Welcome Families!
Brookside places huge value on family, and we want to champion families as one of the best environments for the living out of spiritual transformation. The Children’s Ministry at Brookside comes alongside parents to help them serve as the spiritual leaders within their families. One way we do this is by impacting your children’s lives with the love of Jesus through a variety of fun and meaningful programming.
While you are enjoying a time of music and teaching during either Sunday morning service, you can be confident your kids are being well-cared for in the nursery or classrooms during their own time of music and teaching. Our curriculum is geared toward age and ability, making the time they spend at Brookside with their teachers and caretakers an experience they will look forward to week after week.
We provide a safe and loving environment for young children, aged birth to 2 years, in our Nursery, which is located in the lower level of our facility. During Sunday programming, regular learning experiences are planned for the children and reinforced with song and play. Because children develop at different rates, our Nursery is divided by developmental stages rather than age groups. From an Infant Room to a Toddler Room, each environment is designed to meet your children’s needs. The Infant Room is outfitted with cribs and swings. The Crawler and Walker Rooms are filled with fun toys and other activities. The Toddler Room has a preschool-sized bathroom for those children who are beginning the potty-training process. Simple snacks are provided with food allergies in mind.
Pagers are given to parents who are leaving their children in the care of our nursery staff, leaving you with the peace of mind needed to focus during Sunday morning services.
When toddlers reach the age of 2, it may be time for them to move up to our Preschool area, which also is located in the lower level of our facility. Young children, aged 2 through pre-K, are full of energy, and our programming matches their enthusiasm! We fill their time at Brookside, during both Sunday morning services and Wednesday evening Cubbies, with imaginative play, engaging lessons and creative activities. They will split their time between their classrooms, the snack room, and the play room. The curriculum is the same both hours on Sunday mornings, and leaders have made the commitment to serve week after week, which helps preschoolers feel more comfortable as they build relationships with their teachers.
The safety of your children is our top priority. Preschoolers and their parents are outfitted with numerically matching wristbands as they enter the preschool area, and parents need to present their wristbands at their children’s classrooms in order to pick up their children.
When a child is ready to begin kindergarten, they move upstairs to the main level of our facility. During the school year, our Elementary children, K through 5th grade, experience a large group/small group format where they are encouraged to apply all that they learn from God’s word. Their leaders will share with your children age-appropriate lessons and activities each Sunday during both services that are relevant to their own lives. An interactive time of music will have your children singing and clapping as they learn the songs’ words and actions.
If you think our facility is bustling on Sunday mornings, you should see the excitement of a Wednesday evening! Through our AWANA program, your children will be challenged and encouraged to memorize Bible verses and apply the wisdom to their own lives. And don’t worry, there are many opportunities to release restless energy during game time.
Every week, 6th-8th grade students from all over the Omaha metro area come together to be a part of Brookside’s middle school community called Tribe. Our greatest desire is to see middle school students discover a faith of their own that will prepare them for a lifetime of influence, service and devotion to God.
Tribe meets twice a week during the school year, on Wednesday nights at 6:30 for Wildlife and Sunday mornings at 10:45 for Safari. We focus on building relationships with the students. All members of Tribe spend time each week in their own student LIFEgroups. Each group is led by an adult who loves God and loves working with middle school students. And we have fun. Lots of fun! There’s live music, games and dynamic teaching. In addition to our regular programming, Tribe has four big events each year that are super fun and super crazy.
For more info on the Tribe, click here.
Every week, 9th -12 grade students from all over the Omaha metro area come together to be a part of Brookside’s high school community called Oasis. Our greatest desire is for high school students to discover the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to be equipped to live it out and make their faith their own.
On Wednesdays at starting at 6:30pm during the school year, our goal is to have students worship through song, receive biblically relevant teaching, and connect with a caring adult in a LIFEgroup setting. On Sunday mornings, students serve in multiple places throughout the church – mainly in the Children’s Ministry.
We believe our God enjoys seeing his children having fun in His name… and so Oasis offers different events throughout the year. These events create an opportunity for our students to share Jesus Christ with their friends, and invite them to come to our program and to church.
For more info on Oasis, click here.