April 16, 2014
Dear Parents and Teachers,
Last month, the Children’s Ministry Team (CMT) joined Promiseland teachers for a great time of fellowship and sharing. Our desire was to give teachers an opportunity to share what they love about teaching, to brainstorm ways we could improve, and to create a more cohesive group dynamic. Promiseland teachers shared successful, creative teaching strategies and collaborated together on ways to overcome common challenges.
As we have listened to teachers and parents over the past few months, several changes have already been made. We will now promote children to their new grade level by the first Sunday in June so children will have the summer to acclimate into their new class. We moved our age cutoff date to the first Sunday of August to coincide with the public school cutoff date. Our Nursery volunteers now serve a set Sunday each month instead of relying on an online sign up and our Nursery Coordinators report that this is working much more efficiently. Based upon teacher and helper feedback that three year olds are not quite mature enough for the long evenings of Vacation Bible School, this summer we will only include four year olds through 5th grade in VBS.
We have also begun the process of evaluating our Children’s Ministry curriculum. At our meeting last month, teachers discussed our vision for Sunday morning children’s discipleship. What should it look like? What is its purpose? How will we know if it is successful? We then split into specific grade levels to discuss ideas, ask questions, and share concerns about the grades we teach.
The CMT is excited to have received open and honest feedback, and to have gathered useful information to aid us in the process of assessing our current curriculum. Moving forward, the CMT will create curriculum standards based on the discussion and feedback we received from the teachers. We will then use these standards to evaluate the current curriculum as well as other available curricula to see what best suits our needs.
The spiritual formation of your child(ren) is of the utmost importance to us. It is why we exist as a team. We will move cautiously and prayerfully forward as we endeavor to find the curriculum that will best meet our needs.
We ask that you commit to pray for us as we work through this process. If you are interested in learning more about the process, please do not hesitate to contact Dar Muehlhausen, the Children’s Ministry Team Director, or any member of the Children’s Ministry Team. Please look for our update by the end of the summer and let us know if you have any suggestions.
Thank you again for your prayers as we seek to serve God through our Children’s Ministry.
You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.’ 2 Timothy 3:15
Sincerely,
The Children’s Ministry Team
Dar Muehlhausen
Kelly Blanchard
Stephanie Stout
Dana Teefey
Margie Story
Megan Mills
Laura Russell
Emily Farley
Amy Fisher