Having trouble explaining to your preschooler how Jesus relates to the Easter bunny? If so, you may wish to bring your youngsters to the Family Worship Party at Hoppin’ House in Lakeway this Sunday, April 5th, at 8:30 am.

 The Family Worship Party is a new ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis (PCLT). Its goal is to help parents and children grow in faith together. The format is extremely child-friendly – a few minutes of singing and guitar playing, a reading from a big picture Bible, a five-minute lesson, a two-minute teaching for the parents, a few more songs with musical instruments for the kids, and then an hour of play time on the bouncy houses. Family Worship Parties happen on the first Sunday of each month and admission is free.
Hoppin’ House is a locally owned and operated inflatable playground in Lakeway.
“Our kids have always loved moon walks, bounce houses, and inflatable slides,” co-owner Anthony Assini said. “We figured lots of families in our community could also benefit from a safe, indoor play facility. We’ve been open for eight months, and the response has been overwhelming.”
When he’s not overseeing the business, Assini works as one of the assistant golf professionals at Lakeway Golf Club. Assini and his partner, Joel McCullough, are already eyeing expansion opportunities in Austin.
The Family Worship Parties at Hoppin’ House began 6 months ago, and attendance has grown from a half dozen people to around 40. The facility will accommodate well over 100.
“Our 18-month-old daughter Ava loves it,” said parishioner Rebecca Hilleque. “She calls it ‘Jumping for Jesus.’”
Children at the Family Worship Party range in age from in utero to 10 years old. The curriculum is mainly targeted at 2-5 year olds and their parents.
“In general, the Church has largely failed to teach parents how to discuss faith with their children,” said Rev. Ellis Oglesby, organizing pastor of PCLT. “Churches typically stick kids in one room and parents in the other. We treat the family as a whole to provide a shared experience and a common vocabulary.
“Stories resonate with different age groups in different ways,” Oglesby added. “For example, to 5-8 year olds, Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is extremely important. Younger children don’t have the cognitive skills to understand social politics. For them, the message is good wins over evil. To ensure that the right message gets across, teachings utilize both commercially-available tools like felt board and coloring books and custom aids. Each lesson includes at least one song written especially for the occasion.”
Families also receive simple activities that they can do together at home. This both reinforces the specific lesson and, most importantly, helps families get into the habit of discussing faith issues together.
“We don’t want to brainwash our kids,” said Lake Travis resident Candace Nguyen. “Neither do we feel like we need to have all the answers. We just want the topic to be safe. When our children hit the rough adolescent years and begin to experience real faith challenges, they will know they can talk to us about it.”
Many families that attend don’t belong to the church that sponsors the event. Catholic, Baptist, non-denominational, and seeker families have all participated. Some even come to the Family Worship Party and leave in time to make the 11 a.m. service at their home church.
“We don’t really feel comfortable with the concept of church membership,” said Travis Gray, one of the guitar players at Family Worship Party. “My family worships at Hill Country Bible Church. Once a month my wife and I bring our children Hallie and Trenton to Hoppin’ House for a little dose of something different.”
The Family Worship Party is not limited to worship. They also host fellowship events almost every month. Around Valentine’s Day the families came together to bake and decorate sugar cookies. In March they carried some inflatable waterslides to Lakeway City Park and grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. Several Lake Travis families spontaneously joined in the fun.
“This isn’t about who is in and who is out,” said Oglesby. “God loves everyone. We just want families to be able to talk about God’s love together.”
Abbott to speak to Republican women
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott will speak to the Lakeway Republican Women on April 7. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. with coffee, 10:30 the meeting, and the speaker begins at 11. Buffet lunch is at 11:30.
The meeting will be held at The Hills Country Club.
Abbott was elected as the 50th Attorney General of Texas on Nov. 7, 2006. Prior to his election as attorney general, Greg Abbott was a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court and as a State District Judge in Harris County.
As the state’s chief law enforcement official, Abbott has made protecting families and values the focus of his administration. Shortly after taking office, Abbott established a Cyber Crimes Unit to arrest criminals who use the Internet to prey upon children; a Fugitive Unit to arrest convicted sex offenders who violate their parole; and an expanded Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to crack down on elder abuse and waste of taxpayer dollars. Since taking office, Abbott has collected more than $10 billion in child support for Texas children, setting new records for Texas child support collections.
In his capacity as the state’s lawyer, Abbott oversees more than 700 lawyers who represent the State of Texas. In March of 2005, General Abbott personally appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, where he successfully defended the constitutionality of the Ten Commandments display that adorns Texas Capitol grounds. By convincing the nation’s highest court that the State’s monument was constitutional, General Abbott ensured that Texas will continue displaying the Ten Commandments for years to come.
Make checks for lunch payable to LTRW for $l6. Send to Nancy Clayton 110 Melody Lakeway, 78734 or e-mail Nclayton@trane.com or phone 261-7759.