Christian Education Committee Meeting

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 7:30pm

Present: S. Davis, G. Glover, J. Ingle, S. Kelley, R. Rockey, K. Walter
Not Present: C. Coons, J. Coons, S. Lock, K. Rockey

I. Dinner for Families of Young Children
A. Scheduled for February 15, 2011, at 6:30pm
1. For families from Southminister and LHLP.
2. Topic will be talking to your child about death and loss.
B. Help is needed
1. Cori Davis will be asked to babysit along with LHLP staff.
2. Help with dinner was offered by S. Kelley, R. Rockey (set up),
Shannon Lock, and J. Ingle.
3. J. Ingle will check with the fellowship committee (Michelle Straber) about
their help with the dinner.

II. Olivet
A. R. Rockey is the contact person for our church.
1. Provides insurance info.
2. Will receive schedule and other information from the Olivet Foundation.
B. Revision of forms
1. S. Kelley is revising the volunteer forms and will have them out by February 13th.
2. He will also provide suggestions for the curriculum.

III. Vacation Bible School
A. Scheduled June 6 – 10, 2011
B. J. Ingle and K. Walter will review materials on February 19 at Family Christian Book Store.

IV. Sunday School
A. Offering
1. Currently goes to World Vision
a. Have been sponsoring 2 children at a cost of $60 per month.
b. Offering from children’s Sunday School is around $10 per month.
c. Sunday School classes do not seem to have a connection to the use of their offerings.

2. R. Rockey will notify World Vision that we are stopping our support at this time.
3. J. Ingle will bring ideas for a mission project that that we can support with Sunday School offerings to the next CE Meeting.
B. Field trip for children to God’s Pantry
1. J. Ingle has talked to Janice Rockey about a future trip.
2. J. Rockey will give a guided tour when the pantry is ready.
C. Summary of our Current Classes
1. Crib room: infants and up to age 2 = Church Volunteers
2. Preschool: ages 2 through Kindergarten = C. Coons and K. Walter
3. Elementary Class: grades 1-5 = Fran Brower and Dee Dee Gowan
4. Jr. and Sr. High Class: grades 6-12 = J. Coons, Michelle Straber, and Brent Walter
5. Adult Class = G. Glover, Kathy Lane, Larry Lane, R. Rockey
D. Report from S. Kelley and J. Ingle from their visit 1/23/11 to Mt. Pleasant
Christian Church to observe their Sunday morning program for 5th and 6th grade.
1. Reported the church had a great facility.
2. Had 75 students in attendance.
3. Observed a lsesson that included media and involvement of the students.
4. There were songs, an offering, and small group discussion of the lesson, which was very engaging.
5. This is much like our vision for a class for our Jr./Sr. High Sunday School, which could also include 5th and 6th grade.
6. The curriculum they use is Start Smart.
7. Finding the space to hold this type of program is an issue; S. Kelley suggested in late summer or fall we could use the outdoor shelter. Using part of the Gathering Place is also a possibility.
8. We need a team to plan this; J. Ingle will recruit a team.
9. We hope that our current teachers will be lead teachers for this. Perhaps with a rotation, each teacher will have one week a month.
10. Material for this is available on line.
11. Teacher training will be needed before this new class begins.
12. We expect to have names of those who are willing to help by our next meeting in February. It is hoped that some of our college aged and young adult members will become involved in helping with this class.

V. Scheduling Volunteers for SS Crib Room, Worship Crib Room and Preschool
A. New scheduler needed; J. Ingle volunteered to take over this responsibility.
B. To update our list of volunteers, an insert will be placed in the bulletin.
C. It was requested that a schedule for each quarter be placed in the bulletin at the
beginning of the quarter so the volunteers can see when they are scheduled and
have the list available in case they need to trade dates.

VI. Children’s Church
A. The CE Committee must make a recommendation to session regarding how to deal
with Communion when children are in Children’s Church, as well as the adult volunteers in the Crib and Preschool Rooms.
B. Suggestions
1. G. Glover mentioned offering communion immediately after the service to
volunteers who want to take it at that time.
2. Take children back to sanctuary when time for communion.
a. So they can sit with their families and allow parents to make decisions about communion with their children.
b. Will need someone to come downstairs at least 5 minutes before communion is served to notify children to return. It was suggested that a Deacon could do this, but might be difficult. Will need to work this out.
c. Children’s Church leader will modify plans for the communion Sunday lessons to accommodate the shorter time.
3. Do not have Children’s Church on communion Sundays.
4. Serve communion to adults and children who take communion in the Children’s Church.
C. It was decided to recommend bringing children back to the sanctuary for
Communion, as described above.

VII. Growth Plan for Southminster
A. CE Committee members were given a summary as it relates to this committee.
B. At our next meeting, we need to plan for implementation and follow up in these
areas:
1. How will we extend a personal invitation to each visitor to take part in each kind of activity?
2. How will tracking and reporting take place?
3. How will we record participation by non-visitors and extend personal invitations to those who are not currently participating in a particular kind of activity?
C. Need to discuss targets for growth in participation.
D. There was discussion that invitations need to be personal, on the order of “A new Bible study is starting. I’m going and I think you would enjoy it. Come with me.”
E. We will work on this intentional plan at our next meeting. Members are encouraged to think about this and come with suggestions.

Next meeting: February 22, 7:30pm

Respectfully submitted,
J. Coons,
Secretary