Children’s Ministry

Children’s Room: for ages birth–2 years. The children’s room is staffed by those who love children. They are Safe Place, CPR and First Aid trained. They are responsible and loving. The Children’s Room is open during worship services, on Wednesday evenings and other events that warrant child care; the Children’s Room is open on holidays. During our building construction, the Children’s Room will be located at Hearts & Hands Preschool. Cheryl Sullivan is the Children’s Room Coordinator.

Kingdom Quest is rotational Sunday School for Kindergartners through sixth grade. We meet 9:25–10:45 a.m. every Sunday. Each week the children go to a different room: story, theatre, drama, art, Bible, science, kitchen or games. Each room has a lesson and is hands on! We start all together at our gathering time to praise and worship, give our tithes and offerings, and teach a group lesson. We dismiss children at 10:00 a.m. to their classrooms. The children finish at 10:45 a.m.

Preschool Kingdom Quest is for children ages 3–5 and use a fun, learning program from Gospel Light called “My God and Me.” They rotate within their rooms to art, story, singing, games, imagination station and/or cooking. Your child may start Preschool when they have turned 3 and are potty-trained. Susie Stieren is the Preschool Sunday Director.

• Kingdom Quest has dedicated and loving teachers to guide your child in their faith journey. Don’t forget your Bible! You do not have to preregister, just show up and the registration sheet is available for you. The greeters at the Kingdom Quest check-in table can assist you.

Awana AWANA is an acronym for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). Awana is a place where children learn scripture verses, hear a great message and play team style games. They are rewarded for their memory verses along with their Sunday school attendance, bringing their Bible and more. Children wear uniforms to bring unity to each other. Children and their leaders build relationship and their clubs build teamwork. We meet August through April. Wednesday evenings 6:15-8:05 p.m. at St Paul's.
Our clubs are:

• Puggles (ages 2–3)
• Cubbies (ages 3–5,preschool age)
• Sparks (Kindergarten–2^nd grade)
• Truth and Training — T&T (3^rd–6^th grade)

Please see the paragraphs below for more detailed information on each club. You can also go to www.awana.org for more information.

Awana Clubs are:

Puggles:
In many circles, “puggle” is a common term for a baby platypus. In children's ministry circles, Awana Puggles is an enriching program for your pre-Cubbies kids (2- and younger 3-year-olds) that presents basic biblical concepts:

We are a unique creation of God.
God loves us very much.

Awana Puggles teaches toddlers simple lessons through teaching cards, activities, music and more. Awana Puggles leaders have a leader’s guidebook to help them plan and direct club time and communicate the lesson. Then parents—an Awana Puggle’s first and best teacher—can step in to reinforce the lessons with take-home cards that include ideas to point out God’s work each day. And little details like Awana Puggles T-shirts, puzzles and coloring books make every precious child feel like part of the group.

Cubbies:
The Awana club for preschoolers (ages 3–5) is built on two premises:
Young children can and should receive spiritual training. Home is the primary place for spiritual training.
Our preschool program meets these needs through … Fun – and lots of it! Awana is fun with a purpose – to reach and train kids for Jesus Christ. Games, puppets, crafts, awards and other activities transform our preschool program into a lively weekly experience where fun and learning go hand in hand.

Sparks:
This Awana club for children in Kindergarten through second grade builds on the material taught in our preschool club. The aim of the curriculum is to take youngsters a step deeper into God’s Word while giving boys and girls regular opportunities to hear the gospel and come to faith in Jesus Christ. After being immersed in solid foundational teaching at the preschool level(Cubbies), boys and girls frequently come to an understanding of their need to trust Christ as their personal Savior while in Sparks. Immersing kids in God’s Word, the Sparks program is firmly grounded in Scripture. The three handbooks feature:

• Basic truths about God, Jesus Christ, salvation and the Bible
• An increased emphasis on Scripture memory over our preschool materials. In three years, a child will learn and review 68 verses, many of which cover salvation and key Christian doctrine
• Clear and consistent presentation of the gospel message

Sparks combine learning with fun to create an atmosphere of irresistible excitement for churched and unchurched kids alike. Club meetings are divided into three segments:

• Bible teaching, worship, award presentations and the gospel message
• Small group interaction and completion of Bible-based lessons
• Age-appropriate games on the Awana game circle

Along the way, Sparky, the friendly firefly, encourages boys and girls to learn verses and complete assignments throughout the three handbooks. Workbooks are available for children who complete their book before the club year is completed.

Truth and Training (T&T):
The name Truth & Training (T&T) reflects the passion of Awana to teach third through sixth grade boys and girls the truth of God’s Word and to train them to follow Christ in their daily lives. Our goal is that many of today’s young people will become tomorrow’s church leaders. T&T is the program that trains the leaders of tomorrow — today. Exciting features to get kids excited about God’s Word, T&T is equipped with a variety of dynamic tools to accomplish this mission:

• Four handbooks of increasing difficulty which teach children that life’s ultimate adventure is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• A cast of fun characters that boys and girls learn from and follow on interesting journeys in the handbooks
• Weekly meetings that expose children to the gospel message, Scripture memory, Bible study, awards, team-oriented games and gut-busting fun
• A Bible-centered curriculum that helps kids build a firm foundation for their faith, hide God’s Word in their heart and apply the truths of Scripture to their daily lives
• Interactive CDs that use exciting high-tech games to teach and reinforce key biblical truths

Evangelism and discipleship go hand in hand in our third through sixth grade program. By the time a child has completed T&T, he will have:

• Learned and reviewed approximately 310 verses
• Studied dozens of passages from the Old and New Testament
• Regularly heard and read the gospel message
• Discovered the Bible’s response to questions like “How does God want me to live my life?” and memorized verses to back up these answers
• Completed missions projects that help him see the world through God’s eyes.

Awana Special Events While Awana clubs and youth programs help kids interact and learn on a weekly basis as they come to know, love and serve Christ, that’s not all! Awana has even more exciting ministries outside your weekly children's ministry and youth ministry programs. Events like AwanaGames, Bible Quizzing, Grand Prix, Sparks-a-Rama, get kids growing, laughing and even serving others. Check out our many special events today to see where you might plug in. There’s an adventure down every path! We participate in the AwanaGames in April. Clubbers must have completed 10 verses. Cost this year is $5 each, t-shirts are provided and returned at the end of the day.

Kids' Church We meet all year long every Sunday 11 a.m.–12 p.m. We will go into the Sanctuary with our parents and praise and worship and be released. It is a wonderful Bible class for preschool age and up — including adults. We are using Bible Study for All Ages by Mary Baker. As always, bring your Bible!

Kingdom Quest Summer Sundays During the summer (June 7–August 9), Sundays 9:30–10:35 a.m. We will be using video and large group teaching along with a craft to tell the stories of the Story Keepers. We will find out this year (2009) what it was like in 64 A.D. This coincides with our Vacation Bible School.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is our biggest event during the summer. It is the 2nd week in June, June 7-12 for evenings and June 9-12 for days. Days: Monday – Friday 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and evenings Sunday – Thursday 6 – 8:30 p.m. It is for children ages 3 - 5th grade. Tweens and teens are an integral part of our Bible school. They work in many areas and are welcomed in all. Children learn through hands-on experiences. They sing, dance, play games, make snacks, have an art project and learn about Jesus’ love. Your summer just isn’t complete without it! This year we will be going to Rome and the Underground Church! We will make pottery, bread, jewelry and so much more. Come join us! We start early registration in February with the cost of $14 per child or $25 per family, in May it is $20 per child or $45 per family. If you are a servant worker, your cost is $11 per child or $20 per family.

In 2006, our attendance was under 100 with 30 workers. In 2007, our attendance was 160 with 80 workers, in 2008 our attendance was 170 with 90 workers! God is doing some incredible things at St. Paul’s. You can see it, you can feel it and we welcome you and your family here.

How to get involved...

Teach Kingdom Quest, Our rotational Sunday school for kids Preschool to 6th grade. Each Sunday the children go to a different room: story, theatre, drama, art, music, science, kitchen, computer and games. Each room has a lesson and is hands on! We start our gathering time with all the children to praise and worship and give a children’s sermon. The kids then go to their classrooms.

Help with Kingdom Quest. We need people to assist our teachers and other leaders with our Rotational Sunday School. We need people with a love for kids and a heart to help others. You can serve every week or for special projects.

Memory Verse Listeners. We need people in our Awana program with a love for kids and a love for God’s Word to listen to children recite scripture verses. Listeners help our children sow the Word of God in their heart as they memorize the Bible.

Teach Kids’ Church. During the school year, Sundays at 11 a.m. we meet in the. This is a family Bible class for Kindergarten and up. It is for the whole family to learn about the Bible, what it means, how to use it and more. It is a time to learn and grow as a disciple of Jesus.

Teach or Help with Awana. Awana is our Wednesday program for children from toddlers to Grade 6. It helps them learn God’s word in ways that are exciting and fun. If you care about helping kids come to know God, Awana is a great way to do it.

Wednesday Dinner Workers. In conjunction with Awana and other Wednesday night FROG activities (Fully Rely On God), we serve a dinner meal for busy people who want to come together for a bite to eat before heading into evening activities. Helpers are always needed for set up, cooking, serving and clean up.

Vacation Bible School (VBS). Sign up early to help plan and prepare, be a family leader or in the Marketplace that houses rope making, instruments making, jewelry, bread or candy making and so much more! Planning starts in January, if you’re a planner and can carry it out to the end this is for you.

Carnival. The carnival follows the last night of VBS. It takes a lot of planning and prep work to see this come through. If you are a planner and you can execute this to the end, this is for you.

Harvest Party. Oct. 31^st 6-8 p.m. We would like to see you here.