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Suggestions & questions about the Christian Education section of the Web site should be directed to Cindy Bolton at boltonc@macucc.org |
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In the midst of this beautiful (albeit rainy) summer season, it is hard to imagine that rally day, welcome home Sunday, or church school registration is just around the corner. And yet now is the time to plan and prepare for next year’s church school and programs.
Here are some things to consider:
How will we begin or kick off this fall’s Sunday School? Will there be a time for families to come to the church and register their children for the church school? Choose a Sunday in September or an evening during the week and hold registration and create your own sundae Sunday. Or perhaps you would prefer to have a registration breakfast or luncheon. Invite everyone through the church’s newsletter, e-groups, and send individual postcard invitations to each family. Advertize the event in your local newspaper and put it on the local cable network. Make sure teachers are present to meet the children and their families. Have registration centrally located and easily available for guests and visitors as well as for new families. Good signage should be strategically placed directing people to registration. Have the curriculum to be used out and available in each child’s classroom. Make your Christian education mission statement visible both in words and by the practices that are being experienced. Have calendars, brochures and materials available for the upcoming church school year. Create an information packet for families about the policies and procedures that are in place for the church school (i.e.) pick up procedures for children, discipline policy, media/electronic equipment use, field trips, two adult rule, incident reporting forms etc. Use this as an intentional time to make everyone welcome. Celebrate this as a reunion time and a special event. Utilize registration to build energy and enthusiasm for your children’s ministry.
Are the classrooms prepared, welcoming and ready? Be sure that every classroom is clean, neat and looks ready and welcoming. Have bulletin boards covered with fresh paper. Dust and wash the tables and chairs. Make sure the curtains are crisp and clean. Clean the carpets. Arrange the bookshelves neatly. Have all the supplies fresh and waiting for use. Check all the equipment that it is working properly. Throw away broken crayons, dried up magic markers, glue sticks and paste. Have fresh stacks of colored and white paper available as well as staplers filled and scissors ready. Put up fresh posters and have signs saying “welcome, glad you are here”. If you have different learning stations in the classroom, make sure signs are decorative and well placed. Make sure the worship center is prepared with the right liturgical color and that a bible and offering basket are there. Place a new Christ candle in the middle of the worship center. Have a first aid kit in every classroom as well as an evacuation plan. How is the children’s stewardship and offering to be handled? Too often children’s offering is not connected to the lesson or to worship and therefore the understanding that they are called to respond to God’s abundant goodness and grace through their time, talents and money is lost. If the children’s offering is taken during worship separately from the worship offertory time, it is important that the children are clear that their offering will be joined with the adult’s offering later in worship. They should be made aware over and over again, that later in worship, their offering will also have a prayer asking for God’s blessing upon it and that it will be used for the ministry and mission of the church. If the children’s offerings are collected during church school class, then time should be set aside for the collection of their gifts. The class can sing the doxology together and they can read a prayer each week following the collection. If they have forgotten their offering ask the child to hold the offering basket and to pause, and while holding the basket silently think of something they can do as a gift for a member of their family or a friend. Children can make stewardship pledges beyond money by offering to bring cans of food for the food drive each month, offering to participate in the church school’s mission and outreach programs, and offering to do something for others. Be sure that the teaching staff is trained to talk with children about stewardship, how the church uses their donations and that they often thank their class for their generous gifts and offerings. How is hospitality provided to new children and their families? Welcoming is a sacred act as the story of Abraham and Sarah illustrates. Hospitality is a biblical tradition. It is important that the church be extravagant in it’s provisions for new families and children. Make sure that name tags worn by everyone, adults and children alike. Specify and assign greeters for new children and families at registration. They can become their shepherds through registration and in the beginning weeks that follow as visitors and guest decide if they wish to make this their church home. Go through your facility, looking at it as if you have never been in the community before so that you can evaluate it for signage, directions to bathrooms, the sanctuary, classrooms, etc. Are all the bulletin boards throughout interesting and informational? Are there informational packets about the church’s life, ministry and mission available and plentiful? Another words, would a visitor know that there are fellowship dinners for all on Weds. evenings followed by a brief worship service and then bible study with child care provided? Is worship welcoming to young and old? Do you offer Sunday bulletins to children and youth? Do you offer Sunday bulletins designed for non-readers? Have ushers and greeters been trained in ways to “meet and welcome” children? Are there activity packets for children and age appropriate bibles available for their use? Is there a plan for greeting and meeting new families visiting the church? Is there a plan for greeting and meeting their children? How do they know where and when their children go to church school? Is there an intentional strategy to integrate them into the church family from coffee fellowship time until they become full members? Is the teaching ministry staff prepared and trained? Jesus is the prime example of a good teacher. All of us are called to ministry as part of our baptism. Teaching is a true calling and preparing the teaching ministry staff is vital. It is important that each of us is equipped for the call that we answer. Teacher orientation and ongoing communications and training sessions should be scheduled and be part of the staff’s call to ministry. Teaching is a covenantal relationship with God, the church and the students with whom the staff is working. Have a teaching staff “job” description i.e. the church will provide curriculum, supplies, clean classrooms, training experiences, leadership and resource persons, and ongoing prayer and support. The teaching staff will use the curriculum, prepare and be in the classroom on their team teaching Sundays or call a substitute, know their students and attempt to recognize their needs, attend training events whenever possible, etc. Dedicate and commission for ministry the teaching staff during worship making sure that the entire congregation is mentioned as part of this special and faith forming ministry. The dedication becomes a “teaching opportunity” to remind all members that each are mentors in faith to one another, young and old alike.
Come Ye Faithful to the newly established Christian Education and/ or Youth Ministry Communities of Practice! There have been two facilitator trainings and groups in each association are now being formed. Christian Education and /or Youth Ministry Communities of Practice are intended to support educators and youth workers serving in the MACUCC Conference providing them with networking, increased awareness of UCC resources, as well as effective and best practices of Christian education and youth ministry found throughout our local churches. If you would like to participate and have not received an invitation from a Community of Practice facilitator, please contact Cindy Bolton at boltonc@macucc.org or Elsa Marshall at elsa.marshall@gmail.com.
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