Kindergarten to Grade 6 Ministry
Always Remember
“...Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 4:9
Remembering is a strong theme in scripture. Remembering all that God has accomplished through the ages strengthens our trust in His ability to complete His work in us as individuals and in His church as a whole. As the 2019-2020 year kicked off, following an awesome “Summer to Remember”, there was great hope for what the Lord would do in this season of K-6 ministry. New staff, new ideas and the introduction of a different curriculum were some of the pieces in place as we stepped forward in faith and expectation. There is much to remember.
REMEMBERING WHY
In K-6 we continue to minister following the guiding principles so aptly laid out before:
- “Life change occurs through relationship”
- “Equipping families, inspiring children”
- “We take hospitality seriously”
- “Children deserve our best”
Through two serve retreats, one in September and another in February, Pastor Jordan encouraged our people to always be approaching serve opportunities with these principles as the driving force behind what and why we do what we do.
REMEMBERING GOD'S WORD
A new focus in our K-4 curriculum this year has been intentional time spent memorizing God’s Word. We were excited to introduce “Plinko!” as the motivational piece to encourage our kids to do this well. For every recitation of the monthly verse, a child would receive a golf ball to be deposited in the “Plinko!” board. We experienced so much joy as we watched children express their love of the Lord and His word in this unique way. Once the board was filled to the top, CrossRoads Kids were rewarded with a memorable experience. How many kids will ever forget drowning Pharaoh, aka Pastor Jordan, with water balloons or battling life-size Goliaths with Nerf Guns while outrunning their leaders imitating wild animals?! It is good to have fun and celebrate a job well done with the family of God.
REMEMBERING GOD'S GOODNESS
We used the thankful theme of October to reintroduce Haiti Arise/Children’s Village and our commitment as CrossRoads Kids to this campaign. We reminded kids to be grateful for all they have when many people have much less. That week, following Pastor Julie’s teaching, we heard from a family whose young son would not go to bed the night after the Sunday service until he had gone his room and all the things he no longer used so that he could give to kids in need.
REMEMBERING TO BE JOYFUL
In December we did a trial month with Orange Curriculum and the theme of the month was discovering all the ways we can experience joy. A highlight of that month was having all CrossRoads Kids K-6 write messages of joy which were gratefully received by and distributed through The Mustard Seed.
REMEMBERING FRIENDS
With the New Year came the departure of an integral part of our team, Karli Harder. Karli resigned from Children's Ministry to join the church's Communications Department; our loss, their gain. CrossRoads Kids has been blessed and lovingly nurtured at the hands and heart of Karli. We remember fondly her part in growing this ministry. In the interim, Joshua Schweer joined us for a four month contract. Josh brought a genuine passion and love for the kids in this ministry.
REMEMBERING OUR FOUNDATION
Also in January, our 56ers joined with Junior High for three Sundays. Together with Pastor Dave Morin, Pastors Jordan and Julie Cavanaugh provided excellent teaching on the foundation of our beliefs; the Apostles’ Creed, God’s Church Today and God’s Church in History. This experience provided our 56ers with a great introduction to the Junior High program that awaits them.
REMEMBERING GOD STORIES
“Jesus Teaches Us How to Live” was the theme for February and every Sunday for all three services, Linda Poelzer blessed us with her gift of storytelling. She did an amazing job of bringing God stories from the past to life through Corrie ten Boom, William and Katherine Booth and George Müller. These stories reminded us of God’s goodness and faithfulness through generations; if He did great things then, He will still do them now!
REMEMBERING NEW PLANS
In February, as the large church body initiated “Soup & the Six” with children joining the “Big House" for worship, we launched a new format for K-4 in the six o’clock service. Organizing the kids into small groups of no more than eight, we looked forward to forming more personal connections with them. To fulfill this plan we required more people to serve and once again God brought forth the workers.
REMEMBERING THE WILDERNESS
As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness with an uncertainty of what lay ahead, we found ourselves facing Covid-19 with that same uncertainty. Everything the Israelites knew was upended and they were in unknown territories trying to figure out how to live each day. When our well intentioned plans were upended, we too were in unknown territories trying to figure out how to transition from face-to-face ministry to online. Every week that passes, we are finding ways to better serve and reach our families. Pastors Jordan and Julie commit time and energy each week to producing quality teaching videos for all K-6 kids. Wes Giesbrecht connects twice weekly with any willing 56ers through Zoom, once for prayer and another to follow up with the week’s lesson. Just as God faithfully provided the Israelites with what they needed and guided them by day and night, He is doing the same for our ministry at this time.
We are so very grateful for the past year of our ministry. We look forward in faith and are “fully confident that He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 1:6).
