For more information about preschool and children's ministries, contact Paula Durham Hayes by emailing Paula@ESBCgreenville.org or calling 864-331-0926 ext. 209.

Worship Services - Each Sunday morning at 9:00 or 11:00 in the sanctuary. During both services, there is worship care for babies through age 2. In both worship services, there is a children's sermon for children age 3 through grade 5. Following the children's sermon, children may remain with their parents in the sanctuary or participate in the extended session on the first floor for ages 3 through 5K, or children's church on the second floor on the third Sunday of each month for grades 1-4. Fifth graders are invited to participate in "Preteen Worship" club on the third Sunday of each month. In extended session and children's church, preschoolers and children are led to worship God in age-appropriate ways through praise, music, Scripture, activities, and prayer. In "Preteen Worship Club," 5th graders learn about how and why we, as Christians and as a church, worship.

Sunday School - Each Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m., there are age-specific Sunday School classes for all preschoolers and children.

Preschoolers meet on the newly renovated first floor, use the "Hands-On Bible" curriculum, and are grouped into age-specific classes. During the worship services, preschoolers are taught Bible lessons and stories that compliment and reinforce the biblical truths they learned in Sunday School.

Children in grades 1-5 meet on the second floor and use the "Potter's Workshop" curriculum. Children in each grade rotate to a different workshop each Sunday during a four- to six-week unit. In each workshop, a unit's concept is related to biblical stories through activities using one or more various learning approaches (Bible knowledge activities, video, drama/puppetry, games, art, computer, cooking, geography, science, mission, nature, and media production). Through small-group learning and spiritual journals, children develop two vital Christian disci plines: relational skills and personal reflection. These are interwoven throughout all the workshops as childrenrelate to one another and develop their spiritual learning.

Mission Action and Education - Every third Sunday during the worship services, the preschoolers and children collect a "Pocket Change Offering for World Hunger" in lieu of the children's sermon. They are precious as they randomly wind their way through the congregation and choir loft collecting pocket change in loaf pans. The church is so supportive of our "little missionaries" that we are able to support seven children through Children International from this offering.

Wednesday Evening Activities - Each Wednesday evening, dinner is served in the Fellowship Hall. Preschoolers and children who participate in choirs (September through May) eat dinner at 5:15 so they can get to their choirs by 5:45 (see Music Ministry). At 6:30 there is "Music & Missions" for babies through age two. Preschoolers and children (threes through grade 5) are involved in age-specific mission groups, where they learn about missionaries who share the gospel locally and globally and how they can become involved in missions themselves through local mission projects, mission support offerings, and prayer. Throughout the year, children's mission groups enjoy special activities and during the summer, children in grades 1-5 participate in mission camps. Preschool and children's mission groups are:

Music & Missions (Boys and girls, birth through younger twos)
Mission Friends (Boys and girls, ages 3 & 4)
Mission Friends (Boys and girls who are in Kindergarten)

Girls in Action (Girls in grades 1-2)
Girls in Action (Girls in grades 3-5)
Royal Ambassadors, "Lads" (Boys in grades 1-3)
Royal Ambassadors, "Crusaders" (Boys in grades 4-5)

During the summer months (June through August), everyone eats dinner at 6:00 and then at 6:30 preschoolers go to Mission Friends, and children in grades 1-4 (boys and girls together) enjoy "Fun around the World" (a mission-based discipleship program). Outgoing 5th graders enjoy "Fun around Greenville", which includes Bible Study, missions, and hands-on ministry projects.

Special Events - The Preschool and Children's Councils plan seasonal events and activities each quarter for preschoolers and children such as, Easter egg hunts, Christmas outings and caroling, summer activities (including special activities for preteens), and Vacation Bible School.