Celebrating The Kid's Institute

For more than six years, the Kid's Institute has shared space with Shiloh Church as an arm of the congregation's community ministry. The Kid's Institute is a child care program that cares for children from post-toddler through students of junior high age. Hundreds of children have passed through the program, and the community has been well served through the partnership of Shiloh Church and the Kid's Institute.

 

On Sunday, August 4, 2013, Shiloh Church will celebrate the ministry of the Kid's Institute by including the families in the 10:25 service, including the sacrament of Holy Communion, and with a luncheon that will follow. Shiloh Church looks eagerly forward to welcoming the families the  Kid's Institute in both worship and fellowship.

 

The children of the Kid's Institute will share a song with the congregation and take part, with me, in reciting a scripture and poem that will form the foundation of Shiloh's intentional spirituality throughout the month of August. The text, Habakkuk 2:1-3, and the poem, "I Let Go of My Accumulations" were used as part of the worship at General Synod 29, held in June and July at Long Beach, California.

 

The partnership between Shiloh Church and the Kid's Institute also serves as an example of shared ministry and service that marries the efforts of churches with community resources. The relationship has sometimes been tricky, but Shiloh has been able and willing to sail through the rough waters of shared space and limited facility use to see service to extended communities and populations.

 

It is possible that Shiloh may even extend the model to incorporate other churches, as we are currently in talks with Christ Eternal Kingdom Ministries, a small African-American congregation that has lost its worship space, to welcome them to use the Shiloh facility. In this way, Shiloh demonstrates its belief that a church facility should and could be a community resource.

 

Shiloh celebrates the presence and the ministry of the Kid's Institute, anticipates a good relationship with Christ Eternal Kingdom Ministries, and looks for other opportunities to use its facility as a resource to its community. The congregation is fortunate indeed to be able to engage in such ministry.

 

See You Sunday!