Sons & Daughters Family Nights

WHO ARE FAMILY NIGHTS FOR? 

Family Nights are for parents of kids of all ages, expecting parents, and for anyone else at any stage in life who is interested in participating in and learning about biblical parenting and family. There is kids programming for kids K-6. Westside Youth begins in grade 7 and is held Monday nights at the Centre.

WHAT ARE SONS & DAUGHTERS FAMILY NIGHTS? 

For the adults: These evenings are an intentional time of connecting socially, praying, and discussing topics in smaller groups around parenting and growing deeper in our relationships with God and others. Men (Sons) and women (Daughters) will meet once a month on a different Sunday evening. More on that below!

For the kids: These evenings will be a  time for kids in grades K-6 to connect socially and grow with their peers as the Westside Kids team leads them in a kids program that includes fun activities and study and memorization of God’s Word. Kids programming will be available on every Family Night for both boys and girls!

A few key reasons why we’ve chosen to have men and women meeting on different nights and offer the discussion content in video form ahead of time:

• We are very excited to offer classes for kids K-6, but we recognize that many people have children who are too young to come. If both parents were to come, this would require getting a babysitter for the younger children which can be particularly challenging in this pandemic. Additionally, we recognize that parents have different comfort levels, and may prefer to have their older children stay home. We hope that this setup will allow parents to choose their comfort level - mom or dad can bring their kids if they feel comfortable or they can leave some or all of them at home with their spouse.
• We recognize that single parents with young children may have to opt for a babysitter, so hopefully someone in your bubble is able to help. We want to remove any obstacles, so please let us know if finances are a barrier for you by emailing family@wchurch.ca.
• We really want parents  to be able to attend the classes  consistently. For reasons mentioned above, in our past parenting classes one of the parents would often have to miss the class. This way, spouses can watch the material together and discuss it with one another, and then share with one another what their group talked about at the Sunday meetings. 
• With our gathering size currently limited to 50 people, splitting up allows for greater safety and greater growth opportunity.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

As the basis for our small group discussions on Sunday nights, we’ll be using a series of short video messages from a conference called ‘Getting to the Heart of Parenting’ by Paul Tripp. Thus, the men and women will discuss the same video content though they meet on different nights. You will be able to watch the video in advance and discuss it in advance with your spouse and others. Then, at the Sunday evening session, we will discuss the material in groups and talk about how to apply it to our lives and parenting. We hope that the alternating weeks ensures everyone the best opportunity for engaging.

The Fall 2020 schedule:

Sept 20 - Sons (Session 1)
Oct 4 - Daughters (Session 1)
Oct 18 - Sons (Session 2)
Nov 1 - Daughters (Session 2)
Nov 15 - Sons (Session 3)
Nov 29 - Daughters (Session 3)

SAFETY AND SETUP

We will be following all the suggested practices to ensure the safest environment for both adults and children regarding sanitization and physical distancing. We do recommend that children wear masks as they often have a harder time with physical distancing.

We will be using two zones: the children will be meeting in the classroom area of the building while the adults will be meeting in the upstairs lobby/auditorium. 

REGISTRATION

You must register yourself and your child(ren) for each session in order to attend. Registration will always become available online as soon as the previous sessions have met. Information will go out on social media and through the weekly church and kids newsletters as well. 

Once you've registered, you will receive an email with the link to the video that you'll need to watch in advance.

We would also ask you to cancel your registration if you show any signs of sickness leading up to the night.

CHECKING IN ON THE NIGHT OF THE EVENTS

Doors will be open at 5:45 and close at 6:10.

Parents and children will come to the main doors on Homer street where parents can check their children in with a Kids Team member. They will then proceed into the kids zone. Parents will then check in and proceed up to the auditorium level. 

At the end of the evening parents will reunite with their children at the front doors when they are ready to leave. 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

DAUGHTERS NIGHT
October 4, 2020

SONS NIGHT
October 18, 2020

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions please email family@wchurch.ca!