Trinity Kids

Here at Trinity, children are warmly welcomed as participating members of the church. We are committed not only to their spiritual formation but also to respecting their natural capacity for wonder and curiosity.
CHILDREN’S FORMATION AT TRINITY AUTUMN 2026
Generally, the ages will work as:
- Nursery: 9 months – 2 ½ years
- Preschool: 2 ½ - 5 years
- Grade School - 6-12 years

Start Date: Children's Formation begins this Fall when we return to worshipping at Anchor Bay on September 12th.

Nursery:
- Will continue with its refreshing simplicity: a gathering song, a simple story from a storybook Bible, then playtime. 
- Clergy will be in touch with each week’s leader ahead of time to give any support needed and ensure they know what story is scheduled.

Preschool:
- We've subscribed to a new curriculum just for Preschool: Wonder Ink. Wonder Ink is a Bible-centered, customizable curriculum that uses a 3-year rotating sequence to take kids on a journey through the entire Bible. The curriculum centers around four foundational identity truths for children:

- God Knows Me
- Jesus Loves Me
- The Holy Spirit Leads Me
- I Am a Child of God

Every lesson is intended to guide children through a four-step framework:

Curiosity: Uses interactive activities or experiments to engage kids.
Belief: Dives deep into Scripture and God’s story.
Faith: Connects biblical truths to the child's personal life.
Identity: Responds through worship and reflection on who they are in God.

Wonder Ink has a 3-year rotating curriculum that walks preschoolers through the entire bible. With Wonder Ink we will have lesson plans available several weeks in advance for each week’s leader, so they will have time to review the lesson and have the space to feel prepared. 

- Ali will not be returning this fall but Ted and Elspeth have graciously stepped up to volunteer as initial leaders for Preschool. Nathan will be helping with admin in the background, including scheduling volunteers.

- Nathan will be in touch to check in on each week’s leader to ensure they have what they need. 

Grade School:
- Jane will be leading the team as Mthr Wendy continues her sabbatical. 
- Jane, Mthr Jen, and Fr Tim have been working together to prepare for the autumn, and we’re excited about where we’ll be going. Jane will be carrying the ball most of the time, but Mthr Jen will take a spell in October, and Fr Tim during Advent. 

We’d love your help! Get involved!
We have a plan.... now we need more Leaders and Volunteers! 
- We especially need Leaders for preschool and Nursery. With our new curriculum our Leaders can focus on delivering lessons and interacting with the littles. Currently Ted and Elspeth are slated to lead twice each month, and Michela is our only confirmed nursery leader[EC1] . To help our program be a success and to provide our children with a consistent rhythm we are looking for 3-4 more Leaders who are willing to lead in nursery or preschool 1-2 times a quarter.  

- We have developed brief role descriptions for leaders and helpers at each level to ensure clarity in responsibilities and expectations.

- We are also looking for 5-6 new volunteers to sign up to help with all ages to ensure we have enough CORI'ed adults in the room to be a safe church (and also to be a kind and loving presence for our children).

- If you are interested, please talk to me (Fr Tim), Nathan or Elspeth Currie, or Bailey Vaselkiv.  

A Word on Safety
- Safety for our littles is at the top of my mind. In September, Massachusetts is launching a new online process of CORI background checks that we will be able to make use of. We are putting together a 1-pager that will outline the process and aim to have that out to everyone toward the end of August. 

- We are working to incorporate feedback on Ali's new check-in/check-out process for all children and are preparing to implement a revised process when we launch in September.

- We believe some level of safe church training is necessary for all leaders and volunteers in our program. We are finalizing these trainings to ensure they are appropriate for each role. 

Friends, I am really looking forward to this – as a parish we have indeed been blessed with many children! Please join me in prayer for this upcoming season of good formation work. I hope this update will stir excitement in you to get involved. 

Safety: Our first priority is your children’s safety, which we maintain through regular background checks and training of all who work with children and youth.
We also follow best practices for church ministry to children and youth. Here is a link to the Policy Manual for the Protection of Children and Youth