By Lindsay Howes, Director of Children’s Ministries
We kicked off our new and exciting First Friday programming last month and just held our second event on Mar. 3.
First Friday is a time for 3rd-5th graders and 6th-8th graders to come and enjoy community, food and fun. Last month we had a great movie night, complete with a pizza bar, popcorn bar, hot cocoa bar and, of course, twinkle lights for an “outdoor movie feel.”
This past Friday, we hosted a “Minute to Win It” game night, this time complete with cookie face, chocolate unicorn and my personal favorite, Elephant – Riley, Vada, Gray and Maria know what I’m talking about! It was also extra special because Jeff Sydney brought in his incredible marble collection and explained the amazing dynamics to the art of marbles. They were super cool and brought up some great conversations.
All of these fun details make First Fridays great, but what really makes them incredible are the conversations. This past week as a small group of us were sitting down to enjoy our game night dinner of hot dogs, nachos and cotton candy, one child brought up why she loved our church. “There are three things I love about this church. 1. I made friends the first time I came, 2. Advent in Advance (of course!) and 3. Getting to know and understand Jesus since church was not a part of my life before I got here.” There is so much more to this wonderful conversation but some things are meant to be kept just between those of us who were there.
Great and exciting things continue to happen in our Children’s Ministries and I love the chance to get to share a small portion of those with you a few times a year. For those of you with children in 3rd-5th or 6th-8th grade, mark First Friday on your calendar now. We will meet again on May 5…I’m thinking a taco bar will be involved.
