The children’s ministry has continued to experience tremendous growth during the 2015 year. We had a full year of ministry and events with picnics, trick-or-treating, ice skating, and movie nights. We continued to have some of our “annual” events, like the Halloween Party at the Denzler’s, and the Easter Egg Hunt at the Fiske’s, but we also tried some new things this year.
We had several successful events throughout the year.
- Vacation Bible School: This year’s theme was “G-Force: God’s Love in Action.” Children learned to move, act, care, follow, and share with God’s love. We learned stories about Moses, Solomon, Bartimaeus, and the women at the tomb. It was a fun and full week as we welcomed 65+ children into the building. We are grateful for the leadership of Bryon LePere and the youth of Buena Vista Baptist church, as well as all the volunteers from Tabernacle who helped make the week possible.
- We held our first ever “Family Advent Workshop” on November 22. About 10 families gathered together and spent time thinking through Advent and ways that they could observe the season together as a family.
- This year’s Christmas pageant was a tremendous success! While the youth wrote the actual script, the older children sang during the pageant, and the younger children help us create the nativity scene by dressing up as the different characters. Thank you to Judy Fiske, Jessica Corbitt, Terry Witt, and Graham Grinnell for leading our children through the pageant.
We also oversee the week-to-week ministries of the church: Sunday School, Nursery, Godly Play, Worship Explorers, and Children’s Choir.
- Sunday School continues to be divided into three classrooms on Sunday morning, and our numbers continue to grow! We have a wonderfully dedicated team of teachers and assistants the lead our children in Sunday School each week. In June, we said goodbye to Way Doh, Brynne, and Peter as they moved up to the youth group.
- The number of children in the nursery continues to grow, and we are grateful for those of you who serve as volunteers on a regular basis. We are grateful for the leadership of Hope Nycum, Megan Strollo, Courtney Jackson, Heather Rose, Kelley McClellan, and Eh Klu Paw, who serve as our nursery mentors each week. With our new curriculum, we are able to provide children with a more structured environment that incorporates play and learning with our Bible Story for the day.
- Worship Explorers is another ministry of the children that continues to steadily grow each week. It is always a joy to see the steady stream of children lining up in worship to go to Worship Explorers each week.
- Our Wednesday night activities looked a little different this fall than they have in the past. We continued to have Godly Play for our preschool children (led by Anna Tuckwiler, Ryan Corbitt, Christen Schumacher, Sara Anne Burgess, and Jenny Jones) and our K-2 children (led by Joe Perdue, Megan Strollo, Ryan Corbitt, and Kelley McCllelan). We made the decision to provide our 3rd-5th grade chidren with a more intense music time (led by Judy Fiske, Jessica Corbitt, Graham Grinnell, and Terry Witt). This fall, these children have learned to play bells and read music, and have led us well in worship several times.
It has been a wonderful and growing year in children’s ministry at Tabernacle Baptist Church. We have enjoyed welcoming several families from the Northminster Community into our midst, and welcoming some families who have returned to the Richmond area after spending some time in other places.
We welcomed a record number of babies into the congregation in 2015- there were 10 babies born into our church family! What an amazing year filled with life.
We also want to extend a special thank you to Heather and Andy Rose. Heather and Andy have been faithfully serving in the children’s ministry for thirteen years, serving in various capacities as Sunday School teachers, volunteering in the nursery, helping with Vacation Bible School and serving on the Children’s Team- and countless other things. They have decided to take a step back from children’s ministry to have the opportunity to be “filled back up” after graciously and generously pouring out their time, energy and love on the children of Tabernacle. Heather and Andy, we are grateful for you both as you have held the line for over a decade. You have seen the highs and lows of children’s ministry at Tabernacle, and you stuck with it! Thank you for the ways that you have loved and cared for dozens of children who have come through the doors of our church building. You have touched the lives of countless children and families, and for your leadership and devotion, we are grateful.
The future of children’s ministry is bright at Tabernacle Baptist, and we are excited for another year of continued growth and meaningful ministry.
The Children’s Team
Andy Rose, Heather Rose, Jessica Corbitt, Kelley McClellan, Kristen Koger, and Megan Strollo
