SUMMER TIME IN GOD’S GARDEN - July and August 2010
The Christian Education Committee would like to thank all the volunteers that served in the church school during the curriculum year, but with the budget concerns, the group decided to not offer "official staffed" church school this coming summer. Cindy Lou Benson, Christian Education Director, has prepared summer packages called "Faith Explorations." Volunteers will teach over the summer months serving a cool pop to enjoy while listening to the Bible Story, followed by a simple activity. The nursery will also be available to those parents that would like to enjoy a playful and fun space and be able to hear the service through the audio system.

ROAD TRIP GOD SIGHTINGS
Here are 7 ways to include God while driving and exploring this summer. You will find word-tools to equip you and help in choosing faith based words and ideas for sharing with your family. Have fun!

Watch the road signs as you drive today and choose one that best represents something about God‟s love for us.

Describe a person you came into contact with today – who showed kindness to you. Then discuss how a person‟s kindness can reflect Jesus.

Watch for things in nature on your drive such as grassy meadows or waterfalls.

Describe your favorite sighting of God‟s creation for the day.

Describe the best item of food you ate today and then talk about how God provides for all of your needs, even when you‟re far from home.

What was the most surprising thing you saw on the road today?

Describe ways that God can surprise you every day, whether you‟re on vacation or at home.

Listen to a worship CD or a praise music CD on your drive today and talk about the ways we can worship God outside of church.

As you drive home, write down the best memories of your trip and how you‟ll keep them stored in your memory. Then reflect on things you know about God, such as forgiving, loving or powerful; and talk about how you can help each other remember things about how great God is every day when you return home. © Group Publishing

We celebrate our children. We understand that children have a variety of talents, interests and abilities. That’s why our Children’s Ministry incorporated a new approach to Church School. It is called The Workshop Rotation (WRM); the new and exciting educational approach that promotes the development of multiple intelligence and spiritual gifts and equips the children for ministry. It has been recognized that children learn best when all their senses are stimulated and they are busy enjoying their studies and connecting them to real life.

For our elementary and middle school children we use the curriculum from Potter’s Workshops; Bible story lessons are presented in four-six week units with children rotating to different workshops each Sunday. Each workshop will involve children in different learning activities, which might include storytelling, drama and puppetry, games, cooking, arts and crafts, science, videos and more. We have created rooms that move the hearts and minds by designing “themed” rooms for multiple intelligence learning. All workshops give children hands-on participation that enhances their learning potential. Most importantly, a child’s ability to understand and retain the stories of the Bible and their meaning are greatly increased.  Why does this rotation model work? We repeat the Biblical Stories over a series of four-six weeks so that the children experience the same story through different modalities over a short period of time. Reminding ourselves of the percentages for retaining information, we can understand how the rotational model helps faith development. We retain:

• 10% of what we read
• 20% of what we hear
• 30% of what we see
• 50% of what we see and hear
• 70% of what we say
• 90% of what we say and do
• 100% of what we experience