Children’s Ministry in Transformation
I am marveled by the way that as some doors are closing, other doors are opening widely in surprising ways. On December 14, JAM, our preschool- 5th grade children midweek program, had its final gathering. A midweek program is hard to maintain with the reality of families’ schedules and volunteer availability. However, if you were here in December, you heard our extraordinary news of an early Christmas gift. On January 8, Rev. Alicea Williams will be joining our staff as a volunteer.
It is our hope to move her into a paid position in the future, but for now she will be volunteering 25 hours a week to help our ministries, assist your pastor in worship and in her specialty of Christian Education. What a gift from God at a perfect time. She is a fully Ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. She will be assisting us as we figure out what is next for your Children’s Ministries. We celebrate the Children’s Worship Time and how well that is going for us. Until we figure out what is next, Rev. Alicea and I will be creating some special children’s events.
On January 22 we will be hosting a children’s program after church, 11:30 – 1:00 pm. Lunch will be provided for the children. We are going to play with water as we talk about the importance of Baptism and talk about just how much God loves them. So all preschool- 5th grader families need to mark their calendars now for this fun event. You can go out to lunch and relax before coming back to pick up your little ones at 1:00 pm.
I am thankful for how I see the hand of God working at FUMC. We are just in transition to what is next for our Children’s ministry. It will be different, but if God is in the design then it will be ok, it will be good, and we will continue the important work for creating meaningful Christian Education opportunities for our children, youth and adults.
Love and peace in Christ,
Rev. Mary
