The Same Catechism
What the church works through on Sunday is what you can work through at dinner on Tuesday. Same questions, same answers, no separate curriculum to keep up with.
Sundays · 12:30pm lunch, 1:30pm service
Grace Harbor Church · 12881 Newport Ave, Tustin
Home · Kids
Your children are not a distraction from the service. They are part of the congregation, and they stay in the room with us.
The short version
There is no children's program to drop them off at, and that is a decision rather than a shortfall. Kids eat lunch with us, sing the hymns with us, hear the catechism with us, and watch their parents come to the Table.
Will yours understand every sentence of a forty-five minute sermon? No. Neither will you, some weeks. But children learn what a church is by being in one — by seeing adults sing words they mean, confess sins out loud, and ask for prayer about hard things. That formation happens by proximity, and you cannot get it from a coloring sheet down the hall.
So bring them. If you need to walk one out for a few minutes, walk them out. Come back in. Nobody is counting, and half the room has done the same thing.
For parents
One of our eight distinctives is equipping parents — not replacing them. Here is what that looks like in practice.
What the church works through on Sunday is what you can work through at dinner on Tuesday. Same questions, same answers, no separate curriculum to keep up with.
Hymns and creeds are memorable by design. Children who grow up hearing them carry the language of the faith long before they can define every term in it.
You have allies. Other Christian parents. Wise adults in the church. Other kids and students. Being the primary discipler does not mean you do it alone. We walk together.
Practical
There is space at the back to stand, bounce, and pace with an infant without leaving the room, and a spot just outside if you need a full reset. You will not miss anything — and you will not be the only one back there.
So are ours. A church that has decided kids belong in the service has, by the same decision, decided not to be annoyed by them. Nobody is turning around. If it gets to be too much for you, step out and come back when you're ready.
Whatever quietly occupies their hands — paper, a book, something to draw with. Many of our kids follow along in the printed liturgy long before they can read all of it.
The Table is for baptized believers walking in repentance, at any age. If your child is asking questions about it, that is a wonderful conversation to have — talk with your family first, then talk with an elder. There is no rush and no pressure either way.
Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 19:14