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 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!!!

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.

Exciting things coming up!

A few exciting Children’s Ministry happenings:

(1) This past Sunday, the boys turned in 16 pounds of offering money, but the girls won with 19 pounds! We’re excited as we’re trying to reach our $75.00 goal to provide dinner for an evening for The 153 Project.

(2) The BIGGEST egg hunt Friarsgate has ever seen is only 5 days away! If you live in the Irmo area, you need to be inviting everyone on your street! We got approval from the school board today to send flyers home with kiddos at two of the local elementary schools in our immediate area.

(3) Pray for this Sunday as we talk to your children about the COURAGE Jesus had when He died on the cross. Because of what Jesus did, we can know that “we don’t have to be afraid of anything because Jesus can do anything.” We are praying for the Holy Spirit to speak to the children through the powerful message we are working on.

(4) Starting April 6th we will be offering the “Now That I Am A Christian” class during first hour to children in 3rd & 4th grade. This class walks children through what it means to be a Christian, how you become a Christian, and how you live your life as a Christian. The class will run for 6 weeks from 9-10 am on Sundays. Parents should receive more information within the upcoming week. If your child is younger than 3rd grade and may be interested, please contact me.

Offering challenge!

Okay, calling all Clubhouse kids!

Next week we will have an offering challenge. Boys and girls will compete to see who brings in the heaviest offering. We will collect both boys offering and girls offering in separate containers then weight them to determine whose is the heaviest. The winning team will get a prize!

Our offering money this time is going to support the 153 Project, the homeless ministry in downtown Columbia. The kids are aiming to raise $75.00 to provide 120 pieces of fried chicken for the meal. This will feed the participants for one night.

The kids are excited about the opportunity to serve others and the practical application to their own lives. Who doesn’t love fried chicken?

“the 56″

If you are in 5th or 6th grade there is a new small group for you! Come Sundays at 9:00am to the youth room and join together with others in 5th and 6th grade. You’ll find a place just for you where you fit in and can ask some of life’s most difficult questions — “what if Jesus is a liar?”, “why can’t I go to PG-13 movies?”, etc.  This new group will let you dig into God’s Word as your tackle real life issues and thoughts, you’ll also get to know new friends and join in on youth trips like Jr. High Believe. Mrs. Gina and Mr. Blake are awesome at leading it and hope to see you Sunday!

Bible Buck Store

The Bible Buck Store will be open for the elementary kids on Sunday, January 27th. It will be stocked with new merchandise, so remind your kids to save up!

Bible Bucks can be obtained by: attendance, bringing Bible, bringing friends, leading worship, helping where needed, etc.

It’s a great motivator for the children to be more involved at church, and a great teaching tool on responsibility. Drop me a comment and let me know what kinds of things your child would like to see for sale!

January First Wednesday

Join us on the 9th for First Wednesday! We’ll enjoy a yummy dinner together with families before we break for programming for children and adults and teens. The kids will have winter fun playing wacky games and spending some time in worship. We’ll have a campfire in our room and enjoy hot cocoa! Get your kids there for the fun!

What’s coming up in 2008?

I’ve been thinking about our plans for 2008 a bit lately. We have some big things this year for your family to look forward to:

* A HUGE Spring outreach event

* More events for you to invite your friends to – things like “Kids Night Out, Back to School Bash, Parties, etc.”

* Another Summer Slam event

* small groups on Sunday mornings to get closer to friends and learn more about God. You can ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask with a leader who cares about you!

* Opportunities to serve in our community

* Large Group programs in The Clubhouse like you’ve never seen!

Stay tuned! You don’t want to miss this year!