Change! Change? Change. March 17, 2009

I have learned that this word evokes many emotions in people. Some people love change, some people question change and some just downright do not like change. I happen to be a person who enjoys change, but, not just change for its own sake. I enjoy change when it comes with a purpose.

I am a processer. I am one of those people that wait in line at a conference thinking, “if they just moved this registration table over there, and placed the name badges there and had this alphabetized, it would all run smoother.” It is a blessing and a curse. There are times when I drive myself crazy and more times that I drive my husband crazy. I have also learned over the years that as many times as I am right, I also have many times that I have to come back, tail tucked, begging for forgiveness because my “Great Idea” turned out to be a really bad one. Most importantly, I have learned that you don’t know until you try.

If you are involved at all in the Preschool Ministry of The People’s Church, you have seen our little room we call “Celebration Station.” It is where our three, four and five year olds go on Sunday morning for about 20 minutes to sing praises to God with their wiggly little worshipful bodies. The room they meet in used to be the “formal living room” of the church. It is funny to me that we used to think we needed to be so formal. We did though – until the students took over back in the 90s, broke all the fancy furniture and then passed it on to the preschoolers. We have spent lots of time and effort making that a really special space, but since 2004, we have grown from a ministry of around 240 preschoolers to a blooming ministry of around 500. So, all the kids that fit in 2004 do not fit in there today.

As I have looked, and looked and looked some more at that room and all the sweet kids crammed in there and our amazing Celebration Station team leading four worship sessions back-to-back in order to help everyone fit, my processor brain has been in motion. I had almost decided there was no hope unless the building burned down and we started all over from scratch, until one day this winter when some staff friends and I were looking at this giant open room next to Rick’s office. It was huge and, all of a sudden, visions of our stage and lights and sound in that room came flooding to our minds. How exciting! Change with a purpose!  Now, at the time I wasn’t thinking that there were Kindergarten classes that met in there. I was just seeing potential – dreaming big.

The very next week my sweet friend, Tara Bernard, who heads up our amazing Special Needs Ministry, came to me and said, “Amy, we really need a room on this first floor for our Special Needs families to bring their kids.” I was sure I had heard her wrong. But wait, Special Needs uses rooms in the preschool area on the second floor. I need rooms to move Kindergarten classes up to the second floor. If we move the Kindergarten rooms to the current Special Needs rooms, we could open up that big room to use as a new Celebration Station. If we move the Celebration Station to the big room, we could give Special Needs ministry the current Celebration Station room. My mind was spinning! How exciting! Could this be a big win for everyone?

As the weeks have progressed and we have talked to leaders, parents and kids about this potential, our team has grown more and more excited about the “c” word – change!

On Sunday, March 29, we will kick off three exciting new things:

1. Celebration Station will meet in the 160s rooms next to Rick’s office with bigger, better space!
2. Kindergarten will move to the second floor, on the hall with all of our other Kindergarten classes, putting all of preschool together again in one location.
3. Special Needs ministry will have a huge new room with its own special needs parking right at the door, a private and easy access wheel chair entrance, right next to the elevators and their own bathrooms and water fountains in the room.

We are in very exciting days! God is doing amazing things! I can’t wait to tell you more about all the lives being touched. Stay tuned! 

Amy

The People’s Church Kids Ministry! March 9, 2009

January 11, 2009 was a very exciting day in the life of The People’s Church. This was the day that we kicked off an exciting new ministry – Kid Connect – for our 1-5 grades. The funny thing is that we planned that day for around 250 kids, and at the end of the first session at 9:15, we realized we had run out of everything. We had no more copies, no more crafts, nothing! What were we thinking, or not thinking? God, who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, had rained down his blessings on us. It had come in the form of children. To date we have registered 524 kids and are still growing. Exciting days!


Our kids birth-kindergarten have averaged over 500 on a weekly basis since the first of the year. Because of this, we have outgrown our current large group space that we call Celebration Station. So, on March 29 we are moving! We are going to work, over the next few weeks to create new space in the 160s rooms. I will give more details in the days to come. Another adventure!


Thanks to the large number of kids coming, we’ve opened up some more volunteer positions! We need some people with gifts they want to share in order see little lives and their families changed for Christ. We need worship leaders, drama team members, baby rockers, people to love on our three-year-olds and even people who can sit with a small group of 4th or 5th graders and do life with them. I don’t make too many promises, but I can promise you that you will say, “I never knew I would get so much out of serving a group of kids.” We hear it time after time. If you are interested or would like more information,  Brenda Procter, our amazing volunteer coordinator, is ready to talk to you.

This month we are talking about hope – “believing that something good can come out of something bad because remember, whatever happens, God has a plan.” How timely are these lessons? I am amazed how they speak to my heart as much as to the kids’.


Hebrews 6:19 – “Our hope is certain. It is something for the soul to hold on to. It is strong and secure.”


Psalm 62:5 –  “I will find my rest in God alone. He is the One who gives me hope.”

I am excited to be in the blog world and will use this as a tool to communicate what is happening in our ministry. I finally had some time to get this up and running because I am spending my weekend at home with a little one with the flu. Pray for her quick healing. Pray for protection for the rest of our family.

Blessings,

Amy