Are children welcome in the main Sunday service?

Yes, welcome and invited. St. Andrew's is a family integrated church, which means children worship alongside the adults in the sanctuary every Sunday. They are not an interruption to the service. They are part of the congregation.

Is there a nursery or childcare during the service?

We do not whisk children away to a nursery. Families worship together, and the sanctuary includes a space where young children can play under the supervision of their own adult. A sensory room is also available whenever anyone needs a quieter spot.

What is Children's Chapel and when does it happen?

On some Sundays, a separate Children's Chapel is offered during the 11:30 a.m. service. Children do arts and crafts, share a prayer time, sing songs, and walk through a child-friendly, shortened version of the same liturgy the adults pray in the sanctuary.

What is the sensory room?

A quieter space, available during every service, for any child or adult who is overwhelmed by sound or crowd. Step in, settle, and come back when you are ready. No explanation needed.

What if my child makes noise during the service?

Then your child will sound like a child, and that is fine. Squirms, whispers, and the occasional loud question are the sound of a church with a future. No one here will shush you.

Can my child receive Communion?

Yes. Any baptized person, including a child of any age, is welcome to receive Communion at St. Andrew's. Children who have not been baptized are warmly invited forward for a blessing.

Can my child be baptized at St. Andrew's?

Yes, and we would be honored. Talk with the Rev. Quincy Hall, who will walk your family through preparation. Baptisms are usually celebrated at the great feasts of the church year or when the bishop visits.

Is there a playground?

Yes. Out back you will find our playground, well used after the service while the adults linger over snacks and fellowship.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Children & Family

Bring them squirmy, curious, and loud. Children are not the church of tomorrow here. They are the church of today, and there is room for them in the room.

When parents brought their children to Jesus, the disciples tried to manage the situation and wave the families off. Jesus would have none of it. “Let the children come to me; do not stop them,” he said, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”¹ At St. Andrew’s, we take him at his word.

We worship together

St. Andrew’s is a family integrated church. That is a churchy phrase with a simple meaning: on Sunday morning, children are welcome and invited to worship alongside the adults, in the same room, around the same table. We do not send the children away so the grown-ups can do the real thing. The liturgy is the real thing, and it belongs to them too.

Children take to it faster than you might expect. The service has things to do, not just things to hear: standing and sitting, songs to sing, responses to say, a peace to pass, a rail to come to. A child who cannot read yet can still hold a hymnal upside down with great conviction, and God receives that worship gladly.

And if your child rustles, kicks the pew, or asks a loud question at exactly the wrong moment, take a breath. You are not failing, and you are not bothering us. That is the sound of a church with a future. Nobody here will shush you. A grandmotherly smile from two pews over is far more likely.

Room to play, right in the sanctuary

Little ones are not built for an hour of sitting still, and our sanctuary is honest about that. Inside the sanctuary there is a space where young children can play quietly under the supervision of their own adult: close enough to hear the prayers and the singing, free enough to be small. You do not have to choose between worshiping and parenting. Here you can do both at once, which is, after all, what Sunday is for.

The sensory room

Some bodies need a quieter room, and we have one. A sensory room is available during every service for any child, or any adult, who finds the sound and the crowd too much. Step in, settle, and come back when you are ready. You will not need to explain yourself to anyone.

Children’s Chapel, some Sundays

On some Sundays, during the 11:30 a.m. service, we offer a separate Children’s Chapel. It is not a holding room. It is worship, sized for children: arts and crafts, a time of prayer, songs to sing, and a child-friendly, shortened version of the same Sunday liturgy the adults are praying in the sanctuary. The same shape, gather, listen, pray, give thanks, in smaller words.

That shape matters. A child who grows up praying a small liturgy will one day step into the grown-up service and find it already familiar, like a song they have known all their lives. We are not entertaining children until they are old enough for church. We are giving them the church now.

The playground

Out back you will find our playground. After the service, while the adults linger over snacks and fellowship, it does a brisk business. Friendships between kids have a way of becoming friendships between families, and more than a few of ours started on a slide.

Bread, blessing, and baptism

At Communion, baptism is the only door, and age is no barrier. Any baptized child is welcome to receive the bread and wine at St. Andrew’s, right alongside everyone else. A child who has not been baptized is warmly invited to the rail for a blessing, and the welcome is just as real.

And if you would like your child baptized, we would count it among the joys of our year. The prayer book calls baptism “full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church,” and that is as true for a baby as for anyone.² Talk with the Rev. Quincy Hall, and read more about baptism and belonging here.

Come as you are, all of you

There is no dress code, no minimum age, and no expectation that your crew will arrive calm and composed. Ours certainly does not. Plan your first Sunday, or just come: the Holy Eucharist, Sundays at 11:30 a.m., with a chair for you and room on the floor for the little ones. Questions first? We would love to hear from you.

Questions & Answers

Are children welcome in the main Sunday service?: Yes, welcome and invited. St. Andrew’s is a family integrated church, which means children worship alongside the adults in the sanctuary every Sunday. They are not an interruption to the service. They are part of the congregation.
Is there a nursery or childcare during the service?: We do not whisk children away to a nursery. Families worship together, and the sanctuary includes a space where young children can play under the supervision of their own adult. A sensory room is also available whenever anyone needs a quieter spot.
What is Children's Chapel and when does it happen?: On some Sundays, a separate Children’s Chapel is offered during the 11:30 a.m. service. Children do arts and crafts, share a prayer time, sing songs, and walk through a child-friendly, shortened version of the same liturgy the adults pray in the sanctuary.
What is the sensory room?: A quieter space, available during every service, for any child or adult who is overwhelmed by sound or crowd. Step in, settle, and come back when you are ready. No explanation needed.
What if my child makes noise during the service?: Then your child will sound like a child, and that is fine. Squirms, whispers, and the occasional loud question are the sound of a church with a future. No one here will shush you.
Can my child receive Communion?: Yes. Any baptized person, including a child of any age, is welcome to receive Communion at St. Andrew’s. Children who have not been baptized are warmly invited forward for a blessing.
Can my child be baptized at St. Andrew's?: Yes, and we would be honored. Talk with the Rev. Quincy Hall, who will walk your family through preparation. Baptisms are usually celebrated at the great feasts of the church year or when the bishop visits.
Is there a playground?: Yes. Out back you will find our playground, well used after the service while the adults linger over snacks and fellowship.