Philosophy of Ministry
At Sovereign Grace Fellowship our desire is to lovingly serve and best
meet the needs of the babies and toddlers placed in our care each week
by waiting on the Lord and prayerfully seeking His direction in this
ministry. We are serving the Lord first. These are His children so we
must treat and treasure them as His children. Our focus is to provide
a loving and safe place for children while their parents worship. Our
goal is to be a loving example of what Jesus would like for us to be
in front of the children in our words, actions and attitude.
Curriculum
Since our nursery ministry at Sovereign Grace Fellowship is to babies
and toddlers from birth up to 2 ½ years of age, we do not have
formal curriculum. We will however use Christian themed toddler books
to engage the children in simple Bible stories as well as use Christian
children’s CDs to provide an atmosphere of praise and worship.
If our nursery program grows large enough to split into two age groups,
the younger group will be birth through 12 or 13 months (or when walking)
and the older group will be toddlers up to 2 ½ years old. At
the time that a separate toddler nursery is created, simple curriculum
will be obtained to begin teaching these little ones.
Nursery Volunteers
At least one parent of nursery age children is expected to take a turn
in the nursery unless serving in another department of children’s
ministries. Nursery workers will be on a rotation that will have them
serving approximately once every other month. Nursery volunteers must
be approved by the nursery coordinator and/or children’s pastor.
Teens over 14 will be allowed to serve in the nursery as long as two
other adults are present. Children between 12 and 14 may serve in the
nursery only if they are serving with their own parent and the parent
takes responsibility to oversee their child with the little ones. Young
babies under six months old should only be held by those over 14 years
of age. Only women are to change diapers, no exceptions. If a husband
and wife serve together, there must be one other female worker present
at all times. We would like to keep a ratio of no more than 4 children
to each nursery volunteer. Initially we will schedule 3 volunteers each
service, so if there are more than 12 children in the nursery a parent
will be asked to stay and help. If a visitor is dropping off their child
after we have reached our ideal ratio, we will lovingly accept their
child and send a volunteer into the service to find another volunteer.
Nursery volunteers are responsible to check-in and check-out each child.
For the safety of our children as our church grows, we have established
a pin system (see security measures, below) which must be followed every
time a child is entrusted to our care. Each child must be signed
in on the check-in sheet, assigned a pin (attached on child, see below)
and parents are given a pin. Encourage each parent to write any special
instructions for their child and to check whether or not we may give
their child a cookie or cracker. We encourage each parent to send a
cup or bottle for their child if possible. If a cup or bottle is not
labeled, please use the Sharpie in the supply bin to label it so that
we can do our best to not share germs. We will not be able to facilitate
taking toddlers to the bathroom. We will only feed the toddlers the
healthy cookies or crackers we will keep in our nursery in addition
to a cup or bottle their parents have provided. If parents send in other
food, please let them know that you will not be able to give it to their
child. The only exception would be a child with allergies. The parent
letter will explain this. Only children whose parents have checked the
“Snacks OK” box on the check-in should be offered a cookie
or cracker.
Our desire is to allow each child’s parents to attend service
knowing that we will do our best to love and care for their child. If
we are not able to console an unhappy child after 15 – 20 minutes
we will send a volunteer into the service to get the child’s parent(s).
Nursery volunteers should do their best to try every reasonable way
to distract the child, such as changing the baby’s diaper, offering
the baby’s cup or bottle, giving a cracker if parents have approved,
blowing some of the bubbles from the supply bin, etc. Parents should
only be called out of service when it is determined that it is in the
best interest of the baby and the nursery environment.
Security Measures
We have a pin system. Each safety pin has a number (3 pins per number).
The numbers coordinate with the check-in sheet. The first baby to be
checked in is marked down on line one and given pin number one, and
so on. The child should be pinned either on the back of their collar
if they are walking, or the hem of their dress, pants or bottom of foot
of clothing for younger babies. Please keep this location uniform so
that pins are easy to find. The parent gets the second pin and the third
matching number is pinned on the child’s diaper bag. The parent
must keep track of their pin. Please encourage parents to attach their
pin to their Bible or their own clothing. As our church grows it may
become common that nursery volunteers may not know each baby and family,
so we need to be committed to using this pin system from the beginning.
If the pin is lost and without a doubt in our minds we know that this
is the right parent we will give them their child. If we do not recognize
the parent, we will ask them in a loving manner to please show us their
identification. Please make sure to do this in a very tactful manner
so that the parent understands that we are doing our best to safeguard
the children in our nursery. If someone other than the parent is to
pick up the child after service, they must have the pin to do so. If
parents know ahead of time that grandparents, a teenage sibling, or
other designated person will be picking up their child, we would like
to have that stated on the check-in sheet.
Discipline in the Nursery
The only form of discipline we use is verbal correction or physically
separating children having a conflict. The discipline must be done lovingly
and humbly. Our goal should be to encourage the child to show kindness
to others and help the child understand that being unkind to others
does not please God.
If we can handle the discipline within the room, we do. We bring it
to the parent’s attention when:
Sick Child Procedures
Parents are asked to keep their child out of the nursery if they are
ill. This includes fever, cough, runny nose, etc. If the child has lingering
symptoms due to allergies or a cough hanging on long after a cold has
run its course, the parent may explain this to workers and the child
will be allowed to be checked in. If a child begins to have significant
symptoms after they have been checked in, such as a green runny nose
or hacking cough, a nursery volunteer may locate the child’s parent
in the service and ask them to come get their child. This is to be done
in a loving and understanding manner please.
Clean Up Procedures
Since we are using rented/shared space it is crucial that we leave the
room that we are using as good or better than we found it. Each group
of volunteers in the nursery needs to see this as their responsibility,
as no one will be coming in afterwards to clean up the space. Natural
Care Huggies Wipes, which contain a natural antimicrobial, will be in
the supply box for any diapering needs as well as wiping any toys or
surfaces in the room that may need it. Every toy that was played with
does not need to be wiped, just try to do your best to wipe up the ones
that have gotten really slobbered on!
Thank you for your service to our precious little ones.
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