A few weeks ago the kids ministry team at Chapel Hill Community Church in Hamilton gathered the kids together to discuss what they would like to do as a church family to remember and celebrate the Christmas story this year.
Their answer was not to put on a Nativity play with parts and costumes, but to mark the season together by creating special Christmas ornaments.
Alongside Chapel Hill Pastor Philip Renner and co-ministry leader Monique Koegelenberg, the team developed the idea a bit more, says ministry leader Leana Mostert: “thinking about gifts, we wondered ‘what could we give to God, rather than thinking of what we can get from God?’”
“We asked the children to think through how they might represent what they wanted to give God, and then we put these things in fillable baublees. Some kids drew pictures and included those, others chose glitter and tinsel to represent the special nature of their gift.
“One girl drew some headphones and a music box, representing her desire to worship God,” says Leana.
The whole church was encouraged to take part and consider what they might give to the One who gave everything. People took fillable baubles and spent time thinking through what they might want to give to God this year—whether it be a passion, work, a hobby, a commitment...
Each week there has been a special spot in the service for people to come forward to place their ‘gifts’ on the tree, “the kids were keen to pick a Christmas activity that included everyone, as some people were away, this has allowed people to be included over several weeks,” says Leana, “I put a wristband in a bauble with the name ‘Hope’—representing that I would like to put my hope only in Jesus.”
The whole church family has taken part in the celebration, says Leana, from preschoolers to older adults, “it has been such a blessing to us to see the way the children view God, one girl said she wanted to put in a mini Bible.”
“It has fostered a sense of awe and gratitude for what God has done, and something special we can look back on—it’s a tradition we want to keep coming back to year after year.”
