Children & Youth

Worship & Sunday School

Children are invited to remain in the sanctuary for the whole worship service. We have quiet activity bags available to help children stay engaged with God in their pews. After worship, parents are invited to stay for coffee hour while children attend Sunday School.

Sunday school is available every week during the school year. Kids meet with Safe Sanctuary-trained volunteer teachers in the conference room to the left of the accessible entrance, opposite the ramp to the Lounge. If you’d like to become one of these teachers, let us know! We’ll get you up-to-date on your Safe Sanctuary training and provide you with materials to help prepare your lessons.

Youth Group

Our youth group meets once a month after worship for fellowship and Sunday School. Meetings are normally the first Sunday of the month, but check your children’s ministry newsletter for exact dates.

Some months offer a Sunday school class, while others involve fun fellowship activities such as navigating the maize maze at Long Acre Farm in the fall.

Seasonal Events

Every year around Halloween, we host a Trunk or Treat gathering! Kids are invited to dress up in their Halloween costumes and trick or treat from car to car in our parking lot. Want to help out? Decorate your trunk with a spooky theme and come in your own costumes with candy or other fun goodies to hand out.

Every Thanksgiving, our youth group helps to serve the Thanksgiving meal at Community Lutheran Ministries. Come help make a warm feast possible for folks who might not have access to one otherwise!

Around Christmas time, our children and youth put on our annual Christmas Pageant! Come support our kids as they act out the story of Jesus’ birth.

Confirmation

It’s been a while since we had Confirmation (thanks, COVID…), so we’re inviting everyone who hasn’t been confirmed yet to participate this year–even adults!

We’ll talk together about what it means to be Christian, what it means to be United Methodist, and what you’re promising when you come up to be confirmed. In Confirmation, you’re affirming your baptismal vows for yourself and choosing to participate in the Church (universal). So, we’ll also visit services from all kinds of other denominations and religious traditions, to help you get a sense of where we are in the full spectrum of human religion.

We’ll start this process in January, and Confirmation will be held on Pentecost Sunday. If you haven’t been baptized yet, you’ll be baptized during the service. If you’ve already been baptized, you’ll be invited to remember your baptism and confirm the promises you made (or that your parents/guardians made for you) when you were.

Once you’re confirmed, you’re officially a full, professing member of VUMC. That means you can vote at church conferences, join leadership committees, even go to Annual Conference as a delegate! If you’re interested in any of that, let us know! We’d love to help you prepare for any of these.