Manhattan Covenant Church loves kids! We want every family, child, and youth to feel welcome in our church.

We place a high value on intergenerational ministry and worship. We believe it’s the responsibility of the entire body of Christ—not just parents and a handful of volunteers— to care for kids and show them what it means to follow Jesus. Discipleship of our kids and youth best happens when they are integrated into the life of the church.

For Worship Gatherings, this means that kids worship with their families for the entirety of the service, apart from a kids time that takes place during the sermon. Youth 6th grade and up take part in the whole service. We also try to integrate our children and youth into serving when appropriate. Because they are with us so often, we are able to begin seeing their gifts and abilities from a young age, and we want them to use those gifts when they’re ready!

For Covenant Communities, this means that kids are part of the community, much like an extended family gathering. We listen to them, pray for them, help teach them the scriptures in a way they can understand, and have them help in whatever way they can.

At Manhattan Covenant, we value the research and work done by Kara Powell and the Fuller Youth Institute that has shown that intergenerational relationships are incredibly important for faith development in young people, so we want to equip the whole church and families to love and care for our kids and youth. This is sometimes messy–kids can be loud and distracting, and it’s really hard to minister to such a wide age range all gathered together. But we believe in the beauty that arises from the chaos. And ultimately, we believe that Jesus called us to this task when he said in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me.”

We know that the discipleship of children and youth is incredibly important to families. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out!