2017 has been an awesome year in Children’s Ministry at our church. I sit and think of all of the kids that gave their life to Christ this year through Power Plant, VBA, or Upward Sports. There were kids this year that were baptized and decided to take their next step in faith. In the Power Plant and discipleship classes, we’ve learned so many truths about God’s Word, about His love for us, and His mighty hand at work all around us. We’ve had a blast playing games, going to GLOW VBA, attending summer camp, and making new friends. It is truly a rich time to be in Children’s Ministry at the Naz. Would you continue to be in prayer for the children of our church? God is calling them to be leaders in their schools, neighborhoods, and homes. So many volunteers make investments in the lives of our children each and every week by faithfully helping teach, assist, guide, high-five, and love the kiddos of our church. We are always looking for individuals to join our team and volunteer! Looking forward to another terrific year in 2018! Pastor Tracy
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Hey everyone, Your kids did amazing on Sunday!! It was wonderful to see Grandparents, aunt, and uncle's coming to see your kiddos!! So much fun!! Another huge thank you to Eric, Leah, and Kelly for the hours they invested into the program!! Also, the tech team made it possible taking care of the details behind the scenes, so thank you Brian Bash, Bill and Amy Mead, Jessica Myers and so many others!!! There were so many people who jumped in to give a hand wherever they could and we thank you!! Tonight is Operation Serve at church. There are a number of things going on. Feel free to join in on the giving and serving tonight at 6:45. Everyone will meet together, then go out and serve, then come back to the gym for hot chocolate and cookies! There's a couple specific things for families with kids, if you're interested. First, Pastor Susan and her kinderchoir are performing their musical number at the Heritage nursing home tonight. She asks all parents to bring their kiddo to the Heritage at 6:45. Then they'll pass out some cool crafts, then meet back at the church at the end. Second, I usually take the purple van over to St. Catherine's nursing home with some elementary families. You're welcome to meet us there at around 6:50ish, and we will Carol and pass out candy canes. Just shoot me a text so I know to look for you if you're interested. Third, there's a lot of people/ groups serving in different capacities...choose something that suits your family best and let's be the hands and feet of Jesus together! Finally, I'm sure Eric and Leah could use a hand or two tearing down the set from the musical Sunday, so if you have some time, let them know! I want to give you a heads up that on Christmas Eve Sunday, there will be only one morning service at 10:45am. There will be classes for Kindergarten kids and under. Elementary will be with their families. Then there's two identical evening candlelight services, we invite you to worship with us at 4pm or 6 pm. Woo!! That's all I can think of for now!! My cell is 419-202-4084 if you want to call or text me if you have any questions!! Pastor Tracy
Eric has created a survey to help us get information on your child participating. You can fill out a paper copy in the packet or go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q5WMZ98 to fill it out. Eric will get that information and contact you if he has any questions. He will use the survey results to know which kids would like to audition for specific parts in the musical. If you could mark your calendars now for Sunday, December 10th for our Christmas Musical performance. Also, December 9th, will be our dress rehearsal and we would love for you to mark this on your calendars now. VOLUNTEER TRAINING For all of our volunteers in children’s ministry, including nursery, toddlers, PreK, and Elementary- we have one training per year. We would really love it if you could make it! This year, we’re trying 2 different dates to make it possible for everyone to attend at least one of them. They will be Sunday, September 24 at 8 am and Wednesday, September 27 at 6 pm. There should be yummy food at both of these meeting times. FALL HAYRIDE There is a Hayride coming up on October 11, from 6:30-8:30pm. It will be at Brian and Nichole Bash’s home. Parents and younger siblings are welcome! Please RSVP to Tracy so we know how many smore supplies to get! REVIVAL Revival is always a special time for our church to connect with God. I challenge you to make as many of the services as you can. October 15-18 This year’s speaker is Jeremiah Bolich and he’s one of my family’s favorites! There is dinner in the gym on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We always do some special theme nights for kids on Sunday and Wednesday of Revival. These fun nights for kids: Sunday, October 15, is Hawaiian Night and Wednesday, October 18, is Farm night with Joy Morse! :) The other two nights (Mon and Tues) are family services and I enjoy getting to sit with my kids during those. NIGHT OF WORSHIP A few parents have asked about a time when they can worship together with their children. This is an evening set up for everyone to worship together and bring your friends, your family, and definitely your kids! The date is set for Sunday night, October 29. UPWARD SPORTS Upward Registration is now open! Early Registration ends October 31! Evaluations areNovember 13-15! I love Upward! :) All registration and info is at www.findlayupward.org. GRANDPARENTS DAY I forgot to tell you in my email of important info yesterday, that the Power Plant kiddos are also singing on Grandparent's Day October 1. I love the song "Sparrows" by Jason Gray and love the message. The words to the song are powerful. I love the line, "You may feel alone, but you're not on our own." I asked Becky Burgard if she would work on sign language to go with this song, and she is so sweet and has agreed to help us with sign language for this song. However, the motions are a little bit tricky for us to get on Sunday morning in Power Plant. So, I had Olivia Rook video tape Becky doing the motions, and I'm sending you the YouTube link. If you could have your kiddo(s) try to be more familiar with this, that would be great and help us on Sunday Mornings! Here's the link: https://youtu.be/Nowr6qpOtFU Mark your calendars for October 1, Grandparents Day! Kids will be singing in both services!! If you could have your kiddos there on Sunday in the Power Plant at 9:10 am for first service and 10:40 am for second service, that will give us a couple minutes to run through the song real quick before we go over the sanctuary. (If you have a kiddo in kinder choir Susan would like them there at 8:45 in the sanctuary.) Also, there will be a couple of fun photo opportunities for familes in the foyer and near the check-in desk. THANKS EVERYONE! If you have any questions, please let me know! Call, text, or email me. Pastor Tracy 419-202-4084 [email protected] Dear Parents, Happy Summer Vacation!! I love getting some free time with my kids without homework, projects, and hustle of school. Although, I must admit that summer brings it's own version of busy, I still love the sunshine and downtime!! I hope and pray that this summer brings peace and togetherness for you and your family. I hope you find relaxation and enjoyment from getting to be together whether it's camping or watching a movie while eating popcorn! I gotta tell ya that I love getting the opportunity to teach your kiddos. Thank you! I love hearing about their birthdays and the teeth they've lost! :) There's some things going on for NazKidz for the summer I want to tell you about! We work hard to plan activities that are spiritually rich and a ton of fun! Please RSVP to Tracy for any of these events your son or daughter plans to attend! June 7- SKYZONE- This is always the kids favorite! Cost is $20. We will leave the church at 4:15 and return at 9:15. This will include jumping for 90 minutes, and pizza and pop after we jump. We have to arrive there at 5:30 for check-in, then we will jump from 6-7:30, then we'll have pizza from 7:30-8:10. Just consider we're not eating until 7:30 if they need a snack. Friends are welcome to come, but will need to fill out a consent form for the church. SkyZone said they recently cleared out their permission slips online, so even if you've been before, everyone will need to fill out a skyzone waiver. Please visit https://toledostore.skyzone.com/waiver/ to fill out waiver for every child that wants to go. They will not be allowed to jump without this. July 5- Fishing at Dave and Cyndi Houghtaling's pond. Kids always enjoy this, but we need parents that will help with bait, lines, and fish! We'll meet at the church at 6- then return by 8pm. Bring a fishing pole, bait, and a friend! July 9-13- VBA!! GLOW!! Go Light Our World!! This is going to be another epic year! Register your son or daughter online now!! www.findlayfirstnaz.org July 16- VBA SUNDAY FUNDAY- We will have inflatables, slushie truck, Romick Railway, face painting, and more!! You won't want to miss!! DID YOU KNOW OUR CHURCH PAYS 50% OF YOUR CHILD'S COST TO GO TO CAMP?!! Register today at www.nwonazkids.org !! See Tracy for any other questions!! July 23-26- Middler Camp - completed 3rd/ 4th grades July 26-28- Primary Camp - completed 1st/2nd grades July 30- Aug 2- Preteen Camp - completed 5th/ 6th grades August 2- Swimming at Bev and Matt Robb's House, meet at church at 6pm, will return at 8 pm If you could text me, email, and let me know any of these events that you plan on coming to. The SKYZONE trip is the one where I have to give them a headcount for sure, the others are more flexible. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!! Love getting to watch your kids and help serve alongside you on their faith journeys!! Tracy Stults Children's Pastor 419-202-4084 [email protected] My life was changed at church camp on a small campground outside of Springfield, Illinois. I believe camp is an incredible opportunity for kids to experience what I call "God moments." They get out of their comfort zones a bit, they meet new friends, they have tons of fun, with awesome leaders that are willing to invest in each child's spiritual journey. If you can look at the dates for this year's camp, I strongly encourage you to send your child. Looking back at my years at camp and how God changed my life, I wouldn't miss it. Learn more at www.nwonazkids.org. I love Vacation Bible Adventure in the middle of summer! I love being able to have fun, learn about God, and make new friends! I also think Vacation Bible Adventure is a great time to invite friends to our church! Our leadership team has been planning for months and this year is going to be epic! We are planning on a theme of GLOW using blacklights and learning how each of our lives can light up the world! I promise, you want to make sure this week is marked on your calendar and you won't want to miss this exciting week of Vacation Bible Adventure July 10-13, Monday thru Thursday from 6:00-8:15pm. We kick-off Sunday morning July 9, and we will have a huge wrap-up and celebration on Sunday, July 16 where the kids will sing their songs and we will have an all church picnic with tons of games and inflatables. See you there! REGISTER HERE Hey parents, I think a really critical component to Children's Ministry is student leadership. I started last year with the PowerPlant Leadership Team. These are 5th-9th graders who have gone through the training with me to help with running the technology in the Power Plant, the check-in tablets, or greeting families at the main check-desk next to Sanctuary. Something that I have been trying to work on is taking the leaders who are already serving and do some activities for what I call "next level" leadership. I see these 5th-8th graders as some excellent leaders and believe that they are capable of great things. I also believe it is critical that at this age level, they begin to learn how to serve and have opportunities to stretch themselves. We're planning on calling this new leadership team S.A.L.T. - Student Advisory Leadership Team. While I'm working on applications for this team, and a parent agreement sheet, I'm not there yet. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling a little bit at time. There's some basics of having positive behavior at home, at school, and at church. We want them to be able to set a positive example for other believers both young and old. We want them to continue to grow in their faith. I attended a workshop on student leadership teams recently, and they shared how they had students do devotions every day! I thought, "wow!" I am not sure how to figure that out yet, but man I loved the concept! When I presented the idea of "next level leadership" to the teens and pre-teens, they jumped right in. They had ideas of leading games, prayer, skits, puppets, videos and even teaching or planning curriculum! I am looking at allowing these student leaders to plan and teach Easter Sunday morning in Power Plant (April 16 second service). I will be in there with them, but they have already begun the planning process with thinking of games, videos, and activities for Easter Sunday. The next leadership team meeting is April 2 after church. We will also need to meet on the Friday or Saturday before Easter for the teens to do a run-through of the service. Can you tell me which one works better for you and your fam? If you have questions, please let me know. Thanks Parents for your support! Excited to see how God is using your children and creating dynamic leaders for His Kingdom! I would love to see this student leadership team continue to grow in leadership and faith! Tracy |
Tracy StultsMom of 4, children's pastor, Director of Upward Sports, middler summer camp, & regional Bible quiz. Archives
September 2019
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