CPC 1998 Annual Report:
Children's Ministries
Rhonda A. Herman

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Our Goal is: Guiding children into a personal relationship with Christ by modeling Christ, faithfully teaching God's revealed Word, and nurturing them in God's love.

This past year was a challenging one for Children's Ministries. Being squeezed into small classrooms in every corner of the building, having large classes of combined age groups, transforming the Boardroom from a classroom to a nursery on a weekly basis, and losing our cribbery all combined to keep our staff creative and our parents patient. We spent a lot of time together moving and re-moving our rooms.

Sunday School, Adventure Club, Children's Worship, Children's Chorus, Nursery Care, Special Events all add up to one fantastic ministry for our children and their families. Approximately 100 volunteers staff our regular programs which are attended by 200+ children. The All Saints Party was a fantastic time for 45 families (250+ people) to come together to play, eat, and worship. Moving children toward Christ is what we are all about.

Our PreConfirmation Class is just one example of how we lead children to a deeper understanding of their own faith in Jesus Christ. This class is designed for those children who express interest on their own in participating in the Lord's Supper and/or who want to be baptized.

In June, 152 kids traveled to the Promised Land during a Very Exciting Bible School. We learned about Jesus as our good shepherd, we traveled to Capernaum and learned about studying God's Word, in the Marketplace we learned about having faith in Jesus, at the home of Mary and Martha we made stew and learned about spending time with Jesus, and in Nazareth we learned about working for God. The VeBS staff took our program to the Christian Community Center where we ministered to their 1st - 5th graders.

In August, a Missions-Minded Kids Club (M & M Kids Club) started with an overnight retreat here at Church. We had the privilege of having Larry and Stephanie K. and Wannee Thompson visit with us and share about their call to be missionaries. In September we had Dr. Goshorn as our guest for dinner. Dr. Goshorn talked about being a missionary in Africa and showed slides of his trip. Our kids are being faithful by praying for these and other missionaries. This club continues to meet once a month for training on how to be a disciple for Jesus Christ.

Orienteering was the theme of this year's 3rd, 4th and 5th grade retreat held out at the farm of Stephanie Sheeler-Duncan. We spent an hour locating points and retrieving items on their property. After a pizza dinner and a campfire we talked about using God's Word as the compass to point our way.

Our year came to an end with the Family Christmas Eve Worship Service. All Sunday School children from two-year-olds through fifth grade sang songs while our youth portrayed the Christmas story. A mitten offering was taken for the McKim Center.