From it’s beginnings at Compassion Camp this past Summer, our Shine Children’s Music Ensemble, led by Emily Audras, has become the place where kids, music, and love for Jesus come together. Join us on Sunday, October 22, Harvest Festival Sunday, as the Shine Ensemble will sing in our worship service and add their voices to our community praise of God and God’s love for us.
First Pres is excited to announce that the 2023 Harvest Festival will be on Sunday, October 22 from 11 am to 1 pm. You’re not going to want to miss out on all the fun. For kids there will be pumpkin painting, awesome inflatables, face painting, balloon twisting, an amazing petting zoo, carnival games, and arts and crafts. For adults, there is our Food Garden where the coffee and donuts are free and lunch is available for purchase. We’ll also have a harvest festival themed photo area where individual, family, or group photos can be taken. So sign up now to attend! Proceeds from the event support the Rebecca Hall Children’s Fund. To help raise money, sponsor a booth or activity. You can check out our Instagram video from last year’s festivities!
We are excited to have the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus singing in worship on Sunday, October 15. The GRAMMY® Award-winning Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) provides choral music education of the highest quality to young people who represent richly diverse racial, economic, and cultural backgrounds.
You’re invited to join in after worship on Sunday, October 8 for Pizza & Bingo. Come to the Ren Room following the service for fellowship, fun, and great prizes. Everyone is welcome! To sign up click here or use the Church Center app.
The Great Bible Giveaway continues through the month of September. We’re giving out Bibles to anyone who requests one. We have a Story Bible for families with young children, a Children’s Bible for elementary-aged kids, a thinline Common English Bible for youth, and the latest translation of the New Revised Standard Version, the Updated Edition, for adults. And all you need to do to get your very own Bible is to sign up and pick your Bible. There is no cost but donations will be accepted. So come and be a part of thee Great Bible Giveaway! Register to receive a Bible online or via the Church Center Ap.
Jr. High and High School Students are invited to an after school homework and hang program!
We will provide light snacks while they study. Please let me know if this is a good time and date for you and your family (we can be flexible if this does not work for the majority).
We switched the day to Thursdays for that reason, and we will continue weekly (except November 23nd) up to a break from December 21th until we start back up on January 11th in the new year.
Contact Jen Philbin with questions. Register online or via the church center app to let us know know if your child can make it, it’s a great opportunity to invite a friend! Donations are always appreciated for snacks but not required.
Youth are invited to our annual Scavenger Hunt on the Promenade on August 27th from 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Join us for our back-to-school kickoff event for our youth: An Annual Scavenger Hunt on the Promenade!
We will have lunch together in the TenderGreens/Burger Lounge seating area and compete on teams in a photo/video scavenger hunt! Make sure you send your kids with a way to pay for food so they can choose their preferred place to eat (but if money for lunch is an issue at all, please email me and we can work something out).
We will be outside on the promenade for most of the hunt, so make sure to pack hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
The students had a blast last year taking silly pictures and videos. It’s a great opportunity to bring along a friend! Register online or via the church center ap.
Calling families with an interest in music! Join us on August 6th after the service to learn more about Shine Children’s Ensemble, our new music program! Shine will be open to children grades preschool to 5th grade! We are also looking for youth volunteers to help with our program!
Shine Children’s Ensemble will officially begin on Sunday September 10th at 11:15am! Children will meet on Sundays after church to sing, learn how to read music, and develop their heart for musical worship!
Vacation Bible School at First Pres Santa Monica is July 31 – August 4. Children aged 3 through 5th grade are invited to join us each day from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for this year’s VBS program, Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs. All kids are also invited to stay for our VBS Plus program from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. That’s a full day of Bible learning and fun activities for kids. Financial assistance is available if needed. Contact Peter Earhart at the church.
Through Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs, kids will explore what all living things need to live—shelter, food, water, air, and community—and how we can have compassion for the living earth, especially in their local ecosystems. Through awareness, gratitude, wonderment, reciprocity, and kinship, kids will consider how to become co-sustainers and participants in the work of God’s creation. Using Psalm 104 as our grounding text, along with additional supporting scripture, kids will closely examine the interconnectedness of the whole earth—humans alongside the more-than-human world.
This Sunday, January 29, 2023 is the last Sunday that Dana-Vanice Farmer, our Children’s Ministry Associate for Music, will be with us at First Pres. Dana, her husband William, and their two dogs are moving to Reno, NV. Dana has been on our Children’s Ministry staff since 2018 and served our church faithfully and enthusiastically during that time, leading our children in Christmas Pageants, Vacation Bible Schools, and Palm Sunday Processions, as well as Sunday morning Faith Groups and Kids Night Out. Please join us this Sunday after worship in the Ren Room to say thank you to Dana and to wish her God’s blessing on her life and ministry in Reno. Oh, and there will be cake.
