By Rev. Monica Lewis, Minister to Children, Students and Families
I’ve lived in Kansas City for about six years now. And as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve wanted to go to First Fridays in the Crossroads District. Six years and I’ve never gone. I follow hundreds of local artists on social media and spend my nights flipping through their posts to see all of the fun and creative stuff they’re making.
Like so many of you, my family is living in that in between time where weekend evenings don’t really exist in the same way they used to. Our weekend nights are typically spent with a popcorn and movie night at home and play dates that turn in to a well-rehearsed plea for friends to stay for dinner. I love this. I love all of this. But sometime, I’d like to go to First Friday. And I know many of you parents reading this would, too. Keep reading to find out how you can sneak away to get some time for you!
Beginning Fri., Feb. 3, our Children and Student Ministries will begin offering new programming – First Fridays!
We will meet in our church building February and March of this academic year (join us at Country Club Christian Church’s annual Celebration Dinner and Auction the first Friday of April) and we’ll kick off 2017-2018 academic year with First Fridays, September-May. Each month will be a little different. Sometimes we might have a food truck style dinner, others may enjoy a hot cocoa bar, or maybe they’ll get a little taste of First Friday art culture with an art fair. This will be fun, trendy, and a great place to be on Friday nights while parents get to enjoy an evening out on the town.
For our 3-5th graders, First Fridays will be a time of fun, fellowship and faith development. Think Club Kids meets food truck meets youth group. We are eager to dig in deep with this age group and give them a taste of what the older kids get to do in youth group. This will be an opportunity to connect this age group in relationship with one another and to enrich their faith at a time in life where tough questions become the norm.
Our 6th-8th graders will meet on First Friday in addition to weekly youth group during the other weeks of the month. For this age group, First Fridays will be a great event to bring friends, play awesome games, grow together in faith and live our their lives in deeper and meaningful relationships with one another. They’ll eat good food – you can guarantee them that!
If you are interested in volunteering to help with First Fridays, please contact Lindsay Howes ([email protected]) or Chuck Pickrel ([email protected]).
For families who would like more specific information about First Fridays, make sure to check your weekly Wednesday email.
We can’t wait to see you there!