Youth Programs

Sunday Morning Kid's Club

Each Sunday, childcare is provided for infants through 3^rd graders. Nursery is provided for infants - preschoolers. Youth in Kindergarten through 3^rd grade are invited to participate in our Sunday Morning Kid's Club. The children will enjoy a variety of activities while their parents attend worship service. Adult supervision is provided.

At St. John's, children in 4^th grade and older are encouraged to attend our 9:30 church service to worship with their families. This service is designed with families in mind and offers something for everyone. Throughout the year, different youth groups will participate in the service in a variety of ways. Interactive youth bulletins will be available during each worship service.

Wednesday Night J.A.M. Time

Youth Choir

From 5:30 - 6:00 pm, grades K-8 are welcome to participate in our Youth Choir practice, which regularly performs during Sunday Services. The Joy Choir (grades K-2) and Genesis Choirs (grades 3-8) meet in the church sanctuary for practice.

Dinner

At 6:00, a hot child-friendly meal will be prepared for all youth attending. To help defer the cost of each dinner, a $2 per child donation would be appreciated.

Class & Gym Time

From 6:30-8:00 pm, all youth ages 3 years old through 8th Grade are invited to participate in religious education youth groups. The classes are divided as follows:

Preschool
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
2nd & 3rd Grade
4th & 5th Grade
6th & 7th Grade
8th Grade Confirmation

Each classroom will be taught be adult church members using an interactive program called "Live B.I.G." (Belief in God). Live B.I.G. offers colorful characters, "cool" music, and travel segments designed to make use of the three ways children learn: hearing, seeing and then living what they learn. Our youth will also prepare special projects to share with the congregation during Sunday morning service.

For 30 minutes, youth will have Recreation Time in the CCC (Christian Community Center). During this time, children will engage in structured cooperative games and have a lot of fun! Parents can pick up their child(ren) at 8:00 in the CCC.

CYF = Christian Youth Fellowship

CYF (Christian Youth Fellowship) is open to all high school youth and meets twice a month in the Christian Community Center from 6pm-8pm. We spend our time holding fundraisers, doing mission projects, indulging in numerous "hot topic" discussions, seeing movies, playing games and going on retreats. We invite all high school youth to join us. We would love to see you.

Just 4 Girls

We also have a youth group for all high school girls! This is our "Just 4 Girls" youth group. This group meets twice a month also right before CYF in the same building from 5pm-6pm. A few things planned for the fall include: a spa day, making blankets, going to a "chick flick", and going to visit kids at the children's hospital. Again, we invite all high school girls to join us.

For more information on our Youth Programs, please contact St. John's at (708) 479-5123 or stjohnsmokena@att.net.

Vacation Bible School

The theme for our 2008 Vacation Bible School was GOD'S BIG BACKYARD. The week had plenty of fun lessons, games & snacks for kids in preschool through 8th grade. New this year was our Junior High VBS for 6th-8th graders, which was held at the same time as our "regular" VBS for preschool through 5th grade. They did mission work around the community, had fun lessons, and played plenty of games.

Our Annual Penny War was bigger than ever this year! Over the course of 5 nights, 125 kids raised $1,609.26 by bringing in coins for an organization called Love Without Boundaries which provides medical care, education, foster care, and nutrition for orphans in China. Great job, kids!