Our Church is working on a training policy in regards to three, four and five year olds for Sunday School and Children's Church. I would like your thoughts on how long you should let a child cry before their parents are asked to pick them up and ways to calm crying children in this age group.
Thanks, your site is such a blessing.
Thanks again, Lanie
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2) Fruit of the Easter Basket?
Quite a few years ago I had heard about a Fruit of the Easter Basket, where you put in Bible verses in plastic eggs along with items like raisins that symbolize what the verses say, does any one remember anything like that? I would like to make for our preschool-K Sunday School class. thanks Peggy
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3) Peeps & Bunnies
Thanks Angie,
Terrific idea. I plan to use it with the little peeps. The cards I'll use to attach the peeps to. Thanks again. This site is really helpful.
God Bless,
Kim
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4) Boys Ministry?
We are presently developing a girls ministry, focusing on both social graces and spiritual graces. We are trying to help our young women develop into self respecting ladies. My problem though is to find a coresponding program for our young men. (ages six to sixteen. ) Thank you in advance for your help. Paul Morris Holly Springs FWB church, Newport North Carolina
Regarding the problems with the pastor and wanting to start a prayer group: Our church has had a pastoral appointment for the last three years that has been very difficult for us. The prior pastor was greatly loved and very active in our community, knew everyone, was very attentive to everyone's needs, and showed a genuine "sense of care" in all that she did. When she left, our appointment process was very difficult for our congregation and many felt unheard and that time was not allowed for a grieving and welcoming process to take place. Being on the staff/parish committee was very difficult for many of us and handling the transition was very emotional. I feel strongly that we do not go to church to worship the pastor, and that unless there are extreme fundamental differences between pastor and congregation at large, these times are to be used as a time of personal growth on both sides, learning to pray for those who might not make us very h appy, learning to accept new ways of doing things, etc...
Several friends and I started a prayer/small group to nourish our spirits together during this "dark" time. Several friends and even my husband and myself committed to praying for our pastor. Not that she would change to be the way we thought she should be, not that she grow our congregation, but prayer that she could grow spiritually, that she could experience confidence, maturity, independence, strong faith, feel uplifted, open up to hear God speaking to her. However, I think we were over exuberant in our efforts to cheerlead for her in order to keep the congregation from rising up against her. She never has taken the opportunity to exceed perceived limits, she has only used our willingness to excuse her to enable her to continue on the same path...no growth...no care...it is as if in our efforts to give it a chance, we got in the way of some great work God could do through us. One thing to keep in mind though is that times like these are great opportunities for congregations to learn to lean on one another in faith. A pastor is not a member of your church. I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together and we are there to worship God together, not to be entertained on Sunday morning only.
You need to express your needs as a congregation to your pastor, beginning with your pastoral/staff committee. You need to be assured that your shepherd is concerned for his/her entire flock. After three years, our pastor can barely remember names of most prominent members. There is just a blatant lack of care, right down to how the sanctuary looks on Sunday morning. I don't understand it, but must say that this term will be done this Summer and I am so exhausted from keeping my chin up, I might topple over! It will be a blessing to be able to move on with a new appointment. So, final word? Keep praying, but don't get in the way of those prayers working. God can do great things if people really communicate. It's one of the hardest things for people to do, but one of the best healers.
God's Peace to you, B. in NY
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6) Easter Poem
Hi,
I took some ideas from your site and thought I'd send some back.
For my 6-8th grade class (15 students) on Mar 25 we:
--talked about what Christ did for us. --Made/edited some verses to illustrate --Crafted some letters/pictures on to some sponge-material crosses --talked about what it means to "Take something to the Cross"
--Had Donuts. Maybe donuts were not available during the real Last Supper..........
Al Mundy Tri-Lakes Methodist Church -- Monument Co
Hailed as King, Fronds waved high. Within a week, He was to die!
30 pieces of silver, Betrayed him that day. A kiss on His cheek, And then away!
He went to the cross. Sinless and pure. He took our sin. That is for sure.
He was thinking of you, When he hung on the tree. He took your punishment, And set you free.
Two thieves on the cross Hung next to the Master. One asked -- salvation, One got disaster!
He died on the cross And rose from the dead. He's coming again- Just as he said.
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7) Teaching unchurched kids
I can relate to your dilemma. Our Sunday School class is completely comprised of bus kids - many who have no church background. It has been quite a switch to go from teaching kids who have heard the Bible stories for years to kids who have never heard them before. I find it very refreshing, because everything is new and exciting for these kids.
What has helped me is keeping it in mind that these kids have little to no Bible knowledge. We try to emphasize that the stories we are telling are true, and like it was mentioned before, we try to emphasize Biblical truths throughout the story. We also try to be flexible. When teaching, we'll ask if the kids know what a certain thing means. This leads into very interesting discussions, and there are times that we completely go off track because a child wants to know a bout a particular thing.
It is very overwhelming to think that you are the only one giving a child any Biblical background, and you only have 3/4 hour to do it. Try to focus on just planting little seeds here and there. You'll be amazed at what kids just absorb from being in Sunday School.
Another thing we are starting to do since we have such a limited amount of time is to devote two Sundays to one lesson so we can make sure we cover all the points of the story and/or theme. This helps drive our point home, and the kids seem to remember things better. We like to have a review Sunday, too, every so often.
Hope these ideas help.
Kari
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8) Teaching unchurched kids
Don't know how much control you have over curriculum, but one of the things I would look for in a curriculum is whether or not the gospel is presented each week. I do a lot of teacher training around the country, and I encourage teachers to teach each lesson as if the child will be there only that one Sunday. If you get another chance to reach them, great. If you don't - then you know you have planted a seed.
Having said that - the curriculum should only be a tool, a springboard. It is up to the teacher to fine tune the curriculum to fit his/her students. The curriculum publisher does not know your students. Curriculum is published for churches of all sizes, ethnicity, inner city, country, etc. As an editor for a curriculum company, I know there is no way to publish materials that will fit every Sunday school class. The teacher has to make it work for her class.
Make every activity a learning activity, even the snack! Students should learn from the minute they walk in the door until they leave. Pack that 45 minutes with lots of fun, effective stuff.
Blessings
Teresa
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9) Balloon Easter eggs
I had lots of little white balloons that were leftover form a wedding. I had my Sunday School class blow them up and then they colored them with permanent markers. The sharpee brand has some really bright beautiful colors. Some of the children did a stain glass look, smearing the edges of the colors with a paper towel as they colored. Other children drew lent symbols or spring time objects. There is no end to how creative kids can be! When we were finished we hung them from the ceiling with fish line. They looked really pretty, almost as if they were floating in the air. Of course the shape of the balloon resembled an egg, which made them look like colored Easter eggs when finished. You do have to use permanent colors . Water colored markers wipe right off the balloon. The ages in my class are 1st through 9th grade. If you have little ones, watch closely with permanent markers.
Brenda Goodwin
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10) Skits
We did two years ago that are still very funny today. One was called' "Hey, Pa? Are There any of them there Trains a'comin' Down that there Track?" The other was called' "What's the Matter, Pa?" Will share them with you by e mail because they are so long to write out.....they are great. Dianne at eugenendianne@otelco.net
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