Good news!
The registration deadline for this year’s Vacation Bible School training has been extended until THURSDAY, February 16.

One Workshop – Four Locations!
February 18, 2012 9am-noon
Hope First UMC
Batesville First UMC
Springdale First UMC

March 3, 2012 9am-noon
Conway First UMC

The Early Registration is only $10 per person and all registration fees
go to fund VBS mini-grants for small attendance churches.

Hurry! After Thursday, February 16, registration fees jump to $25 per person (for the Feb. 18 event).

It goes up to $25 per person for the March 3  event on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Go to http://www.arumc.org/k_registrations.php to register your church’s VBS team (you’ll register each person individually.)

This year’s VBS workshops will focus on practical
“how to’s” for directors, crafters, decorators and storytellers.

This is a great opportunity to brush up on your skills,
learn new techniques and network with people in your area
of the state to share ideas, resources and support.

VBS Workshop Sessions include
Storytelling
This session will focus on developing storytelling skills in order to present the daily
Bible stories in ways that capture children’s interest and imagination.

Crafts/Decorating
Participants in this session will be talking about how to make and
use inexpensive or donated materials to create sets and props.

Directors
This session’s participants will be discussing how to choose or adapt curriculum
so that it reflects United Methodist theology,
how to advertise and organize your VBS
and how to keep kids safe during the week.

You also will receive valuable, unadvertised discounts from Cokesbury on
VBS curriculum from any publisher and a chance to receive
some fabulous door prizes including puppets, gift certificates and more!

Go to http://kidz.arumc.org/tag/vbs for more information or contact
Karen Swales, Conference Children’s Coordinator at karen@fumcwired.com.

VBS regional training events in FOUR locations Feb. 18, March 3

Come join the fun at one of FOUR 2012 Vacation Bible School (VBS) training events sponsored by the Arkansas Conference Council on Children’s Ministries (CCCM).

Previously held only in Little Rock, CCCM has expanded VBS training to FOUR locations in 2012 to be more accessible to churches across the state.

Scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 at First UMC Hope, First UMC Springdale and First UMC Batesville – Newly Added - and Saturday, March 3 at First UMC Conway, all events will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at noon.

All FOUR events will include door prizes from Cokesbury bookstore (including a gift card), and a “swap table” for churches wishing to trade gently used VBS materials.

VBS is one of the most important outreach events of the year for children in local churches. This year’s training will focus on practical how-to skills for all sizes of churches rather than teaching participants about a specific curriculum.

Organizers plan to have starter kits available to review from at least Cokesbury (Operation Overboard) and Group Publishing (Sky & No Friend Like Jesus) and Standard Publishing (Inside Out & Upside Down on Main Street VBS). Additional publishers may be added depending upon availability.

The $150 door prize will come in the form of a Cokesbury gift certificate, which can be used to purchase VBS curriculum and supplies from a variety of publishers.

Registration fees ($10 early registration, $25 at the door) will go toward mini-grants for small-membership congregations to assist with funding for VBS. Grants of $250 will be awarded on the basis of need and available funds.

To complete early registration  - available only online – for $10, click here: http://www.arumc.org/k_registrations.php
Please note, early registration closes one week prior to each workshop. 

Download The Promotional Flyer (PDF) here – updated!
Download The Regional VBS Brochure here – updated!

Apply for the 2012 VBS Mini Grant
Deadline is Sunday, April 1, 2012 

For more information, contact Kaylea Hutson, director of children’s ministries at St. James UMC, Little Rock, at 501.217.6744 or kaylea@stjames-umc.org.

VBS regional training events in FOUR locations Feb. 18, March 3

Come join the fun at one of FOUR 2012 Vacation Bible School (VBS) training events sponsored by the Arkansas Conference Council on Children’s Ministries (CCCM).

Previously held only in Little Rock, CCCM has expanded VBS training to FOUR locations in 2012 to be more accessible to churches across the state.

Scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 at First UMC Hope, First UMC Springdale and First UMC Batesville – Newly Added - and Saturday, March 3 at First UMC Conway, all events will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at noon.

All FOUR events will include door prizes from Cokesbury bookstore (including a gift card), and a “swap table” for churches wishing to trade gently used VBS materials.

VBS is one of the most important outreach events of the year for children in local churches. This year’s training will focus on practical how-to skills for all sizes of churches rather than teaching participants about a specific curriculum.

Organizers plan to have starter kits available to review from at least Cokesbury (Operation Overboard) and Group Publishing (Sky & No Friend Like Jesus) and Standard Publishing (Inside Out & Upside Down on Main Street VBS). Additional publishers may be added depending upon availability.

The $150 door prize will come in the form of a Cokesbury gift certificate, which can be used to purchase VBS curriculum and supplies from a variety of publishers.

Registration fees ($10 early registration, $25 at the door) will go toward mini-grants for small-membership congregations to assist with funding for VBS. Grants of $250 will be awarded on the basis of need and available funds.

To complete early registration  - available only online – for $10, click here: http://www.arumc.org/k_registrations.php
Please note, early registration closes one week prior to each workshop. 

Download The Promotional Flyer (PDF) here – updated!
Download The Regional VBS Brochure here – updated!

Apply for the 2012 VBS Mini Grant
Deadline is Sunday, April 1, 2012 

For more information, contact Kaylea Hutson, director of children’s ministries at St. James UMC, Little Rock, at 501.217.6744 or kaylea@stjames-umc.org.

The children’s division has a large variety of resources that can be helpful to you and your ministry with children in your local congregation.

All of the resources mentioned below, unless otherwise indicated, can be found at:www.gbod.org/children

—–

“Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue:” Answering God’s Call to Protect Children
This is the theme of the 2011 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths Weekend.

This year Children’s Sabbath will focus on the closing the achievement gap in education that currently has children in poverty and children of color falling further and further behind, and ensuring that education becomes the engine of equality, not inequality.

Level of educational achievement is the best predictor of future income; ensuring that every child gets a high quality education is the best poverty-prevention program we have.

Although Children’s Sabbath is held on the weekend of October 14-16, many United Methodist congregations will hold activities on the weekend of October 7-9.

Click here for more information.

—–

This is a guide for leaders and teachers of children in the area of faith formation.

This resource contains a comprehensive guide to scripture significant for children as they develop cognitively and theologically. It is meant to closely follow the three-year lectionary cycle.

It also contains a chart of what children need and understand developmentally around the beliefs and concepts of God, Worship, The Bible, Home and Family, Everyday Life, Community and Wesleyan Heritage.

Click here to download the pdf guide.

—–

Guidelines for Weekday Preschool Ministries in an United Methodist Church
John Wesley believed that “God begins his work in children.”

As a commitment to faithfully forming our children, a group of dedicated early childhood educators and ministers developed these guidelines to connect and support Early Childhood programs within the United Methodist Connection.

The guidelines are designed to maintain high educational and ethical standards that are consistent across United Methodist Weekday Preschool Ministry Programs.

As a denomination, we believe that “Churches should follow some process of self-study for their childcare programs on a regular basis.”It is the hope that these materials will equip you with what your community needs to meet and exceed standards of quality care of children.

Click here to download the guide.

This pdf contains additional information, as a supplement to the guide.

—–

Sunday School Comparison Chart
This list of Sunday school curriculum includes resources approved by the Curriculum Resources Committee of the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship for use in the Christian education ministry of the United Methodist Church, according to Paragraph 1122 in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church.

Click here to download the chart.

—–

The Inclusive Church
This is a wonderful site that can help those of us in the church address the needs of all of those with special needs while being faithful to the traditions of the church. Our table is open… for ALL!!!

Click here to visit the site: http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/

There are two online surveys currently being conducted that will give us some valuable information about the status and needs of children and youth ministry on the conference level.

From The Imagine Ministries Taskforce

On behalf of the Imagine Ministry Children and Youth Task Force of the Arkansas Conference, I would like to invite you to take this short survey about the importance of children’s and youth ministries within our conference AND for you to help define what the priorities are as we move into a new conference structure.

Please respond to this survey before October 1. The information collected will go in our report to the call session of the Annual Conference on Saturday, Oct. 29.

If you have questions, please let me know.

Click on this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/imchildrenandyouth

Peace
Jay Clark
Task Force Project Manager
Minister with Youth and Their Families
Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church

From the Conference Council On Children’s Ministries

If you are serving as a volunteer or paid children’s ministry staff person in your local congregation, please take about five minutes of your time to complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6KF2HHQ.

The survey will remain open until Friday, Sept. 30. The results will be compiled and sent out via e-mail and on the conference children’s ministry website http://kidz.arumc.org.

Thank you!
Karen Swales,
Arkansas Conference Children’s Ministry Coordinator

In order to make leadership training more accessible to our local congregations, the Conference Council on Children’s Ministries will conduct five regional Vacation Bible School workshops in 2012 during February.

The workshops will not focus on a specific VBS curriculum but will provide valuable “how to’s” that will apply to any church using any curriculum.

Included will be:
• How to choose curriculum.
• How to make décor from recycled objects.
• How to stretch your VBS budget.
• How to connect with other churches to share resources.
and much, MUCH more!

In addition to fabulous door prizes at each location, there will be several VBS mini grants awarded to churches to give them a jump start on their 2012 VBS.

Watch the newsletter or http://kidz.arumc.org for more information!

Collab: Audaciously Awesome (With Kim Jensen)

and

Collab: Srsly Stoked (with Kim Jensen)

You can purchase these items at Kate’s store at The Lily Pad.
(You can find the freebie on Kate’s blog.)

Our typical design uses these fonts: Pea Jay and Pea Dalovely Damanda
from Fonts for Peas by Amanda Bottoms.
You can get the fonts for free on Amanda’s website.

All Items Used With Permission.

You can download the pdf here!

You can also receive the email version,
directly in your inbox by signing up here! 

Take Note: We’ll be posting the info on this newsletter, in the various categories on this site, so you’ll be able to access the info in later days.