. Once they see the toys and learning centers, they will become involved and forget about mom and dad. The teachers and staff are trained to deal with upset children. However, if your child continues to cry for more than 10 minutes, we will page you.

3. How can you find a parent in such a huge building?
Each infant and toddler is assigned a pager. If you feel the pager vibrate (it will not make noise), please return to your child’s room immediately. Pagers are also available for preschool children (3 years old & up) upon request.

4. How can I be sure that no one else picks up my child?
When you check in your child you will be given a security card that matches your child’s name tag. When you pick up your child you must present the teacher the matching security card. No card, no child, no exceptions.

5. Why don’t you give me my child if I don’t have my card, especially when my child is yelling, “Mommy”?
Our first priority is the safety and security of the child. The security card system is the most effective way we know to ensure that only authorized people pick up your child. In the case of divorced parents the child can identify either parent, but that parent may not have custodial rights or visitation privileges.

6. What if I lose my card? Why do you want my driver’s license?
If you ever lose your child’s security card you will need to provide some form of photo identification. Most people carry their driver’s license with them, allowing the staff to easily verify the information with what you provided on your child’s registration form.

7. How old does my child have to be before they can be left in the nursery?
You may leave your child whenever you, as the parents, feel comfortable.  However, we prefer your child be at least 6 weeks old.

8. May I register my child for a Saturday and Sunday service time?
Yes. Please indicate the services you will be attending on the registration form.

9. We are registered on Sunday, but occasionally we come on Saturday. Where do I take my child?
We provide ECM during all of our regular service times. On Saturday or Wednesday evenings, please come to the infant registration counter to sign in your child and pick up your pager and security card. Our staff will direct you to the age-appropriate classroom.

10. How can my child’s room be full or closed?
For the safety and protection of your child, two volunteers must be present before we can open a room. When there are not enough volunteers or when a worker has a last minute emergency, we must close the room until another volunteer can be found. We will do our best to reassign volunteers from another room and ask parents to volunteer during that service time. Despite our best efforts sometimes parents must take their child to service with them. For that reason, we encourage all parents to volunteer once a month to ensure that no children are turned away. For the safety and care of our children, we will not accept more children than we have the ability to offer care.

11. What if I want to change my child’s room assignment because he/she is older or more mature than other classmates?
The children are grouped by their birth date ensuring that everyone in the class is approximately the same age. Although height and maturity vary, we provide quality activities that are geared toward a child’s abilities. We promote children once a year in September to coordinate with the time the school year begins. Our age group classifications are consistent with the local school systems -your child’s age on September 30th.

12. What will my child be learning during the service time?
We provide a Bible curriculum designed to encourage children to build relationships with others their age, participate in a time of song/praise, and be presented with age-appropriate biblical lessons. Each week children are provided with take-home materials, which are an extension of the week’s lesson. These are to help you reinforce throughout the week what your child has learned. We believe that parents have the greatest voice in their child’s life and these materials are designed to empower you to teach your child.

13. What programs/accommodations are there for a special needs child?
We do our best to accommodate any special needs of the children in our care. Please note any allergies, medical issues, or other special needs on your child’s registration form. Feel free to discuss this with your child’s teacher or an ECM Coordinator. In case of emergencies, our staff is trained in basic First Aid and CPR.

14. How can I be sure that the volunteers can be trusted?
All workers must fill out a Volunteer Application. We contact two references and conduct a national criminal background check. All workers are screened and trained.

15. Is there a place to breastfeed my baby?
The Nursing Mother’s Room is located just inside the doors to the ECM wing. The room is equipped with rockers, a sink, a changing area, and a closed circuit feed of the service.

16. Is there somewhere I can change my child’s diaper or sit with them when they are upset?
We provide the Oasis Parent/Child room for parents who need to change their child’s diaper or a quiet place to stay with an upset or active child. The Oasis Room contains rockers, a changing area, a sink, a crib, and a selection of toys for your child.

17. What does parent-based ministry mean? Why are parents required to work in the ECM wing?
Volunteers make up a large part of our staff, but this is insufficient to adequately meet the worker/child ratio. We will continue to recruit and utilize our volunteers, but we are asking one parent from each family to volunteer once a month in ECM. As of March 5th, 2005, any parent that wishes to utilize the ECM facility will be enrolled in our parent-based rotation.

18. What is your child to worker ratio?
Our ratios are as follows:
1 worker for every 3 infants
1 worker for every 4 toddlers
1 worker for every 5 two- and three-year-olds
1 worker for every 7 four-year-olds
For the care and safety of our children, we will not accept more children than we have workers.

Click here to return to the Children's ministry homepage.

Check here for summer play date info!

www.magchurch.org/MOPS
During fall and winter semesters, we meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the Month, 9:30 - 11:30 am.

This is a place where mothers of preschoolers come to share experiences, listen to guest speakers, and recharge. Meetings typically include breakfast, a speaker or project, and time to reflect and connect with other moms. Registration required. 

For more information, contact Isabel Zamudio (703)791-6203