2001 Christian Education Report
The Christian education ministry of the church aims to present Biblical truth to all the children and adults of the church in such as way that they come to know Jesus in a faith relationship, understand essential truths about Christ and His Word, have the basic tools needed to pursue individual spiritual growth, and are motivated to serve Christ both in the church and in their everyday lives.
Christian education is thus a comprehensive ministry. One aspect of it is the Sunday school classes for children. Sue Voll is the Sunday school coordinator for the preschool through 8 grade classes. She does an excellent job recruiting, training, and encouraging the teachers, as well as providing materials, organization, and a contact person for any difficulties encountered. We thank Sue for doing so well at this important, but rather behind-the-scenes, ministry. Our Sunday school teachers use David C. Cook materials to present the Bible to their classes in ways that are engaging, age-appropriate, fun, and transforming. Our teachers also do an excellent job, touching the lives of children with their faithful commitment and passion for Christ.
Two years ago, the adult Sunday school classes changed to an "elective" system, where a variety of class options were offered for a set number of weeks, after which a new set of electives were offered. A significant change this past year has been to time these changes of classes offered so that they line up with when the children's Sunday school curriculum changes quarters. The benefit of this is that a new teacher can enter a children's class at the new quarter, providing a natural breaking point in the material. This allows our Sunday school teachers to enroll in an adult class as a learner for a quarter, in order to grow in their own walk with Christ as well as have a ministry to others. This also gives other adults who have typically been learners in adult classes the opportunity to put some of their knowledge to use in teaching children. This has had a good effect on the church, and several new teachers have gotten involved in the classes as a result.
Just like physical health, so also spiritual health requires not only the intake of "food" but also exercise. This past year, in order to put Christian learning to use, several one-day mission opportunities were organized for adults. These included helping build a home with Habitat for Humanity and ministering to children at the Joy House, a home for battered and/or needy women and children in downtown Milwaukee. There will continue to be opportunity for this in the future, as well as the church's first-ever adult mission trip in August of 2002. This trip will take place in eastern Kentucky, involving construction, encouragement, evangelism, and leading "Backyard Bible Clubs" for children in the area.
In the coming year, we will continue to need adults who are willing to lead classes for both children and adults. Having a larger pool of teachers means that the same people do not have to teach quarter after quarter, year after year, allowing them both a time of rest as well as an opportunity to take part in a class as a learner themselves. We continue to need input as to what topics people would like the adult classes to cover. We try to have a variety of options each quarter, some classes that cover a particular book of the Bible and others that are more topic oriented. There are also a number of weekday adult Bible studies that meet at various times and places. It would be wonderful to see more adults taking advantage of the opportunity to grow that the adult classes and Bible studies provide. If you have not been involved in one of these yet, please do so, in order that as a church we may "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).
Who We Are | Ministries | Location | Services | Resources
Prayer | Archives | Contact Us | Site Map | Home
Copyright © 1999-2003 – Friedens Evangelical Church
454 N. Milwaukee Street, Port Washington, WI 53074
(262) 284-2471