Children’s Baptism Celebration follow-up

What an AWESOME day Sunday was as 5 children got baptized! And I think we have another one planning on it this upcoming Sunday. This is what the church is all about! AMAZING!!!!!!

Children’s Baptism Celebration

We will be having a special baptism celebration just for children and their families on September 14th. After church we will meet at Saluda Shoals Park and have a cookout and then baptize the children in the river. We know that some children are intimidated by standing in front of the church on a Sunday morning in front of the adults to be baptized so we created this unique opportunity for this reason! If your child is interested in being baptized - please contact the church office.

Back to School Bash

We will have a Back to School Bash for kids in 1st -5th grade on August 22nd & 23rd. We will be sleeping over at church! The kids will have fun playing games, watching a movie, eating pizza for dinner and donuts for breakfast and doing other activities. The time is 7:00pm on the 22nd and you can pick your child up at 8:00 am on the 23rd. The cost is $10 per child.

We are also in need of parents/volunteers to volunteer. If you are interested in staying the night, see Michelle!

Project 153 Update

I was so proud of all the families that made the effort to come out this past Wednesday night to Finlay park for Project 153 service. We had a great time serving the homeless in Columbia by serving food, handing out clothing items, washing feet, and making a few new friends. DF Kids played a large role in Wednesday night as they provided the money for the dinner that was served to approx. 200 homeless, and purchased 80 pairs of socks to give away. The children’s offering money went to those things.

Thank you so much for showing your children an example of “demonstrating love” even to those we may be uncomfortable around or wary of having our children around. I am excited to return with my family to serve again and hope you are too!!

Project 153 Service Opportunity

Next Wednesday, July 16th we have an awesome opportunity to partner with Project 153 and to serve the homeless in downtown Columbia at Findlay Park.

We will be meeting at Dutch Fork at 6:00pm for pizza and prayer. All those going downtown are invited for this. We will be caravaning down to the park at 6:30pm.

If you want to meet downtown at Findlay Park, plan to meet at 7:15pm in the upper parking lot and we will meet to pray and move down to the area together as a group.

DF Kids have contributed the money through offering to provide the fried chicken dinner for this night and I couldn’t be more proud of them! We are strongly encouraging families to come out and serve together as this is an awesome opportunity to Demonstrate Love!!! All children attending need to have a parent or guardian with them for the evening.

So come on out, wear a DF shirt and get excited about this exciting night!!!

Spiritual Development

As parents we get concerned and worry about our children’s physical development – how they’re meeting milestones, if they’re healthy, their height and weight. We worry about their cognitive development – what grades they get, how well they’re doing in school, their speech development. Thinking about their social development keeps us awake at night – who are their friends, how do they get along with others, etc. But how much thought goes into their spiritual development? Are we providing them with opportunities that will create a healthy development of this? Do they attend small group? Are they consistent in attending worship? Do you pray, read the BIble, and serve as a family? HOw often do we discuss spritual issues in our homes? Sure, we give our kiddos vitamins and medicine for their health. We create opportunities for them to hang out with friends and take them to birthday parties. We help our children with their homework.

What about meeting with doctors when we have a physical development concern to assess the situation? What about meeting with teachers when we have a cognitive development or social development question? Few parents meet with their child’s Children’s Minister or small group leader to assess their child’s spiritual development.

I want to challenge you to take your responsibility as a parent raising a spiritual child seriously. The church is there to assist and provide resources, but ultimately the responsibility rests in your hands, in your house, as the parents.

Camp Edisto follow-up

Junior week at Camp Edisto was AWESOME!!! We had 88 children attend that had a blast. Kim and I loved being deans for the week and had more fun than we had anticipated. God really blessed us with an awesome staff for the week. Thank you SOOOOOO much to all of you who helped in some way – thank you Tara, Wendy, Sherry, and Dr. Rice. It was GREAT and I’m already looking forward to next year!!!

Camp Edisto – Junior Week

The countdown is on: 5 days until Junior Week (ages 8 & 9) for Camp Edisto!

We’re busy preparing for a great week that is themed: “Treasure Quest: Discovering the GREATEST Treasure EVER!”

Some details: There are a few parents going to camp for the week next week, so if your child needs a ride down to camp, have them at Dutch Fork no later than 2:00pm on Sunday. They will be leaving from the church at 2:00pm.

Camp this year starts on Sunday and ends with a closing program on Wednesday evening. If your child rides with someone down to camp, they are more than welcome to have a ride back, however, parents are invited to the closing program. We’d love to have you!

Packing items: bedding, towels, one piece swim suit, sunscreen, clothing, bug repellant, Bible, pen, toiletries, fan, water bottle with name, any medications child takes daily, shoes, flip flops/sandals, canteen/Missions offering money.

If you have any questions, I haven’t addressed – let me know!

Family Ministry

Stay tuned as I am gathering a series of posts on Family Ministry – the partnering of church and the family to maximize spiritual growth in the life of a child.

I recently attended a large conference with speakers that are the best in the country on this topic and had my eyes opened and refreshed with some startling truths. I’ll be sharing them over the course of the next week.

BIG changes!

We are making some BIG changes in the next few weeks to better facilitate the growth we have had in our children’s ministry. If you are a parent of a child in our program, you’ll want to pay close attention:

*starting June 1st, we have new age classes:

• Room 101 – babies until 1
• Room 102 – Seedlings – 1’s
• Room 103 – Sprouts – 2’s
• Room 104 – Saplings – 3’s
• Room 105 – Big Backyard Jr. - 4’s
• Room 106 – Big Backyard – 5’s & K

* Elementary small groups (1st – 4th) and then the Clubhouse will be moving to the old Youth Room

* We are looking for 2-3 vounteers who would like to help in the Clubhouse when we need them as well – dramas, games, leaders, etc. These can serve on a weekly, monthly, or as needed basis – whatever works for you!

* We will be integrating our 5th and 6th graders into leadership roles as well through the 56. Our uprising 5th graders will not enter into the 56 until January. However, we’ll be using them and our previous 5th graders to help lead worship, sound, etc.