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!!

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.

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.

We have two immediate vacancies in our Mom’s Morning Out program. Maybe you’re not interested, but you know someone who is. Tell them about it!

1) Teacher for our 4 year-olds class. Our teacher we started with got ill and resigned her position. So we’re looking for someone who can teach and loves kids. The class is small, but is a great opportunity for someone who has a bit of experience.

2) Assistant for our older 1 year old class. We’ve grown and need more help! If you love kids and want to have smiling faces tugging on your hands (and hearts) you’re welcome! Our lead teacher in this class is amazing and this bunch of children is a lot of fun.

Our program is M, W, F mornings from 9-12 (teacher time 8:45-12:15). We follow the District 5 calendar. If you’d like more information or would like to schedule an interview e-mail Michelle at kids4christ@dutchfork.com. Pass this info. onto someone you think might be interested!

We are about 3 weeks away from getting our playground delivered, then we’ll do a few days of work before the kids can play on it. We are so excited about it for many reasons!

(1) A playground is an external thing that shows to people taht our church values children. The community can drive by and see that we are a place where families are welcome, and where we strive to give kids our best!

(2) In the 5 years I’ve been here, we’ve gone from a rusted swingset to our current, unsafe Wal-Mart special. The playground we have chosen to purchase is priced less than most commercial playgrounds (some can be the price of a mortgage for a house!), yet it will last 30+ years. The warranty on it is great, it will fill our growing children’s ministry, and will continue to be a safe, low maintenance object for our kids.

(3) Our influence with children is growing at Dutch Fork and it’s great to have the resources needed in order to minister effectively. Our children’s ministry currently comprises 1/3 of our church attendance, with early childhood growing the most. Our children in preschool and toddler classes will use the new playground as part of their programming on Sundays and First Wednesdays. Our Mom’s Morning Out program has 28 kids with waiting lists for 3 classes! We are bound by our facility space. These children play on the playground 3 times a week. Then we have program like Lunch Bunch, etc. which will be able to get their big energies out on the playground too.

We’re excited about this opportunity to further increase the quality of what we provide for our children. We still need approximately $6000 to pay the balance once it arrives. If you’d like to make a donation, mark it and put it in the offering on Sunday. You can also contact the church office.

I have created this blog as a resource for families with children at Dutch Fork Christian Church. I hope this is a resource you can use to find out about upcoming events, find help in spiritually teaching your children, and find other resources like ideas, stories, and activities. Let me know what you think and if you’re using it!