First Congregational Church has a long history of valuing children, youth and families as a priority for ministry. This has been supported with an outpouring of volunteer care, coordinated effort and generous funding for events, activities and ministry to our families and to this neighborhood. Our denomination has also been nurturing this ministry focus via the Love of Children initiative, teaching churches how to create more intergenerational or “all ages” opportunities for worship.

Our Children’s Ministry Coordinator, Sybil Donley, is part of a cohort with Love of Children that has been learning about creating dedicated worship space in church sanctuaries called a Prayground. FCC’s Family Ministries Committee presented pictures and descriptions in a proposal to our board to create a Prayground in our Sanctuary this summer using a $500 grant from the United Church of Christ. The board voted unanimously in favor and will evaluate how it is working out for the church in December.

The “pray” ground will not be a “play” ground. It’s a space where children will be seated near their families with access to special tools curated to help them worship … to sing and reflect and participate while learning the rhythms of worship and growing their own faith, as full members of this congregation. Family Ministries is developing a covenant for families to adopt regarding how the space will be accessed, used and maintained.

A Prayground in our Sanctuary serves as a strong visual statement to visiting families that they and their kids are welcome here.

If you have any questions about the Prayground in our Sanctuary, please contact Sybil Donley via email at sybild@fcceugene.org.

Hyperlinks:
UCC Love of Children Page: https://www.ucc.org/loveofchildren/
FCC Family Ministries Proposal: https://fcceugene.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prayground-Proposal-for-FCC-June-2026.pdf
UCC Prayground Information: https://www.ucc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/PrayGround_LOC.pdf

Prayground Wish List

While we have been awarded a grant for $500 toward developing our Prayground, we welcome contributions of specific items if members wish to donate. Although we launched the Prayground on July 19th there are still items for purchase on our Wish List. Please check the updated wish list with links to examples below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CsflyMMUMCdAl_H_TG1u4v2zvYWQukgAziUqrZArTFM/edit?usp=sharing