We're actively refreshing every Faith Stepping Stone. Updated Stones are released as they're completed, and are available for immediate download to current members.
Raising a Healthy Baby
In the early months of a baby's life, parents are filled with deep love—and often deep exhaustion. This Stone offers new parents a space to find support, encouragement, and community during this tender, transformative season.
What parents will do
Over the course of this Stone, parents come together to share, laugh, and learn about:
- Their baby's physical, emotional, and spiritual development
- Their own well‑being as new parents
- Building a strong foundation for faith at home, through the nightly FAITH5 practice — share, read, talk, pray, bless
The three sessions
Each session follows the same shape — an Opening, a Presentation, Small Group Time, and a Closing — built around one part of a baby's early growth.
Infant Physical Development
ObjectiveHelp parents understand their baby's physical needs, and encourage healthy, confident parenting from the start.
Infant Emotional Development
ObjectiveEquip parents to recognize and respond to their baby's emotional needs with empathy, love, and assurance — and to care for their own emotional health too.
Infant Spiritual Development
ObjectiveGuide parents in nurturing their baby's spiritual life by committing to the FAITH5 practice, every night, in every home.
Built to scale down, not just up
An optional Theme Team can set up and lead the sessions, and optional Table Hosts can help the small groups formed during the course keep meeting afterward. Neither is required — a single volunteer can run this Stone just as well, using the provided Leader's Guide and PowerPoint. If your congregation is small, don't let the idea of a "team" hold you back from starting.
Blessing of the Babies
Many churches choose to close the course with a beautiful "Blessing of the Babies" during worship — a meaningful milestone that affirms God's presence in this new beginning. It pairs naturally with infant baptism or dedication preparation, and includes a full worship liturgy in your resources.
Optional, and easy to adapt — the liturgy works for congregations that baptize infants and those that dedicate them.
A quilt that grows for eighteen years
Some congregations like to invite a quilter to "adopt" a family and start a quilt with the baby's hand and footprints today, adding a panel at every future Stepping Stone until it's presented as a gift at Stone 8: Graduation. It's a lovely tradition if someone in your congregation wants to run with it — but entirely optional, and no part of Stone 1 depends on it.
Get started with Stone 1 - Raising a Healthy Baby
Everything you need is included — Leader's Guides, Guest Handouts, PowerPoint presentations, drama skits, theme music, and the Blessing liturgy.
$199 per year — includes all 8 Faith Stepping Stones, cradle to graduation.