How the Dream Team Kids' Hour Works at The Bridge

Parents know the Sunday-morning math. Getting everyone fed, dressed and into the car is hard enough, and then you wonder whether the kids will be bored, scared or loud once you get there. At The Bridge Church in San Marcos, the kids' ministry is built with that worry in mind. It's called the Dream Team, it's for children ages 3 to 12, and the church's own home page puts it this way: “Pretty sure; even your kids will enjoy coming to church!” Here's how the hour works, so you can decide whether it fits your family.

One classroom for ages 3 to 12

The Dream Team is a single, family-like classroom rather than a set of rooms split by grade. Children from 3 to 12 learn together. If you have a preschooler and a fifth grader, they'll be in the same place, and you won't have to work out which hallway each one belongs in while the clock runs down.

Five volunteer teachers alternate weekly, and the Dream Team is led by Audrey Norling. Kids tend to settle in faster when the adults feel familiar, and a small, rotating group of five means your child will keep seeing the same few faces from one month to the next. Every one of them is a volunteer from the church family, giving up part of their Sunday morning for your kids.

The schedule, minute by minute

The church publishes the kids' hour as a clear schedule, which helps a lot if your child likes to know what's coming next. Here it is as The Bridge lists it:

• 9:50-10:00: Sign-in. Bring your child to the mobile classroom outside the main church.
• 10:00-10:30: Opening prayer and fun worship songs.
• 10:30-10:45: Reading and discussion.
• 10:45-11:10: Application activity and art.
• 11:10-11:15: Closing prayer and clean-up.

Notice that sign-in happens before the main service starts at 10:00 a.m. That ten-minute window is the one to circle on your calendar. Show up at 9:50, walk your child to the mobile classroom outside the main church, hand them off, and you have time to find a seat and get settled yourself.

What the hour looks like

The first half hour is prayer and music. Children begin with an opening prayer and then sing fun worship songs. For a 3-year-old who is still deciding whether this room is safe, songs with movement and noise are a gentle way in, and for a 12-year-old they set the tone for the rest of the hour.

Next comes fifteen minutes of reading and discussion. This is where the kids spend time in the Bible and talk about it together, which is a different thing from being lectured. The church doesn't publish a curriculum list, so if you'd like to know what the kids are working on, ask the volunteers at sign-in. They'll be glad you asked.

Then the longest block of the hour: twenty-five minutes of application activity and art. The idea is to take what the kids just heard and do something with it, using their hands. Many kids understand an idea better when they've colored it, built it or talked it through while they work. Parents often find that the art project that comes home on Sunday turns into the conversation at the dinner table on Sunday night.

The hour ends with a closing prayer and clean-up. Building clean-up into the schedule is a quiet but useful detail. Kids learn that taking part in a community includes putting things away, and your family gets a room that's ready for the next Sunday.

For the little ones who stay with you

Not every child is ready to walk into a classroom, and the church knows it. There's a family area at the back of church for little ones, and the church includes a line parents tend to remember: “Please do not worry about the noise.” If your baby fusses, your toddler wanders, or your child simply isn't ready to be apart from you yet, you can stay together and still be part of the service.

A few things help any child's first Sunday go smoothly. Tell them the day before where you're going and what will happen. Let them know the order: songs first, then a story, then an art project. Arrive on time for sign-in so they aren't walking into a room that's already in full swing. And keep your own expectations modest. The goal for week one is a child who feels safe, not a child who knows a dozen Bible stories.

The Bridge Church meets every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. at the Casitas Del Sol Clubhouse, 1219 E Barham Dr, San Marcos. Look for The Bridge signs, and bring your kids at 9:50 for sign-in. Questions first? Call (760) 707-9533 and ask about the Dream Team.