FAQ

for God’s Word for Kids  

Q: What is this?

A: God’s Word for Kids is the opportunity for children in the assembly to leave Mass with a trained leader to hear the Word proclaimed and interact with it in an age-appropriate way they can truly understand.   

Q: What ages are invited?

A: We promote it for ages 4 through 4th grade but would not turn away a child a bit older still yearning for this experience.  Our 4- and 5-year-olds go to one room to hear a Bible story, sing a song, and do a craft related to the Bible story they are focusing on.  Our children ages 6 and older go to a separate space to hear the readings of the day (1st reading, Psalm, and Gospel), share an interactive reflection time, and close with Prayers of the Faithful. 

Q: How long are the children gone?

A: Our children are called forth by the presider after the opening prayer. They are blessed and sent forth by the gathered assembly to their respective spaces.  They return to us during the offertory time so they can be present for Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

Q: When is this offered?

A: We offer the chance for children to experience God’s Word during the 9 am Mass almost every Sunday.  We will take occasional breaks when it makes sense to keep the children in Mass (Christmas, Easter, First Eucharist weekend, etc.) 

Q: I heard you need volunteers for this. I might be interested.  What do I do?

A: Oh happy day!  We DO need volunteer leaders!  We need four volunteers every Sunday to keep this program strong and running.  Two volunteers lead our littlest members and two volunteers lead the older children.  Here are some choices: You can come forth from the assembly to follow the children and their leaders out any Sunday to see what it’s about. You can also contact Wendy at [email protected] for more information. 

Q: What kind of training and support is offered? 

A: Wendy will meet with you in a 1:1 setting to go through how this works, answer questions, show you the rooms, and share sample lessons.  You will be placed on a schedule according to your availability: you let her know which Sundays work and how frequently you wish to volunteer. You will have another volunteer to team with—either someone of your choice or someone else from the team so you are not flying solo. You will let her know if you prefer to work with the younger children, the older children, or want to work with both age groups. You will be sent a lesson plan (younger kids) and the readings/preaching ideas (older kids) the week ahead of time so you have time to prepare. You can watch other leaders in action as many times as you’d like to get a feel for this before your first time on the schedule.  

Q: What do you ask of me?

A: We ask that you treat the children with kindness and the full dignity they deserve as people of God, finding a way to be firm but gentle so the tone remains prayerful and everyone can grow in their faith.  We ask that you are reliable, showing up when scheduled or finding a sub from the list if unable to do so.  We ask that you check in on the clipboard when you arrive, so we know you are here.  We ask that you come about 15 minutes early to make sure your room is ready to go and the children’s lectionary is in place (at the presider’s chair).  And we ask that you are up to date with the Safe Environment requirements of the Archdiocese—the Essential Three for working with minors include reading and signing a Code of Conduct, submitting to a background check, and doing a 75 min online education session through Virtus.  Staff member Pam Magyar will reach out to you to help you with these requirements. 

Thank you!