We Are Family

If you are looking for a church that nurtures and encourages children, youth and families from all walks of life in a non-judgmental way, you will love San Gabriel Presbyterian Church (SGPC). Our congregation is always excited to see your family and kids in our services and at our events! We have a small but warm and open group of families that are eager and happy to add new friends to our mix. Our ministry combines discipleship (learning about the Bible and how to be a Christian), fellowship (developing meaningful relationships by having fun together), and service opportunities (helping others in our community and beyond). Our goal is to partner with families to raise a strong generation that loves God and follows Him.

SUNDAY MORNINGS:

Nursery and Preschool—Our littlest friends are in our nursery/childcare area for Sunday School (9:15–10:00 AM) and Worship Service (10:30-11:30 AM). We use “Baby Beginnings” curriculum, which introduces elements of faith (such as God made you and God loves you) in a natural and engaging way as the kids play and interact. Our caregivers will bring children in the nursery into the services for about 5-minutes so that they can hear the children’s message each week. We want kids to always know that they are a part of the church family, even from the youngest age!

Elementary—Children meet together from 9:15-10:00 AM for Sunday School. Our class is fun and interactive. We use Faithweaver curriculum, which may incorporate stories, video, music, games, and art activities on any given Sunday. Elementary age children are encouraged to go to the beginning of the services at 10:30 AM with their families because we always want them to know that they can participate in worship no matter how little they are. They will be invited up to the front to participate in a children’s message about halfway through the service—before the sermon. After the children’s message they are invited to come back for an expanded Sunday School time that continues the lesson from that day. Most of the time this will be in our classroom, but on pretty days we may take the lesson out onto our awesome, gated playground.

Youth—Our youth group is 6th through 12th grade. The primary youth time each week is our Sunday School class from 9:15-10:00 AM. We use the Middle and High School Faithweaver curriculum which is age appropriate, interactive, and fun. Faithweaver operates on a 3–year Scope and Sequence so that kids and youth get a strong overview of the entire Bible every 3 years. Our youth participate in our worship services and are encouraged to serve as well. You might see a youth drumming in our band, serving as an acolyte or liturgist, or helping with the kids during the children’s message. Our youth are not just the church of the future, they are also the church of the present and we value them as such.

Parents—Parents are always welcome to attend any adult Sunday School classes on Sunday mornings, but in addition to this we have a special room dedicated just to parents called “Parents Time Out.” This is a come-and-go space where you can stop to visit, make a cup of coffee, have a breakfast item, and catch up with other parents. In other words, you get a “Time Out” so you can stop and breathe for a little bit on a busy Sunday morning. People flow in and out throughout the morning, and conversations range from spiritual discussions to funny stories from our week to tackling parenting issues together. You might be in there with a few other people or you might find yourself in there alone for a few minutes of quiet time. Come hang out with us and take a load off!

OTHER EVENTS:

Playdate Storytimes: These fun mornings are designed for children (toddlers on up) to play and have fun on our fun gated playground while parents and caregivers relax and visit under our shady picnic pavilion. We provide a story, a snack, and a “bonus activity” (such as bubbles, balls, or chalk), so all you have to do is come and have fun. They are scheduled a couple of Friday mornings a month from 9:30-11:00 AM, weather permitting. Check our CALENDAR to see when the next one is scheduled!

 Community Youth Events: Our youth group is small, so we collaborate with other churches in our area to do events about once a month. This is a great way to make friends with other Christian youth as we have have fun, worship, and serve together. A few examples of past events are a Color Run, Blazer Tag in Austin, Pumpkinfest here at SGPC, MLK Day National Day of Service, Ice and Roller Skating, Disciple Now weekend, and much more!

Family Events: Our goal is not to fill up your already busy schedule with a million different activities to drop your kids off at, but to provide quality times for your family to grow in your faith together. So, every month or two we have a family event designed to give you the opportunity to do just that. Just a few examples of these events are a family paint afternoon (where everyone painted their own pictures to decorate our youth room), a family sock hop (where we collected socks for a local school then celebrated with fun sock hop music, snacks, fun, and games), a summer family water night (where we rented big water inflatables, brought water toys, and had fun playing together on a pretty summer evening), and faith and film afternoons (where we watched a movie together, had movie snacks, then talked about how to turn any movie into a meaningful discussion about faith.)

Mission and Service Events: We want to be sure to instill in our children and youth the importance of serving, so we look for opportunities to

facilitate families serving together. Some of the ways we regularly serve are by collecting food and helping with distribution on Fresh Food Mondays at the Caring Place, occasionally helping serve the homeless at Church Under the Bridge in Austin, and having a school supply drive for the local elementary school where we do Backpack Buddies.

Family Fun Day in the Pumpkin Patch: When you ask people in Georgetown what they know about SGPC, they are likely to answer that we are the church with the big pumpkin patch! Every October we open a huge pumpkin patch with pumpkins from the Navajo Nation. There are story times and youth events throughout the month, but the anchor event each October is our Family Fun Day on Columbus Day when the schools are out. On that day we have free activities from 10:00-2:00, ranging from Horseback Rides to Pumpkin Painting, Archery, Gaga Ball, Scout demonstrations, and much more. We always have a big crowd, and its a lot of fun!

For more information on any Family, Child, or Youth related events contact Toni Howell, Director of Family Outreach at sgpcoffice@gmail.com