Ecclesia Church - Houston, Texas - holistic, missional, christian, community

This past weekend the kids were asked to lead us in worship.  They were called forward as Chris engaged them in conversation, offering us their clear, pure insight.  They then read the reading which engaged us in scripture for the week & asked us to viewe the stop action video they had worked on during Lent. Towards the end of the service children served communion and the 4th-6th grade class read the benediction that they wrote the week prior in class.  

Seeing the kids engage and be such a big part of all we do in the larger church gave adults a window into what our kids have to offer us and it gave the kids a clear cue that they are not disconnected or seperate from adults and "their" church, they are every bit a part of the church community. 

Here is...

Today's post is written from one parent (me) to another.  

It is intended to draw us into a conversation of how we create space in our families this season for Christ, how we create new traditions that help us breathe in the season, and how we conspire together to do the season differently.  

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent.  And it marks the journey we begin towards the birth of Christ. At Ecclesia we use this time to also consider spending less, giving more & worshipping more fully.  Here is the Advent Conspiracy Video that helped to start it all. Give it a watch if you haven't already, or if you have because it is always a good reminder and has been updated for the year. 

Approaching the season of Advent with our children and...

Over the last several weeks we have experimented with art worship in the kids space. Using our music time to lead the kids thru a process of exploring their connection with God, their emotions, and God's love for us.  

It has been a beautiful process to watch unfold.  Seeing children carefully & thoughtfully writing, drawing and sharing their experiences thru art while engaging in the music in rooted worship.  

Later, when prayers are offered, the children seem more likely to share personal prayers and ask for His help in what they are experiencing.  

I wanted to share a quick story that the Children's Team kind of sees as a tiny but significant miracle. 

During kids camp, we planted quite a few seeds in the patch of garden that lines the side of the Children's building at Taft.  For a while some plants flourished but, unfortunately, died out in the Summer heat, never yielding fruit.  We stopped watering or caring for the garden, except for one faithful maintenance man, Lloyd.  Lloyd & then Haley, spotted some plants that had started a vine and had grown outside of the small outlined garden and, unexpectedly, started growing in the grass. They made sure the small vines were not mowed down and carefully started watering them as often as he thought of it. As the drought started hitting Houston, and everything...

When you enter the Children's Space at Ecclesia many people notice immediately the natural materials we use for our play, storytelling, and furnishing.  It is a marked difference from many children's spaces with their vibrant colors & molded plastic.  

In fact, I just bought and received in the mail one of the most beautiful materials I have been lucky enough to purchase for our children, a hand cut & oiled Arc which we will use to tell the story of Noah's Arc to our Preschool children in a month or so.

You might have a guess at why we lean towards natural materials and your guesses would probably be correct, there are lots of good reasons. There is a method to our madness, and we hand select much of what we have in the Children's Space using specific...

We had an amazing time at HEAD HANDS HEART (camp for kids) last week. 

And we have the pictures to prove it.  

Click Here to see our kids camp photo stream.  

Click Here to see the smile booth photos from our photography workshops (password is 2115taft) 

If your child participated in a workshop and has not gotten their final proof back of their work.  I will be sending those out to the parents shortly. 

THANKS TO OUR KIDS & FAMILIES WHO PARTICIPATED IN CAMP.  

WE CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR!

I wanted to share with you something we have been doing in the kids area recently with our storytelling that I love. 

Leah has been developing beautiful chalk drawings for our storytelling areas.  Tying in the story in a visual way that is handcrafted and feels less manufactured than any other ways we could think of.  She also has been doing chalk drawings in the pre-k play area tying in images that the kids will be learning about into the creative play time.  I love these drawings so much and wanted to share them with you.  

Photos from the kids section of our Easter Festival at Jones Plaza.  

We celebrated well and had a lot of fun! 

On Palm Sunday the kids helped lead worship, read scripture & created

the Benediction for the 'big church'.  

Below are the Benedictions they created during the"Stations of the Cross

Poetry Station" led by Jayme Yeo.

Saturday, 5:00 pm

On Sunday, I heard rumors that Jesus was coming to Jersusalem.

It was a sunny day.

It was very crowded. There were

Lots and lots of people—

Looking, watching, waiting, listening, and pondering.

They were waving palms.

They were excited and nervous.

Jesus rode in on a donkey.

He had a beard, like pretty much all of the Beatles.

He had white clothes.

He was sad, because he wanted to go to Heaven.

He was excited to celebrate with the people.

He was happy to be among the souls that God created.

I was...

These images were created by our children during Lent.  

They used figures, cloth, paper, and their imaginations at our "Media Station" to reflect on & create pictures of Jesus as he journeyed to the cross.

They also occasionally captured images of other stations, children & volunteers.

As they worked the children were asked to imagine the scene and how Jesus must have felt and think of a time where they felt similarly. The kids were reminded that when they feel that way, Jesus will help them.