Sunday School / VBS Update: February 18, 2008

Hi Team,

Here is a review of the things we discussed yesterday and some things I may be calling for your assistance on between now and our next SS Leader Meeting, which is scheduled for March 16 @ 4:00 PM.

Leadership Changes & Needs

• Cliff needs to step down as our Adult Division Director for health reasons. I will work with Pastor Mike to get a replacement for him lined up. He plans to continue his role as Adult-4 Teacher. We will also keep him on as part of our SS Team, just for council & stuff like that, if he is willing. No meeting requirements, but I am sure he would love to continue to be used by us for all the wisdom, insight, and encouragement he has to offer.
• Deanna Bledsoe is our VBS Director for 2008. Our VBS Leadership Team is comprised of her, Katrina Owens, Mark Layton, and Gordon Peel, Jr.
• We are looking / praying for a SS Outreach Director and/or Secretary. We definitely need the secretary position filled; depending on how we make the program work, we may need two people to head this up.

Sunday School & VBS Update – November 11

Hi TeamS! This is the first email I’ve had a chance to write to both our Sunday School team and our up-and-coming VBS team! I’m absolutely THRILLED about how people are coming together into a new VBS leadership team, which we should have established here in the next couple days. In the meantime… if you’re getting this email, you’re part of this, officially or not.

We have a number of things going on during the next week or so. Here’s a brief rundown of important dates & times related to Sunday School and VBS:

Saturday	9:30 AM – 12:00 PM	VBS Preview for VBS Leadership Teams
Sunday	9:00 AM	Sunday School !!
Sunday	4:00 PM	Sunday School & VBS Leadership Team Meeting (both teams at once)
Sunday	5:00 PM	Sunday School Teachers Meeting

If you’re part of this VBS team, officially or not, Saturday will be a great day for you to learn about preparing for and running VBS. I know a few of our leaders already won’t be able to make it, so if you can make it, please do so, and then we can share together what we get from it.

We have two meetings on Sunday. First is our leader meeting at 4:00 PM. This is for anybody getting this email. We will be doing our “normal” monthly stuff – the behind-the-scenes planning and administrative work of doing Sunday School right. Reach… Teach… Minister… Remember that? We are going to focus on evangelism and outreach this month, so come with your brain in gear.

At 5:00 we will open it up to all of our Sunday School team – teachers, helpers, and workers in general. During this time we’ll watch (I hope) a short video by Allan Taylor, completely different from what we did a few weeks ago, but still very relevant to what we’re doing here. We’ll also discuss any problems, maybe some teacher aids & stuff like that, and basically get everybody on the same page…

I will be emailing and writing all our teachers about the 5:00 meeting. If you can add your personal touch, go for it. This is brand new, so I don’t know what to expect, but judging by the way my expectations have been surpassed by you guys and our team in recent times, it’s going to be more than we plan for… let’s make it happen!

Go team! Email or call me if you need anything at all.

Chet

Sunday School Update: February 4, 2008

Welcome to a new month! It’s amazing how quickly the days are flying by this year, yet at the same time some of them remain more vivid and detailed in my mind than many in the past. From the growth of my little boy to the development of our Sunday School program, things are moving, and we have GOT to hang on tight, because our endurance and commitment is going to be tested over the upcoming months.

During the month of February,

VBS Leadership Meeting – February 3, 2008

We will be holding a VBS leadership meeting on Sunday, February 3, 2008, immediately following the morning worship service. This meeting is going to allow us to get several people interested in the VBS Director or other leadership positions together to discuss the responsibilities of the job, the kind of heart it takes, and the kind of organization and duties it will require. Sandi Layton and Carol Jones will be there to share their experiences, and Gordon, Jr. and myself will be there as well, hopefully. We have several interested parties and are trying to spread the word through channels that get to the heart of the matter, not just sharing it as a want ad or a spot to be filled. We need the right person for this job.

Above all, we need a heart for God. More specifically, a heart for children, for reaching them for Christ, and for caring for them through teaching, fun, and personal ministry. We will also need people willing or available to promote and organize the ministry.

I don’t see why this has to be one person.  But it could. I am wide open on that.

Sunday School Update – January 29, 2008

Wow, is it a new week already? What a weekend we just had! I am so thankful to all of you for your part in our SS Training event on Saturday. We will be following up on it with our teachers over the next few months. If you have ideas of how to make the “Reach, Teach, Minister” phrase more visible, let’s talk about it.

I’d like to have our next “official” SS Leader meeting on February 17 at 4:00 PM. The first step of change I am making based on our stuff this past weekend is to get all teachers involved, or at least invited, to our monthly meetings. I will plan on us meeting for about 45 minutes on our own, and then invite all teachers for some discussion and strategy time after that, say from 4:45 to 5:45. If you don’t think we can fill that much time, be prepared to be surprised! J Like they said on the video, we spend countless hours preparing for a 3-4 minute song, or a 5 minute presentation, yet we only touch base with our teachers all at one time 3-4 times a year? Something’s not right there, and that something is going to be one of the first changes we make. I don’t expect everyone to start coming right away. Right now it will be an invitation… all teachers are welcome. As the meetings begin to take shape and become useful, and even necessary, we will work toward getting people to be there and some other expectations, but first we must create a need for that change. You’ll hear more about that later, but for now, let me know if February 17 is bad for you; otherwise that is what we will plan on, and going forward, I am going to plan for the 3rd Sunday of each month.

Also, we are having a meeting with some people who have an interest in the VBS Director & Leadership positions this Sunday after the morning worship service church for about 10 – 15 minutes. We will meet in the fellowship hall, in Cliff’s classroom. We’re also going to pick a date at this time. Would love for you to be there and offer any input you have.

Here are the specific people we’re hoping will be there:

· Sandi Layton: Will be there for Q&A, to provide information, and give an idea of the job requirements.

· Carol Jones: Same thing, she’s not interested in the position but will be teaching

· Gordon Peel: He’s kind of our point of contact from the SS team right now and will be the go-to person until we get a leader or leadership team put together.

· Deanna Bledsoe: Interested in the VBS leadership positions. Her heart has recently been spoken to about working with kids in a not-so-hands-on way. (ask me about this, it’s a neat story)

· Katrina Owens: Interested, but needs to know more.

· Deanna DeCoursey: Would be glad to help with promotion and getting things rolling (organization), but probably won’t be able to help much around actual VBS time.

· Debbie Dailey: Not interested in the position and probably won’t be there Sunday after church, but said she might be available for some behind the scenes stuff (maybe the registration?)

· Mark Layton: May or may not be interested; Monty talked to him and he is considering it. Mark’s definitely got the qualifications, training, and experience working with kids and VBS.

· If you have ideas on people who might have a heart for this, let me know or contact them yourself. I will try to get it in an announcement slide for the powerpoint this week.

· I’d love to have any of you come, particularly Gordon, Sara, and Jill… you guys know the most about the kids, kids teachers, and maybe VBS. I’ll be there, too.

As I look at all this stuff, do you know what I’m seeing? I’m seeing that we might just end up with a full fledged VBS “TEAM” this year? Different people responsible for different things, counting on each other, helping each other, and fitting into the puzzle of reaching out to these kids. I wonder if that’s where we were supposed to be winding up all along… hmmm… One thing I want to be sure to express to anyone who takes up the position is that we are glad to let them take the ball and run with it, but at the same time, we won’t just drop VBS in their lap and say “we’re done, now it’s your job.” We will support, champion, and help wherever we can, using whatever gifts and abilities we have, because this is a huge part of our church’s outreach and evangelism mission.Thanks for making it through this, guys, I know this was a little long.

Chet

PS : I’ll try to get some pictures from our weekend event out over the next few days. Thanks, Sara, for taking those!