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SSTN # 87 - September 29, 2005


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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE SSTN e-NEWSLETTER:


Holiday FUN-draising

1) Laminate samples craft?
2) Why Have Sunday School
3) Why Have Sunday School
4) Why Have Sunday School
5) Worship Clock - Worship Bag
6) Children's Worship Bags

God's Top 10 - Understanding God's Love In The Ten Commandments

7) Teaching multiage groups?
8) Keep Sunday School
9) Sunday School's Purpose
10) Why Have Sunday School
11) Only One Child
12) Continuing Sunday School


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Holiday FUN-draising

This coming holiday season raise funds for your youth group or school,
or earn extra cash for yourself by selling Sarah Keith's
popular Christmas crafting book, Chrismon Snowflake Ornaments!   
There is NO financial risk. Learn how on the following page:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/fundraiser.html 



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1) Laminate samples craft?

I have hundreds of laminate samples, but need a craft for kids
1st - 7 grade.

--from SSTN: a few that come to mind are: books of the Bible name cards,
ten commandments cards, name tags, reward tokens.
your webservant,
sarah keith <><


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2) Why Have Sunday School

Karen in Montana- I read your post and I was saddened. I believe that
every child should have a chance to hear the WORD and understand it too.
We have a small church and right now we only have 5 children under age 13,
but we still have Sunday and Wednesday lessons for them. As long as we
have volunteers to teach we will have childrens lessons. Now at your
church I know you are a volunteer, are there others? Because even though
you love teaching you also need to hear the meat of the WORD on your
level. I would go to your Pastor and explain your concern and see if the
two of you can come up with a reasonable way to solve this dilema. Jesus
would have come to earth and died on that cross even if there was only
person on earth to save, that's Jesus' heart and I believe the church has
the same heart too. And lastly I would say PRAY...lift your concerns to
the One in charge. He will make sure His WORD is heard by all. I will be
praying for you also.
 
Kathy Watervliet NY


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3) Why Have Sunday School

>does anyone have any good arguments/reasons to support keeping Sunday
school >even with low turnout

Karen, I hope your church continues both programs.  As with yours, both
churches I've attended with my children have had entirely different sets
of attendees for Sunday and Wednesday youth classes/clubs.  With
statistics showing that 86% of Christians began their walk with Christ by
the age of 12, we all need to see the importance in touching as many of
these young hearts as we can - even if it is just one at a time.  In turn,
each ONE of these children are in the care of at least one adult who needs
Christ also.  If 14% of new Christians are over the age of 12, then they
need their children / grandchildren / fosterchildren / stepchildren /
sisters/brothers involved in a church so they might also be touched by
God's truth.  Sunday School AND Wednesday Clubs should both of the utmost
importance to our church as a whole if we intend to preach the Gospel as
we are commanded.
~~Vicki, yogieg@home.ffni.com


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4) Why Have Sunday School

Why have Sunday School even if the turnout is low?  For starters, when did
church become about the numbers?  I teach a Wednesday night class and for
the last two years we've only had 4-7 kids on average, but I've always
felt that even if only one child shows up, that one child is worth all the
effort as if 100 children had shown up.  Also, having tons of kids can be
distracting to some people.  Having small groups can allow for these kids
to come to a decision about Jesus when they might overlook it (or be
overlooked) in larger groups. AND what about the children who can't come
on Wednesdays but can come on Sunday's? Every opportunity to teach and
witness to our children should be taken.  Kristy


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5) Worship Clock - Worship Bag

< I was wondering what types of items would be good to place in the bags. 
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.>

One of the things that I have devised is a Worship Clock. This shows the
different things that happen during the service. A clock hand can be moved
as the service progresses so that the child (and parent!) knows where they
are! If you would like to see it, I can send a PDF file, but as it's
designed for an Anglican service in England, you'd have to adapt/devise
your own.


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6) Children's Worship Bags

I wanted know if the children give the bag back at the end of service and
how do you collect them and give them out.
 
Cara
Teacher and Parent
Charles town Church of Christ, Charles town, WV

--from SSTN: Our bags are cloth and are given back after each service. In
our narthex we have two standing poles with wooden dowel hooks to hang the
bags. After the service the bags are placed into boxes next to the poles
to be refilled for another service.


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God's Top 10 - Understanding God's Love In The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments contain many "Do Nots". They teach us God’s holy
standard and show us how far we fall short of his perfection, but they are
more than this, in these "Do Nots", one can find a positive message: a
message of God’s love. (Developed by Sarah Keith for Kindergarten to 5th
grade) Click below to learn more:

http://www.christiancrafters.com/curriculum.html 



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7) Teaching multiage groups?
 
I am having some problems with planing lessons for my youngest class. the
age ranges from 3 to  9 and i am just macking a gess here but i do not
know how to work with them. I have a music class I'm teching I also have
other groups in my class that are more skilled. So if aney one knows
somthing to help me that wood be great.

--from SSTN: this is a wide age range and does present problems. However,
many ideas have been previously shared. To locate past discussions on
this, type "multiage" or "multiple ages" into the home page search box at:
http://www.ChristianCrafters.Com 


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8) Keep Sunday School

I came from a small church and we had less than 10
kids most of the time, but our lives were forever touched.  I can't tell
you we all came to be awesome Christian overachievers, but there will be
souls in heaven because of the faithful Sunday School teachers who hung in
there and loved the small class they had.  Jesus left the 99 to go after
one lost sheep.....so for just one, I will teach.

Lori Mccarver


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9) Sunday School's Purpose
 
Hi Karen in Montana
 
There is always discussion about Sunday school and it's purpose, which you
must ask yourself.  Outreach? Discipleship?  It's really easy for bigger
churches to cry out about it when discussion occurs at all.
Small churches have a very difficult time because the majority of the
congregation does an awful lot and burnout occurs rapidly, usually because
of guilt at trying to emulate bigger churches and have all the programs
they do.
Pray alot before you respond to teach.  Praise God you are willing but ask
Him to direct.  We can do things in different ways.
Our little congregation of 20 people in rural Canada stopped s.s. but have
1/2 hour before service singing and having a children's lesson all
together.  All the families take a turn each week.  A lady does children's
church  and we have an AWANA program that is the outreach S.S.
Paula

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10) Why Have Sunday School

Karen - Has anyone at your church (especially you and your Pastor) read
George Barna's book : "Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions"?
There is a DVD to go with it as well. It will convince you of the
importance of early spiritual training. If a child has not mad a decision
for Jesus by the age of 14, says Barna, it is highly unlikely that he/she
will do so later. I urge you to get the book/DVD and don't give up on
Jesus' lambs! I would run Sunday School if there was only one child!
Jeesus would have come to earth and died if there was only one sinner. And
who knows who you will meet in heaven one day - a person who says, I am
here today because of your Sunday School!

Sharon

--from SSTN: you can find the book and DVD in our bookstore.
Just type the title into the search box at:
http://www.christiancrafters.com/bookstore.html 


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11) Only One Child

I have only one child in my Sunday school class.  I say be there for them
on Sunday, no matter how many show up. You may have some that can't be
there at night and some that may need the extra attention that a smaller
class can give.
Ann
Milledgeville, Ga.


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12) Continuing Sunday School

In reply to the lady who was wondering about continuing Sunday School----I
would encourage her to encourage her church to NOT discontinue Sunday
School.   Just in case they might decide in the future to bring it
back--they will probably not ever have the same number attending again.  
I say this from experience----several years ago someone in our church
decided that since our S.S. attendance had fallen off during the summer
months, that we would stop and then start up again in the fall.  Well, we
used to have around 40 for S.S. and ever since that we have 6-10 attend. 
Stay with it if you can.  From Verna


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