Upcoming changes for your kids

Dear FBR Parents,

I want to let you know about a few changes that are taking place in our Children’s Ministry. Early last spring, we began taking a hard look at the Children’s Ministry. What we found was amazing kids with incredible potential but programming that was older than the kids and very tired volunteers. Our Sunday morning Children’s Ministry is good but has room for improvement. Our Wednesday evening programs were seriously struggling in participation and leadership. This saddened me; something clearly had to be done. Not wanting to cancel these valuable programs completely but knowing they could not continue to function the way they were, myself, other staff members, and Children’s Ministry leaders began to pray about a solution. Below is the plan:

1. Promotion Sunday is August 21. Kids will move up into the Bible Study class for the grade they are going into this school year. Look for a postcard in the mail with your child’s new classroom assignment the week of August 15. Our 1^st-4^th graders will check-in then go to the Powerhouse, not to individual classrooms. The 5^th and 6^th graders will go directly to their classrooms.
2. We are also adding a closing in the Powerhouse for 1^st-4^th graders at the end of the 11:00 a.m. Bible study to recap what we have learned and have a little fun. This will also allow parents to pick up their kids and drop them off in the same location.
3. Our Wednesday evening schedule is going to change. Awana will not meet any longer at this time and RA’s/GA’s will only meet this fall (6:00-7:00 p.m. in B-202). We are integrating elements from these wonderful programs into our Sunday morning schedule so they may impact the maximum number of kids!
4. I will teach a children’s discipleship class on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in B-102 beginning September 7. This will be for all kids 1^st-6^th grade. We will discover what God’s Word has to say about values, self-esteem, sin, godly friendships, and more.
5. A Preschool class for 3 year olds through Kindergarteners will also be offered in room A-202 beginning September 7. They will be using KidMo’s “Lil’K” curriculum.
6. A planning team has been formed. This team includes the Children’s Director Jen Abercrombie, previous Awana Commander Linda Adams, RA/GA leaders Carmen Kraus & Ann Bower, Childcare Coordinator Julie Pieratt, Powerhouse leaders Geoff & Kattia Mills, and parent Steve White. Team Goals:

• Plan and implement a new Sunday morning schedule that incorporates small group Bible study, worship, games, crafts, missions, and scripture memorization/Bible navigation.
• Plan and implement Wednesday evening activities.
• Recruit any additional volunteers that might be needed.
• Choose additional curriculum that would be used for Sunday morning and Wednesday evening.
• Decide room assignment changes if necessary.
• Communicate the changes to parents.
• Launch changes on January 8, 2012.

I am very excited about the team that has been assembled and look forward to the planning process. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

In Christ,

Jen Abercrombie
Children’s Director
jabercrombie@firstbaptistraytown.com
816-778-1131 office

“‘What would you think about giving every kid at FBR a chance to experience missions to take RA’s and GA’s to them instead of them coming to us?’ This was the question presented to me last spring. After prayer, and letting my personal desires get out of the way, I decided I love the idea.  I am excited to be a part of the transition in our children’s ministry. Traditions, the way we have always done things, are thoughts that come to mind during this time; but each time I think of how God will use those traditions and lessons we have learned for this new generations of kids. As a Southern Baptist Church we have so many great opportunities and missions projects we support, but most of our kids have no idea what they are or why they are so important. Lottie Moon Post Office, Annie Armstrong Easter Eggs, International and North American Studies, World Hunger cups, Serving at the Thursday night meals, making valentines for the Hope Network, decorating the mission house for Christmas, and many other mission projects that we have done for years will continue. Moving this mission education opportunity to Sunday morning will only make these projects bigger and better and give more kids the opportunity to be involved. We love bringing missionary speakers to our classes, and they are great; they are hidden treasures. I am so excited to be able to share them with all the kids at FBR now.”

Carmen Kraus-RA’s Director

“I’ve been an Awana person for lots of years. I don’t want to say how many and give away my age, but I will say that I have 10 years service in Awana. I have always, and still do, believe that Awana is a wonderful program. I can’t say enough about the benefits of this program for both evangelism and discipleship. Two years ago when I became Commander at FBR, I would never have agreed that it could be a good idea to not have Awana. I poured everything I had into our club, including much prayer. I finally came to realize that Awana, for whatever reason, was not working at our church. Maybe because we offered so many ministries for children, there were just not enough volunteers to make all of them all they could be. I had to give all my expectations to God and ask Him to show me what He wanted me to do. I also had to trust that He would lead the people that He had placed in authority to make the decisions.

I am excited about what God is doing. I can’t wait to see what He will do with our Sunday morning program as we seek His direction. I believe He will guide us in developing a program of excellence that will reach children with the Gospel, teach them to love His Word, how to study and memorize Scripture, and show them how to serve Him in Missions. We will have children that are thoroughly equipped for every good work.“

Linda Adams- Awana Commander