Childrens Ministries
Sunday Morning
Wednesday Evening
Summer Camp
Events |
|
Our philosophy of Children’s Ministry is to transform children into spiritual champions by loving them as Jesus did, and by providing a safe and fun environment in which they can grow. We want children to hear and learn God’s Word, and to experience the love He shown us by sending His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and thus provide a way for eternal life through Him.
Children’s Ministry provides tender, loving care for infants and toddlers, as well as the sound teaching of God’s Word up to 6th grade. Preschool has created a dynamic curriculum to take children on a chronological journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Elementary department continues the journey from the preschool department by taking the children deeper into Gods word.
DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR ~
SEPTEMBER THROUGH MAY
We provide Nursery care and Sunday school, year round for children up to 3 years old from 9:00 am-12:00pm. Worship Junction (children’s church) is for ages 4 years to 4th grade from 10:30 to 11:45 am. Sunday school is by grade level from 9:00 to 10:15 am. Both programs (Worship Junction and Sunday School) run from September-May.
Children’s Ministry also provides AWANA, a mid-week program on Wednesday evenings during the months of September through May. This program is for Kindergarten through 6th graders.
DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS ~ JUNE THROUGH AUGUST
The Children’s Ministry summer program provides the following:
Sunday mornings, June through August, children ages 4-6th grade are invited to be involved in a children's musical. We will practice every Sunday from 9:00 to 10:00 am in Room 1103. The children will rehearse the "Heaven's Kitchen" musical throughout the summer and then perform the beginning of September. Children 4 years old and under will be with their parents during the social hour or we do have a nursery available if needed.
BACK YARD CLUB - This summer will be a weekly back yard sack lunch program held on Wednesdays from 12:00 Noon to 1:30 pm. We will be using the 5-Day back yard curriculum from Child Evangelism Fellowship. Our goal is to draw the children from the Logan neighborhood and introduce them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This will be primarily held on the church lawn near the fire station.
KIDS SUMMER CAMP is offered July 12-16 at our beautiful Riverview Bible Camp on Pend O’Reille River, about one hour north of Spokane. This camp is for children going into the 3rd grade through 6th. Please register on-line at www.riverviewbiblecamp.com.
We also have hundreds of positions for people, young and old, to serve as service coordinators, caregivers, teachers, assistant teachers, AWANA leaders, craft team members, worship team members, etc. Come join the fun.
Our goal in Children’s Ministry for preschoolers is to transform children into spiritual champions by loving them as Jesus did, and by providing a safe and fun environment in which they can grow. To achieve this goal, we have created a dynamic curriculum to take children on a chronological journey through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in 51 lessons. In the fall, we focus on the Old Testament. During the Winter and Spring we focus on the New Testament. And during the Summer we explore Biblical concepts. Children are taught Bible stories that are reinforced through verse memorization, singing, crafts, games, and other engaging activities.
All Children's Ministry volunteers are required to complete a background check and complete child abuse prevention training.
For more information, please contact Melissa Iverson, Director of Preschool Ministry; or Theresa Daily, Director of Children's Ministry at 509.487.2786.
Harvest Festival - October 31, 2009
Here are some pictures from the Harvest Festival...
  |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
  |
 |
 |
Children's Ministry
Year End Annual Report for 2009
It is such a blessing to see God at work in Children’s Ministry. He has allowed us to serve Him to further His kingdom through children. In 2009 we have had the privilege of seeing children come to know the Lord as their personal Savior. Also, we have been able to help children grow in their walk with the Lord through children’s church and Sunday school. God has given us wonderful volunteers who are committed to teach children about our great God.
As with any year, we see many changes that take place in Children’s Ministry. This year we were sad to see Marie Hyde resign her position as Preschool Director, but God, in His faithfulness, brought our newest addition to the Fourth Church staff, Melissa Iverson. She is married to Dan Iverson who is currently a Deacon. They have four beautiful girls, Emily, Faith, Abby, and Lily. Melissa’s love for music has been a wonderful blessing to our ministry. She loves to teach children traditional hymns along with current music. Melissa’s high energy, attention to detail, and love for children will be a wonderful asset to the Fourth Church staff.
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
“Cosmic City” was the theme for our Vacation Bible School this year. One of our main goals was to get the neighborhood kids in the doors to hear the gospel message. We delivered the gospel clearly to the children three out of the five days and by the end of the week saw at least six children dedicate their lives to the Lord. The average number of children that attended Vacation Bible School was 100 per day. The energy was high and the children were excited to sign-in each day.
Our volunteer base was exceptional with several school teachers, Moody students, and high school kids. Each team had two leaders per 10-12 students and the students really connected with their leaders. Also our “stations” were incredibly staffed with dedicated volunteers that created such fun learning rooms for the students to enjoy each day! The science room was especially exciting for the children to physically see the miracles God performs each day in our universe.
Overall, Vacation Bible School was a successful endeavor for Children’s Ministry and we are thankful for the children God brought us. Looking back, there are of course several things we can learn and do better next time, including the closing ceremonies in which we wanted the entire family to participate. We are continuing to look for ways to involve the children of this neighborhood. This neighborhood is our mission field and we desire to go where God has called us.
KIDS CAMP
Once again, Fourth Church teamed together with other churches in the area to have a great camp. Our theme was “beyond.” Director Tim Mason invited Dave Gammon, a junior high school science teacher, to speak with the children. He did an outstanding job teaching the kids about God through science and giving a clear gospel message. Forty children from Fourth Memorial Church attended camp this year. Six were from our neighborhood. It is always a privilege to see God at work. Several children gave their lives to Christ for the first time and many recommitted themselves.
SUMMER ON THE 17th
“Summer on the 17th ”was for the months of June, July and August and was a family fun evening designed to provide an informal setting where new and old acquaintances could fellowship. Through games, water park fun, and movie night, we reached out to strangers and made them friends. One of the evenings we performed the book of Ruth in drama. This brought a large group of Fourth Church members together to work on a project that would dramatically show God’s redemption for His people. This performance was powerful for not only the audience but the actors as well.
As children’s directors, we truly believe that the way to spread the gospel is through making others a priority and helping those in need. By providing a safe, fun place for families to play together, we are reaching those that would otherwise have no place to go. We hope that this type of activity will help to tear down the barriers some may feel because they never attended a church before. Our prayer is that our church becomes a refuge and not a place of intimidation. We want those that do not attend regularly to know that what happens to them matters to us.
HARVEST FESTIVAL
This year’s “Harvest Festival” was off to a great start with a small swimming pool full of candy in the children’s department offices. The candy was rolling in and so were the volunteers. The junior high and high school group offered to take over the maze and with that put more emphasis on sharing the gospel with each person that went through. Our original plan was to have a group of people wander through the maze ending in the elevator room and be seated there to hear a short simple presentation of the gospel.
That did not logistically happen this year, but tracts were handed out to each maze participant as well as a personal greeting from some of the high school students and leaders.
We had Joel Craig in the kitchen cooking up massive amounts of chili and Pizza Rita gave us a great deal on pizza for everyone! With a large volunteer base and heaps of candy, we were ready for the crowds to arrive. And arrive they did. We had hundreds of people with their children come have a fun, safe, warm Halloween. Each person attending a game was encouraged to make a connection with the children and their parents. We wanted to share the gospel through words but more in our actions and in the love we have to offer.
What a huge success the Harvest Festival has been, not only for our church family but those in the surrounding areas that want a safe place for their family. The one area we would like to improve on for next year is to connect with those families and children who come to the Harvest Festival. Each person fills out a form that is entered in a drawing and we would like to use that information to also invite them back to church, Sunday school and Awana. This event is fun for the Fourth Family to work on together and each year brings new volunteers.
WORSHIP JUNCTION
Worship Junction has been an evolving program for the children during the Sunday morning Worship Service. For Theresa and Marie, it was a Bible teaching time with multiple programs that included puppets, music, games, and Bible teaching. The children went from Sunday school to Worship Junction and were then picked up by parents after the Worship Service. This program had many dedicated volunteers and a large number of children that attended.
Over the summer the Worship Junction program was set aside and Melissa Iverson began a children’s choir called Joyful Noise. This children’s choir was attended by any child wanting to sing and they performed a song at the end of service almost every week. Singing was not for every child, but it was a nice change of pace for summer and busy vacation schedules. The congregation especially loved seeing and hearing from the children.
When the regular service hours were to start again in the fall, we reviewed our Sunday schedule wanting to find a good mix of children’s programs and incorporate the family into the Worship Service. The end result of that prayer and review was that children would attend the Worship Service with their families through the singing and announcements and then be dismissed for their own Bible teaching time. This has been a great time for families to worship together and for children to learn what goes on in “big” church. We have several “teams” of people that help lead the Bible teaching time for Worship Junction which has allowed both Theresa and Melissa to attend the Worship Service with their families.
Young families with children are such a blessing to this Fourth Family and our prayer is that we can continue to work with each family as a team to train up their children in the ways of the Lord. Grounding each child in truthful Biblical teaching, songs of Praise and Worship to the King, and the knowledge of the risen Savior is our goal for each child that attends our programs.
AWANA
Submitted by Curtis Carey
Awana Commander
The Awana ministry had a great year, ministering to over 200 children, endeavoring to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ and train them to serve Him. We had over 60 adult leaders who came to minister to these children each week.
The Awana ministry focuses on teaching kids the Word of God, through memorization, explanations from their leader, and through teaching times called “Council Time.” The leaders show love to these children each week as they endeavor to teach them to trust in Jesus for their salvation. Many children were saved, and many were discipled throughout the year.
Steve and April Hauschild led the Awana program faithfully until they were commissioned by the Elders to lead the High School Youth Ministry this past summer. We are so thankful for their godly leadership over this ministry the past few years. They were instrumental in continuing to strengthen and expand the reach of our ministry into the Logan neighborhood.
Sally Sharpe leads a food ministry that provides dinner Wednesday nights before Awana for the families of the children and the leader volunteers. This ministry served its 10,000th meal by mid-year. In 2009 many families struggled financially and the free dinners were a great blessing to so many. We extend a big “thank you” to Sally and her team for their heart to serve others.
Our Awana kids participated in the Bible Quiz competition, Awana Olympics, and we had some great fun and fellowship with the Grand Prix car races.
We couldn’t be more excited about the work God is doing in the lives of these children as they learn about the great love He has for them through His son, Jesus Christ.