Welcoming Families with Children in Church
Have you noticed an influx of families in your Orthodox parishes? Our parish is fortunate to be bursting at the seams with young families. As a priest wife, and mother of 4 myself, it is my hope that these families feel especially welcomed. The Church is for all people, and especially for our children. Christ himself gave us the command, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14. But how can we be welcoming and help accomodate families with small children?
Create a Family Corner
Now there are countless ways to be welcoming. One is simply to greet the newcombers, welcome them. I’m sure we have all been in an awkward situation of being in a new environment and been totally ignored. This can leave the new person worse off than when they came, so please, welcome new people! It takes a great deal of effort and bravery to show up to a new church, especially when you have children! In addition to greeters and a warm welcome, one of the ways we hope to welcome families with young children is our “family corner” in the narthex. We have a book display from Potamitis Publishing of their entire Paterikon saint books as a lending library during services, and we display the monthly liturgical printable from Ascetic Life of Motherhood (author of this blog) to take home. These small tokens communicate (without words), you are welcome! We want you here!
Did you know I created monthly printables with families in mind to help them engage in the Orthodox Liturgical calendar? This is a simple “how to” to give families an idea of how to embrace the life of the Church in their home. I started making these a few years ago when I started homeschooling my girls. I wanted to simplify our focus for liturgical living, so I created a one page printable which gave us a hymn to practice each month, ONE saint to learn about and do ONE activity for, and I included ways we could connect as a family - since family culture is really important to us. Then I got the idea to print them out for our Church so that families in our parish could do the same! From there is unfolded a whole 12 month series! I have adapted these from last year to include the adjusted Pascha dates, so they are current for the 2025 year!
Family Corner
Encourage families with children in your parish with a designated space with these resources:
Check out these monthly liturgical printables for Orthodox Christians:
For Churches and Schools (Co -op)
I also created a group license packet for those who wish to offer them to their community. This is a simple way to help engage families in your Church to assist them in living out the Orthodox Liturgical calendar in their homes!
Lastly, I have adjusted the dates for those who follow the Old Calendar:
If you would prefer to purchase them for the full year (2025) - you can save a little money that way!
Meet the Author:
My name is Khouria Destinie and I'm excited you are here! “Khouria” is the title given to a Priest wife in the Antiochian Orthodox tradition. I use my little space here on the web to share resources I find that may be useful to others interested in bringing the life of the Church into their homes! Living out the Ancient Faith in a modern world takes intention. I will happily walk along side you, sharing what I am learning and finding, so together we can raise up the next generation of Christians who love God with all their hearts and minds!
A little more about me - I am an Orthodox Christian, married to my high-school sweetheart who is an Orthodox Priest. Together we have 4 children whom we homeschool. We both grew up as Evangelicals and discovered the Orthodox Church in college. After a few years, we joined the Orthodox Church and our lives have never been the same. Thank you for reading and for being here!
