Templeton church opens indoor play area
Life Community Church in Templeton has the largest indoor play area in the North County. It’s open to the public twice a week. Photo courtesy of Life Community Church
Play room open twice a week
– Life Community Church, located at 3779 Ruth Way in Templeton, opens its doors twice a week to youngsters and their parents to play in the church’s bounce houses and indoor play structure. The community is invited to come on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m.
The twice-weekly play time grew out of the church’s monthly Freedom Friday that began a year and a half ago for children 1 to 12 years of age. Freedom Fridays are held the last Friday of the month from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and parents able to drop their children off with fingerprinted and background checked volunteers.
“This allows moms and dads and single moms some time to themselves. They drop the kids off,” Pastor Keith Newsome said. “We were trying to find a way to give back to the community. We realized that the younger parents don’t have parents around and wanted to give them a break.”
Children play in Life Community Church’s play area during one of the play times. Photo courtesy of Life Community Church
Life Community Church bought a large indoor play set from a Fun Factory – it was taken apart and took church members 10.5 months to put it back again because there were no schematics. Additionally, the church purchased two bounce houses – one for the smallest children and one for the older ones.
“We decided to open this up because … there aren’t a lot of places to go in North County,” Newsome said, adding that the church has the largest inside play set in the area.
“The environment was open, extremely clean and it was made for small toddlers to teens,” said Ashlee Williams of Templeton. “Also, the staff is very protective and stern on who’s picking up the children, which makes me as a mom very comfortable.”
Unlike Freedom Friday, the weekday play times are not drop-offs, parents supervise their own children with volunteers on-site. On Tuesday, in its second week, Newsome said 23 children showed up.
Life Community Church has two bounce houses in its play area. Photo by Life Community Church
“I think it’s just going to keep growing,” Newsome said. “Our goal isn’t to make a profit, we want to make sure we can keep the lights on and keep things going. If it’s providing a place people can come and they enjoy it, we’ll keep it going. So far the response is great.”
The cost is $5 per child with a max cost of $10 per family. For more information, call (805) 434-5040 or email [email protected].
Life Community Church was renamed from Templeton Community Church three years ago after the church underwent a massive change-over, which Newsome said necessitated the name change. The church office is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
