John's Blog about life, love and other mysteries

Details and Questions for New Children's Worship Area and Small Groups
1. Why we feel that change is needed.
a. Our children today are faced with many allurements of worldly things. Companies like Nickelodeon, Disney, and many more have our children's full attention. If you take you child to Disney you know that they will beg to come back. The reason that companies like these are reaching kids is because they are exciting, fresh, and current. We believe that as a church we should do everything we can to reach out and win these kid's heart. It is a race to the heart of a child and the first one to get there wins. These companies are great at what they do and what they do isn't always wrong, but they have a totally different focus, revenue. We as missionaries and believers in Christ have a much different focus, which is Jesus Christ. We want everyone to know His love, grace and salvation.
2. So, How will this change enhance the Children's ministry of First Calvary?
a. We want to create an environment that children can learn on their level that is exciting, current and fun. Today children are learning by what they see, hear, taste, smell and feel. They learn by what is made real to them. It is one thing to tell them about the burning bush that was not consumed, but how much more can they experience the miracle that took place by actually seeing it. One of our teacher's burnt leaves to show them how amazing the miracle was just for the bush not to be consumed. The kids will never forget that lesson. By adding a worship service to our children's area we will have a greater opportunity to show the realness of the Bible that will keep them interested and will make it fun. We want them to experience God and His word on their level. They will be able to worship with their style of music, they will be able to learn by getting involved with the lessons, they will have fun learning about Christ and beg to come back. We want them to be so excited about coming to church that they tell everyone about how much fun it is and pester their parent to death about coming back to church. With this new area and change, we know God is leading us to do it will create that environment!
3. What Will Happen to the Sunday School Teachers?
a. We want every Children's Sunday School Teacher that is willing, to lead small groups during a service that they do not attend. They will now have the option to go to Sunday School or attend Children's worship as a volunteer. We want the volunteers to arrive 15 minutes early to prepare. If the teacher chooses to attend Sunday School they would need to make preparations to still arrive 15 minutes early before there scheduled time. The lesson material will be available to them 4 weeks in advance. The props for the lesson will be available 2 weeks in advance and will be set up every Thursday before the small group meeting. Also, we want every volunteer involved with the children's ministry to attend a VIP meeting (vision, information & prayer) once per month. We will equip our teachers by making the material ready in advance and providing classes to train them on how to use the material.
4. Where do the teachers get their material?
a. The material will be provided for the teacher in the Small Groups Material room beside the children's worship area. By arriving 15 minutes early they will have ample time to get this done, if they need anything else that what is in their room. Their material will be laid out in order with the additional materials need. A volunteer will be there to assist them with any questions about their material. Also, drinks and snacks will be available to the volunteers in this area.
5. How will the Children be divided into small groups?
a. 2yrs - 5yrs old
i. This is for children that are not in kindergarten
b. K - 1st grade
i. Even if the child is 5yrs old or younger they will be in this class because they have classroom experience.
c. 2nd - 3rd grades
d. 4th - 5th grades
6. Worship and Small group settings
a. Because First Calvary has 2 services there are different families that come at different times. This is why we will offer 2 small group settings. The first SG will begin at 8:45am and the second will begin at 11:00am. We believe that it is important for them to worship together as a large group. We know that this will cause excitement and growth when they are together & more learning when their groups are smaller and more personal.
7. Will the 2yrs - 5yrs old children participate in the same worship as the older ones?
a. No. We do not believe that we can teach pre-school children on the same level as a grade-school child. The way that they learn is very different and e want to create an environment where they too can learn on their level. They are just as important .
8. What will they do different?
a. Their small group time will be the same as the others, but they will have a different material that will be on their learning level. Elevate Jr. is design for this particular age group. They will have their worship in a different room than the older children. It will be in the current children's church room. It will take place the same time that the other children's worship service will. This will create a more exciting environment for that age group. They will participate in just as much or more hands on learning and crafts.
9. What will this new Sunday look like?
a. Here is a schedule of the children's events for a typical Sunday morning.
i. 8:30 Checkin (For Traditional Attendees)
ii. 8:45 Begin Small Groups (For Traditional Attendees)
iii. 9:45 Snacks
iv. 9:45 Checkin (For Contemporary Attendees)
v. 9:55 Move to worship area
vi. 10:00 Begin worship
vii. 10:55 Check out (For Traditional Attendees)
viii. 10:55 Move to small groups (For Contemporary Attendees)
ix. 10:55 Begin small groups snack time
x. 11:15 Small group lesson
xi. 12:00 Final Check out
10. What will the worship service look like?
a. The worship service will be a very exciting time! Our children will participate in live worship music and hear a Bible story from their children's pastor that relates with their small group time. The worship time will include games, trivia and prizes to keep the children's attention and involve them in the lesson. There will be a Skit preformed by volunteers or watch on the screens in the worship area. They will be able to sing along with the songs by watching the screens with the lyrics and exciting backgrounds.
11. What will happen on Wednesday night if the rooms are now the worship area?
a. As of now there is only 1 room out of 6 being used in the current preschool area. They will move to these rooms.
12. What will happen on Sunday Nights if you are using Elevate on Sunday Mornings.
a. Elevate Kidstm has over 3 years worth of material available. We will use a different section of their material on Sunday nights and will still have Elevate for K-5th grade and Elevate Jr. for 2yrs - 5yrs old. The schedule will be the same as it is now, just relocated.
13. What happens if the Children's pastor is terminated or dies?
a. We hope that neither of these happen, but in the occasion that it does he will have already begun the training of a Godly volunteer leader to run and keep growing the ministry until a replacement or other arrangement is made. We are committed that no matter what we must keep ministering because Hell is still very real and without Jesus people are going there.

We know that this vision is what God desires at First Calvary. We believe that it will aid in the reaching of many for the cause of Christ. If we are to be a church we need to do everything we can to follow God's plan and reach people for Christ.