Treasure Seekers Children's Church

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Children's Church Schedule

In order to volunteer to lead Children's Church on a particular day, just click on "Comments" at the end of this post -- it's kind of small -- look at the very end of the post. You will then be able to see dates for which other people have volunteered that have not been added to the calendar. You will also find the window in which you can leave YOUR comment. Under the comment, mark it either as "other" or as "anonymous," especially if you do not have a Blogger ID, which most people do not. Please leave in the comment:

Name (only your first name is necessary)

Date for which you are volunteering

Any other notes or questions you may have

Please note that if I have added a note after a date, such as "Easter material to be written," I still need a volunteer for that day. All that this note means is that Joe has requested that during Children's church the kids write part of the liturgy. If you have questions regarding this, please contact Joe.

Thanks so much!
Kim

Schedule:
August 6 -- Jody
August 13 -- Melody
August 20 -- Chyrl
August 27 -- No Children's Church -- picnic

September 3 -- Mary and Jeff
September 10 -- Linda and friend, to be determined
September 17 -- Steve and Shelly
September 24 -- Kim (devotional clip art drawing)

October 1 -- Aly and Ben
October 8 -- Suzi
October 15 -- No Children's Church -- Children's Sabbath
October 22 -- Jean
October 29 -- Mary

November 5 -- Maudie
November 12 -- Suzi
November 19 --
November 26 --

December 3 -- Suzi
December 10 --
December 17 --
December 24 -- No Children's Church
December 31 -- No Children's Church

Curriculum Poll

Directions -- Just check the box next to your answer. You may choose more than one answer for each question. Click Vote to answer the poll. Click View is you would like to see the results so far. This poll will be active until August 7. Thank you so much for taking the time to help!

TWO IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. You must click Vote for EACH QUESTION -- Each one is a separate poll.
2. Once you click Vote, you will be taken to a page which shows the results so far for that question. Click the BACK button on your browser to continue to answer the questions.

Note: Since the poll is already underway, I can't go back in and change the possible answers, but if you've led Children's church twice, just mark "more than two." In our minds, let's pretend that says "two or more." You can pretend, can't you? Sure, I knew you could! Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you for participating! If you marked "Other" as an answer for any of the questions, please leave a comment using the "Comment" button at the end of this post to elaborate. Please do the same if you have concerns, comments, suggestions or questions.

July Newsletter

In this issue:
Curriculum Poll
New Curriculum Book
Schedule Needs Updated (important)
Assistants Needed
Schedule

Curriculum Poll
I think that we are going to need to update our curriculum soon. Does anyone else besides me think that 1 year with the same curriculum has probably been long enough? In order to facilitate the search for new material, I have created a POLL for you to go and answer a few questions. Just click on this link: Curriculum Poll. There are only five multiple choice questions -- it should take you less than 2 minutes -- really! I hope everyone participates; we will need the input!

New Curriculum book
Having said all of that, I did pick up a book at Cokesbury, which I'm adding to the yellow box in the kitchen. It is called "A Year's Worth of Children's Church." The description from Cokesbury's web page:

Here are fifty-two weeks of fun, easy-to-use, faith-building programs for the children of your church. Whether Children’s Church is as short at thirty minutes or runs an hour or more, this book is exactly what you need to fill the time and to fill the hearts and minds of your children with God’s Word. Suitable for both small and large groups, these programs provide a meaningful experience for children, not just babysitting during the worship hour. Like adult worship, Children’s Church is grounded in the Scriptures. Beloved Bible verses, stories, and poetry from the Psalms are the basis for the programs.

I figure that this will give us an extra resource to use while we take the time to find a new curriculum. Or maybe we'll like this one for the whole year -- let me know what you think of it.

Schedule Needs Updated
It's that time of year again. Please take a moment to go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com/ to schedule a time to lead the group. Thanks so much to those who regularly teach; you are gems. If you haven't volunteered to fill a time slot yet, and have questions or concerns, please let me know. If you are a little nervous about leading for the first time, I also need a few assistants over the next couple of months. You can volunteer to be a "helper" -- no prep work necessary -- just show up and -- well -- help. Thanks so much to everyone! Note: If leaving a comment on the blog is not your "thing," just send me an email or stop me in church. We'll get you signed up even if we need to use a pencil. I hope that we can fill the schedule up through the end of the year!

Vacation Bible School
Don't forget VBS. The schedule is:
July 30 -- 6:30 at Faith -- Movie
July 31 through August 3 -- 6:30 -8:30 at Faith -- Classes
August 5 -- 6:00 -- Pool party / picnic at Kennedy Center

Assistants Needed
Kids Klub will be singing staring in the fall again We'll need extra people to help on those days, so let me know if that sounds like something you would like to do.

Treasure Seekers Children's Church Schedule
July 30 -- Chyrl
August 6 -- Jody
August 13 -- Melody
August 20 -- Chyrl
August 27 -- Picnic -- No Children's Church

And that's all we've got filled in on the schedule. Please sign up!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

May Newsletter

In this issue:
Sign up reminder
Curriculum Resources
A Time for Cookies
Kids Activities
Safe Sanctuaries Moment
May Schedule

Sign up Reminder

I'm a little more confident in our schedule, thanks to those who recently signed up to teach. Please check the schedule and insert yourself . I will bring the schedule with me to church this Sunday in case you want to sign up via pencil and paper. Otherwise, just go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com/ to see the current open dates. You can leave a comment on the blog or email me with your preferences.

Curriculum Resources

I think it may be time to start looking at new curriculum resources for Children's Church. Are our current ones reaching their limit? As we make the next selection, it would be helpful to have input from those who have lead the program as to what works and what doesn't, so watch your email for a survey (if I can figure out how to do it).

A Time for Cookies!

A huge THANK YOU is extended to Debbie McGinnis who spent the Saturday before Palm Sunday with the kids baking Resurrection Cookies. Thanks also to Chyrl, David and Kirsten Budd, who stayed to help with the cookies, pizza, and entertainment. The kids had a wonderful time. Debbie and Jody did the big REVEAL during Children's Church on Palm Sunday.

Kids Activities

Haven't the Kids done a wonderful job lately in the service? Palm Sunday was great; every child played an instrument. Couldn't you just hear that Little Grey Donkey walking down the road? Last Sunday was also exceptional. The colors and symbols of Easter were everywhere; joy was abundant.

Thanks to Chyrl, Suzi, Melody, Carol, and everyone else who helps with Kids Klub. Suzi -- that artwork was tremendous.

Safe Sanctuaries Moment

As you are leading the children through their activities in the church, please keep in mind that the Safe Sanctuaries recommendations ask that all doors be kept open to the hallway. If you are working in the nurseries, you only need to leave the top part of the double door open (so that you can avoid escapees).

Treasure Seekers Children's Church Schedule

May 7th -- Suzi
May 14th -- Debbie
May 21st -- Pam
May 28th -- Anita
Oops -- Sorry, no April Newsletter -- it just got busy around here!

Friday, March 10, 2006

March Newsletter

In this issue:
Cookies and Pizza
Schedule
Easter
Safe Sanctuaries
Calendar Additions
Schedule

Cookies and Pizza
Thanks to Debbie McGinnis, we are having a special event for children on April 8 (this is the Saturday before Palm Sunday). Debbie has found a special recipe for resurrection cookies, and she wants to bake them with our kids. Each ingredient has a biblical meaning. The cookies are placed in a warm oven and left overnight. The kids will tie the oven closed. In the morning, during Children's church, they'll open the oven. When they break the cookies open, they will find that they are hollow -- and empty. Cool, huh?

A time has yet to be set, but the kids will meet in the church kitchen, and then after the cooking is done, we'll get together for a Pizza party in the Social Hall.

What can you do to help? Glad you asked!
1. Keep the date on your calendar if you have children so that you can bring them in to have fun.
2. Debbie will probably need a help on April 9 during Children's church. This is Palm Sunday (read extra kids) and Kids Klub is singing, so if you can be her helper during Children's Church that day, let me know.
3. Anyone want to help with the pizza party?

Schedule Needs Updated
Please remember to go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com to schedule a time to lead the children's church. March 26 is still open (eek!). Note: If leaving a comment on the blog is not your "thing," just send me an email or stop me in church. We'll get you signed up even if we need to use a pencil.

Easter
We will not be having Children's Church on Easter. It's such a great time in the worship service that we'll keep the kids in with us.

Safe Sanctuaries
Here's your second dose of "Safe Sanctuaries." The leader of the workshop warned us to avoid activities which provide fun for everyone except the one child who is "the butt of the joke." He told a story about an activity he used to do at camps. Three volunteer children would be taken from the room. The game was that each volunteer child would be brought back into the room to find a soup ladle. The ladle would have been hidden somewhere in the room. As the searcher came closer, the crowd would cheer. As the searcher got farther from the hidden ladle, the audience would get quieter -- sound being the clue the searcher used to find the ladle. Fine and dandy. For the third volunteer to come into the room, the camp leader would hide the ladle in his belt at the small of his back. You can imagine how much fun this would be. The leader would move around the room, so that sound clues would change for the searcher depending on how close he was to the leader.

Anyway, this was great fun for everyone involved exept, perhaps for the searcher. This wouldn't bother most children. But for that one child out of 100, who has been told all his life that he was unworthy -- not loved, this kind of activity would prove that the church held him in low esteem, as well. Not the message we want our children to receive.

So as you plan activities, please be aware of the games that are fun for everyone except the one child who is the "butt of the joke." We want everyone -- especially the ones who have always felt unloved -- to know that at church, they are loved!

Calendar Additions
Please add the following dates to your calendar:
April 8 -- Sat -- Cookies and Pizza
April 9 -- Kids sing in church
April 30 -- Kids Klub program during worship service and Youth service (I think I have this right -- someone stop me if I'm wrong.) If I'm right, then we will not have Children's Church.
July 31 - August 4 -- Vacation Bible School

Treasure Seekers Children's Church Schedule
March 12 -- Mary and Jeff
March 19 -- Suzi
March 26 -- empty
April 2 -- Kim
April 9 -- Debbie and helper?
April 16 -- Easter -- no Children's Church
April 23 -- Maudie
April 30 -- Kids Klub / Youth service -- No Children's Church?

Friday, February 17, 2006

February Newsletter

In this issue:
Schedule Needs Updated (important)
Easter?
Safe Sanctuaries
Pennies from Heaven
Schedule

Schedule Needs Updated

I'm getting a little nervous. We only have people scheduled to cover children church through March 19 (except for a couple of other people here and there in the schedule. Please take a moment to go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com/ to schedule a time to lead the group. Thanks so much to those who regularly teach; you are gems. If you haven't volunteered to fill a time slot yet, and have questions or concerns, please let me know. If you are a little nervous about leading for the first time, I also need a few assistants over the next couple of months. You can volunteer to be a "helper" -- no prep work necessary -- just show up and -- well -- help. Thanks so much to everyone! Note: If leaving a comment on the blog is not your "thing," just send me an email or stop me in church. We'll get you signed up even if we need to use a pencil.

Easter
What is your opinion? Is Easter the perfect time to have the kids in church (and thus we should not have Children's Church that day)? Or is it the perfect time to get the kids together for a service of their own (and we should have children's church that day)? If we do have it, we'll need at least three people to work in the Treasure Seeker's room that day.

Safe Sanctuaries
Thanks to Anita, Mary, and Chyrl for attending the Safe Sanctuaries workshop in Ona last month. Lots of really good information. HOpefully I'll be sharing it with you over the next few months, but I thought it might keep you attention longer if I cut it up into bite sized pieces -- a little here -- a little there -- so it's not so HUGE.

Since the kids of the church are in the middle of raising funds to help prevent child abuse, I thought it would be a perfect time for us to examine how to recognize abuse in children. Remember, these are only warning signs, not evidence. This list is from the Prevent Child Abuse web site:

The behavior of children may signal abuse or neglect long before any change in physical appearance. Some of the signs may include:

Nervousness around adults
Aggression toward adults or other children
Inability to stay awake or to concentrate for extended periods
Sudden, dramatic changes in personality or activities
Unnatural interest in sex
Frequent or unexplained bruises or injuries
Low self-esteem
Poor hygiene

The site also offers a handout with even more extensive information. You'll need Acrobat reader to open this page (click on the word "handout").

Pennies from Heaven
The children of the church are collecting Pennies from Heaven to benefit TEAM for WV Children, a group dedicated to helping to prevent child abuse. Support our kids by donating your pocket change in church on February 19 and February 26.

Treasure Seekers Children's Church Schedule

February 19 -- Suzi
February 26 -- Steve and Shelly
March 5 -- Jodi
March 12 -- Mary and Jeff
March 19 -- Suzi

Friday, January 06, 2006

January Newsletter

In this issue:
Calendar Addition -- Safe Sanctuary
Curriculum Resources
Pockets
A message from Debbie
Sign up reminder
January Schedule

Calendar Addition -- Safe Sanctuary
I'll be sending out more information regarding this item in a separate email, but a Safe Sanctuary workshop is being offered in Ona on the morning of January 28. It is for those who work with children and youth. Watch your email for more details, but you may want to add this date to your calendar.

Curriculum Resources
Amy has ordered Children's Worship bulletins for the kids. I'm working with the ushers to pass them out with the Adult bulletins (along with crayons). These bulletins also come with a book of Children's Sermons, which I'll add to the Yellow box in the library, in case you want to use them. These are designed for the Children's Moment, not Children's church, but you might be able to adapt them for the Treasure Seekers time. If you do, remember that some of the kids may not have picked up a children's bulletin, so you'll want to have extras. There are bulletins for both younger and older children, so beware that the kids may not have the same bulletin. You can also easily leave out the references to the Children's bulletin if you like. Anyway, it is an extra resource if you want it.

Pockets
Amy has also ordered several copies of Pockets, the children's devotional magazine. These will be in the Treasure Seekers Children's church room. There are enough of them for every child to take one home, so give them away! They come once every two months.

And this message from Debbie Mcginnis: I (Debbie) bought a book at the book store at the Mall. It has 500 activities for children's church. It has stories and pages you can remove and copy. I used it to do Noah's Ark. If anyone can't find something they would like to use they are more than welcome to borrow this one. Thanks, Debbie!

Sign Up Reminder
Remember, if you would like to sign up to lead Children's Church, then go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com and leave me a comment. There are instructions on the web page as to how to do this. So far it has worked well for those who have volunteered to lead. If you would like a lower tech method to volunteer, then just email me or catch me in church to give me a date. So far, we almost have a complete schedule through March. Yahoo!!

Treasure Seekers Children's Church Schedule
January 1 -- New Year's Day -- No Children's Church
January 8 -- Christy Vargo
January 15 -- Anita FarrellJanuary 22 -- Susan
January 29 -- Aly and Ben

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

December Newsletter

In this issue:
Liturgy Writing
Attendance Information
Additional Resources
Advent Devotional Artwork
Sign up reminder
Schedule Reminders
December Schedule

Liturgy Writing
Were you in the second service on November 20? Did you by chance hear the liturgy done by the children? Wasn't it great? Vicky and Joe were responsible for leading the kids as they prepared a thanksgiving liturgy. I thought how it was done was really neat, so I thought I would share it with you. First, they stopped in the nursery, and traced the outline of Jackson's body on a large piece of paper. They took this up the Treasure Seekers' room. The kids then wrote what they were thankful for sticky notes. These were then stuck on the Jackson's outline -- for instance -- if someone were thankful for icecream, they stuck the sticky note near the mouth, because they could taste it. If they were thankful for their parents, then the note went on the heart, because they loved their parents. Isn't that cool? I'm not sure of the rest of the story, but I think Vicky and Joe took the many sticky notes, and assembled the liturgy for the kids to read in church. If you missed it, I've put a copy of the liturgy on the blog at this link, so that you can read it (http://tinyurl.com/ak9ff).

Attendance Information
I'm a counter. I like to count things. I like statistics. Since I like to count, I can tell you that the average attendance at Children's church in November was 7.5 children per week. Since we had our meeting at the end of August, the average attendance has been 8.6 children per week. What does that mean? Nothing. I just like to count. Here's another one for you. Since the last week of August, our Treasure Seekers' volunteer team has had the opportunity to touch a child's life 103 times. I like that one.

Additional Resources
I've added a copy of Pockets -- a children' s devotional -- to the yellow box in the library. I'm not sure if this will be of any help, but thought I would add it so that you could take a look. If you use it, let me know what you think.

I've also added a looseleaf notebook to the curriculum in the library. In this notebook are resources that I have found that might help prepare a lesson, come up with an activity, or provide general information on teaching children. To whet your appetite, some of the articles included right now include "Creative Ways to Teach the Liturgical Seasons," "Why (and how to) Use Maps with Children," and "Acting Out Familar Stories with Children." As always, if you use a particular activity with the kids, just date the resources so that we will know not to repeat it.

Advent Devotional Artwork
Take a look at the Advent Devotional. Once again, all of the artwork in the book is drawn by our children and youth -- most of them during Children's Church.

Sign Up Reminder
Remember, if you would like to sign up to lead Children's Church, then go to http://jmchildren.blogspot.com and leave me a comment. There are instructions on the web page as to how to do this. So far it has worked well for those who have volunteered to lead. If you would like a lower tech method to volunteer, then just email me or catch me in church to give me a date. So far, we almost have a complete schedule through March. Yahoo!!

Schedule Reminders
Remember the following for the month of December:
December 25 -- No Sunday school (continental breakfast instead) and no Children's Church.
January 1 -- No Sunday school (continental breakfast instead) and no Children's Church. This is UM Student day, and Betsy will be preaching. Let's be sure to come out and give her our full support.

Children's Church Schedule
December 4 -- Children's Program -- No Children's Church
December 11 -- Lee
December 18 -- Jeff and Mary (Christmas material to be written)
December 25 — Christmas — no Children’s Church

Sunday, November 20, 2005

God's Love is all Around us

Litany for November 20, 2005 -- Written by the children of JM and arranged by Pastor Joe and Vicky.

(After each statement, the congregation will respond, “God’s love is all around us.”)

Ericka: We are thankful to God for friends, other people, and teachers,
Ericka: We are thankful to God for books and stories, clothes, light bulbs, and the ability to read,
Ericka: We are thankful to God for beautiful hair, all the love in this place, each of us, health and all the stuff we have,
Ericka: We are thankful to God for being able to pick flowers, for the sun and moon, and for trees, grass, and all the things in nature,
Josh: We are thankful to God for all the many colors in the world, for hills and earth, and the beautiful fall leaves of many colors,
Josh: We are thankful to God for rain, and mountains, and flowers, and water, and glasses, and all the stuff in the world,
Josh: We are thankful to God for recreation, for television, Myrtle Beach, golf, playing, and toys,
Josh: We are thankful to God for cars, and money, and pools to swim in, and for the ability to run and catch,
Savannah: We are thankful to God for beds, and food, and moms and dads,
Savannah: We are thankful to God for pets, dogs and cats, for the dogs named Molly, Ginger, and Lisa,
Savannah: We are thankful to God for Kyle, for cousins, for brothers, for love and for families,
Ericka: We are thankful to God for Jesus, our King and Lord, for music, for singing, for the Bible, and for the cross,
Josh: We are thankful to God for the church, for hugs that show love, and for God being God.

When you lead Children's Church, what do you use as a source for the lesson?
	Curriculum from church (kept in yellow box)
	Books I have at home
	Whatever idea I have at the time
	Other

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Which phrase described you;
	I like having curriculum available and will always use it.
	If I don't see something in the curriculum that I like, I'll plan my own lesson.
	I never use the curriculum.
	I like having curriculum as an option, but like the freedom to choose to not use it.
	I think everybody should always use the curriculum so that we have continuity
	Other

Free polls from Pollhost.com

What would you like to see in curriculum that is chosen for Children's church?
	More craft ideas
	More bible stories
	Lessons based on the Revised Common Lectionary
	More activities
	It doesn't matter -- I don't use the curriculum any
	What we are using now works for me
	Other

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Which would you like to see?
	New curriculum for children's church
	Information regarding the "theme" of the service so that I could coordinate the lesson with worship
	Children's church leaders' training
	Other

Free polls from Pollhost.com